Powers welcomed back

Experience and depth may be two major aspects that could propel the men's cross country team to a very successful season this year.\nWith the return of senior Chris Powers, the Hoosiers will only add to this depth and experience. Last season Powers redshirted his junior year to pursue studies abroad. He now has one year left of eligibility, and his coach is certainly glad that he is back.\n"I think the biggest thing is simply having him there," IU coach Robert Chapman said. "Some guys lead by their words, and others lead by their actions. Chris is more of the latter. Same with (senior) Chad Andrews. Just having those two guys there every day and every meet has a big impact on the other guys."\nAndrews also redshirted his junior year and will compete for the Hoosiers this year. \nAlthough IU returns all upperclassmen from its varsity squad last year, the two seniors will certainly provide intangible leadership and guidance to everyone, especially the younger runners. \n"The thing that I was most concerned about when I came back was still being a leader," Powers said. "It is hard not being around for awhile. I want to help out the younger guys a lot and introduce them to the culture of the team and the sport."\nOne of the returning varsity runners from last year's squad, sophomore Eric Redman, thinks Powers can make an impact right away.\n"He is definitely a solid runner, and he really contributed a lot for us a couple of years ago," Redman said. "As a fifth-year senior, he shows a lot of leadership responsibilities. I know as a leader that he did what he needed to do to stay in shape while he was gone, and the team will be better with him back."\nAlong with going abroad his junior year, Powers interned this past summer in New York. Although he trained as much as he could, it might take him a while to get back in shape physically, yet his coach said he has the mental strength to come back strong.\n"He had a very nice internship opportunity for the summer in New York City. Working the hours he did, being in Manhattan, and being away from our training group made it more challenging to get the miles in this summer. Mentally, Chris always counts on being a top dog, so there's no worries there."\nIn his first three seasons at IU, Powers was in the top five each year. His sophomore year the senior runner was 17th at the Big Ten Championships and third for the team at the NCAA Championships.\nIn 2001, Powers had personal record times of 24:32 in the 8K event, and 31:54 in the 10K. During last year's track season, he broke the illusive 14-minute barrier for the 5K running a 13:57.\n"Certainly last year would have been different if Chris and Chad Andrews competed last year," Chapman said. "But with both guys, it was either compete last year or compete this season. We knew as a team that this year had the potential to be the best Indiana has had in a long time in cross country, so we rolled the dice." \nContact staff writer Alex Witteveld at pawittev@indiana.edu.