IU makes solid season debut against Texas

The IU men's cross country team opened its season with a relaxed 5,000-meter race against Texas on a muggy Friday evening at the IU varsity cross country course. The two teams spent the race in a tight pack, with 14 runners finishing within three seconds of each other. The meet was unscored to allow unattached runners to compete.\nIU junior Billy Coale got his first collegiate win, crossing the finish line in 16 minutes, 29 seconds. Coale, who transferred to IU last year, took the lead at the head of the final 500-meter stretch and cruised in just ahead of the rest of the field. \n"I wasn't feeling too great on the last hill," Coale said. "But I caught up with the pack and ended up getting the 'W.'"\nIU's next four runners crossed the line at 16:35.00, with twins and junior All-Americans Sean and John Jefferson leading the group. Junior Eric Redman came next, followed by senior Tom Burns and junior Stephen Haas, who handled the bulk of the early pacing duties. The short race allowed the team to get in some extra training afterward, as it took a brief rest and ran a short up-tempo workout. \nThe race marked the return to competition of John Jefferson, who sat out the entire 2003-04 year with a nagging knee injury.\n"I felt fine," said Jefferson, the 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. "Until the last part when I got a bug in my throat and had to cough it up before I could get back into things."\nOnly one IU runner could not finish with the large pack. Junior Charlie Koeppen finished a fair distance behind due to a combination of injury and illness.\n"I'm still recovering from being sick," Koeppen said. "The problem is that I got sick two weeks ago at camp but still bumped my miles up, so my body really hasn't recovered at all."\nThe only thing missing from IU's first competition was the new adidas uniforms, which apparently didn't reach the team in time for the race, a problem that will be remedied before IU's next meet, the Indiana Intercollegiates at Purdue in two weeks. IU has won the Intercollegiates for two straight years and looks to retain its status as the best cross country team in Indiana.\n-- Contact staff writer Rob DeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.