Bragging rights up for grabs in Big Ten championship

Back in the top 15 nationally, the No. 13-ranked IU men's cross country team is riding a rising tide of optimism as it rolls into the Big Ten Championship this Sunday at the University of Iowa.\n"The Big Ten is easily the most talented and deepest conference in the country," said recently graduated IU All-American Chris Powers. "These guys are ready, and it will be exciting to see what they can do."\nIn last year's edition, IU finished third on the strength of two seniors, Powers and Chad Andrews. Losing Powers and Andrews to graduation, the Hoosiers are looking to fill the void. A candidate to plug the hole is 2002s Big Ten Freshman of the Year John Jefferson, who is nearing full-strength after a full year off due to injury. \nTwo weekends ago, IU finished sixth at the Pre-Nationals meet against top national competition, which all but guaranteed the men an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships in late November. \nThe driving force for that success was the front-running of junior All-American Sean Jefferson, continuing on a phenomenal tear through the NCAA ranks. His fifth-place finish, coupled with twin brother John's rally for 15th place in the final kilometer, gave IU a front duo comparable to nearly any other team in the country. \n"The race up front will be tough, but these guys can run with anyone in the country right now," Powers said.\nWith the added pressure of big meets, the Jeffersons seem poised to follow the pattern of tradition they have built since arriving at IU.\n"We've had some great workouts. The guys are running really well," Sean Jefferson said. "For me, it's time to test the legs, race up front and see what I can do."\nThe duo and its supporting cast of senior Tom Burns and juniors Eric Redman, Stephen Haas and Charlie Koeppen will encounter the nation's top-ranked team this weekend in the Wisconsin Badgers, who present a number of runners who could challenge for the individual title won last year by Wisconsin sophomore Simon Bairu. Also in the line of fire for IU is Michigan, currently ranked sixth nationally. Wisconsin and Michigan were the two teams to finish ahead of IU in 2003.\n"We have a decent chance at beating Michigan," Redman said. "They have two guys up front, but we have Sean and John. So if we can beat their third, fourth and fifth guys, I think we can handle them."\nThe Big Ten Championship is always full of surprises and requires a bit of luck. This year, IU hopes to get lucky and do some surprising of its own. The team is coalescing at the perfect time.\n"It's time to step on the line, race hard and see how the chips fall," Powers said. "They need to take a risk and make it sweet."\n-- Contact staff writer Rob DeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.