Hoosiers prepared for last meet before Big Ten Championships

With the Big Ten tournament looming in the horizon, the IU men’s and women’s cross country must not overlook the Sam Bell Invitational.

The Hoosiers have their second meet of the season at the IU Cross Country Course, set to take place at 11 a.m. this Saturday.

It is the first time since 2000 that the Invitational has taken place, as Indiana looks to renew a traditional cross country meet that honors former coach Sam Bell. Bell coached the likes of Hoosier legends Bob Kennedy and Kim Betz.

“We wanted to add another meet to the schedule because we have such a great course,” IU coach Ron Helmer said. “We are avoiding the Pre-Nationals this week because a lot of people go into that meet chasing at large points and you focus on racing instead of training. We wanted to concentrate ourselves on training while having a good opportunity to test ourselves.”

The women are led by last week’s Big Ten Player of the Week , senior Wendi Robinson, and another rapidly-improving junior Sarah Pease. The team is looking to have a solid finish in order to get into the top 30 teams in the nation, and running at home will provide a good opportunity on a familiar course.

“It’s a home meet and our last before Big Tens,” sophomore Breanne Ehrman said. “It’s our last chance to get out there and run hard and have a good showing.”

The men’s team has high expectations as well, after boosting themselves to No. 17 in the national rankings recently. The competition the team will not be facing as tough as competition after beating ranked opponents at the Paul Short Invitational on their way to finishing first overall, but they will need a solid effort regardless.

“We’ll just go in like any other meet,” freshman Andy Bayer said. “We can’t expect a win, but if we race like every other meet, race hard and work together, we will pull out a win.”