Previewing Big Ten Olympic sports

As I sit on the edge of my seat anxiously awaiting the Big Ten football season, I thought it would be a perfect time to preview some of the Olympic fall sports teams for the Hoosiers.

Let’s take a look.

Women’s Cross Country
No two fall sport teams overlap more than the men’s and women’s cross country teams.

First, both teams return virtually all its components from last season’s teams. The women’s team did lose Wendi Robinson from last year’s NCAA Championship qualifying team but is looking to build on four top returning runners.

Senior Sarah Pease, a two-time All-American in the 3000-meter steeplechase, started the 2010 campaign right where she left off, winning the Indiana Open on Sept. 11.
A three-sport athlete in high school, Pease will not run for the Hoosiers this weekend at the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference but will continue to be counted on as IU gears up for postseason play, beginning Oct. 31 at the Big Ten Championships.

Men’s Cross Country
On the men’s side of things, every runner from IU’s top seven returns and is led by Indianapolis native and junior Andrew Poore. The Bishop Chatard High School product was a 2009 NCAA qualifier and will pace the Hoosiers along with sophomores Andy Bayer and Zach Mayhew.

The Hoosiers also opened up the 2010 season at the Indiana Open, where their top four runners were separated by three seconds. Junior Ben Hubers finished first for the Hoosiers and the top six IU runners were separated by two seconds.

Barring injuries, the Hoosiers are primed to make a run at ending Wisconsin’s streak of 11 consecutive Big Ten Titles when the conference championships are run on Halloween in Madison, Wisc.

Similar to the women’s soccer team, 2010 could be just a precursor for the 2011 season, as the Hoosiers have no seniors on the roster.

Volleyball
The early surprise of the fall season easily goes to the IU volleyball team.

Coach Sherry Dunbar has the Hoosiers off to a 10-0 start, which is their best since 1999. IU has won three tournaments already this season and has swept its opponents in eight of the ten matches.

The Hoosiers will begin Big Ten play with Purdue on Wednesday.

Senior All-American Ashley Benson and senior Taylor Wittmer have assumed leadership roles. Benson became the first All-American in program history and will be counted on heavily during her final season.

The Hoosiers were picked to finish in the bottom half of the ultra-competitive Big Ten, but a strong start to the season has IU trying to silence the critics.

Women’s Soccer
Coach Mick Lyon and the IU women’s soccer team return the top three scorers from last season and are looking to crack the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.

The Hoosiers are currently in the middle of an eight-game home stand that will last through the month of September.

Lyon has toyed with his starting lineup all season and included four freshmen in a Sept. 12 match with Hofstra. With only two seniors in the starting 11 against Butler, the question begs to be asked: Is 2010 just the appetizer for a deep NCAA Tournament run in 2011 for Lyon and the Hoosiers?

Women’s Field Hockey
Playing right next door to the soccer programs is the women’s field hockey team.
In her 11th season as head coach, Amy Robertson has slowly turned the IU field hockey team from obscurity into one of the Midwest’s best. Coming off an NCCA Tournament appearance in 2009, Robertson brings back leading scorer sophomore forward Morgan Fleetwood and fellow All-Big Ten selection junior forward Corey Brautigam.

Between the pipes for the third straight season will be senior goalkeeper Alex Mann. With Mann sidelined for the early portion of the 2010 season due to injury, junior Becky Pany has been the keeper for the first four games of the season.

The Hoosiers are looking to get back to the finals of the Big Ten Championships and avenge last year’s title loss to Michigan State. Coach Robertson and the Hoosiers will have that opportunity Nov. 4-7 in Evanston, Ill.