Cross country team set to finish regular season

The regular season for the IU cross country team will come to a close after today’s meet at the IU Championships Cross Country Course.

The non-varsity runners who will not be competing in the Great Lakes Regional race next weekend will be the runners competing Friday.

This will be their last race of this year’s cross country season. IU Coach Ron Helmer said he does not have a particular time in which he expects his runners to finish.

“Tomorrow is more of a season-culminating meet for those people who haven’t qualified to go on,” Helmer said.

Helmer only needs seven runners to finish out the rest of the season because that is the maximum number of runners that can compete in the races that are left.

However, Helmer decided to keep a total of eight men on the roster for the men’s team because he will not have junior Rorey Hunter race in the Great Lakes Regional, but in the meets after.

“I won’t necessarily run my best seven at regionals,” Helmer said. “I will sit one of those guys and let number eight run, and that’s just because I don’t think Rorey Hunter has two 10k cross country races in him.”

Although there will be multiple teams competing, today’s race will be a non-scoring event. Michigan, Wabash and Indiana State will have all of their non-varsity men racing.

Purdue and Butler will have their men’s and women’s non-varsity runners competing.
 
“Everybody’s got more than just seven or eight guys,” Helmer said. “And a lot of these guys are your future. When they’re ready to run it’s good to line them up.”  

Follow reporter Frank Bonner on Twitter @Frank_Bonner1.