Senior distance runner Evan Esselink and sophomore distance runners Matthew Schwartzer and Amanda Behnke will compete in their respective heats of the 5K on Friday.
“These three have consistently been our best distance runners,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “We ran them in the 10K at Stanford in hopes of reaching national qualifying marks, and now we feel that running them in the 5K at Mt. Sac will give them the best opportunity to reach qualifying marks there.”
Esselink and Behnke placed 16th and 26th respectively in the national 10K as a result of their performances at the Stanford Invitational on April 3. Schwartzer fell just six spots short of the qualification at 54th in the nation.
Behnke owns IU’s top women’s marks in the 3K (9:51.55) and 10K (33:59.60) and sits at second in the Big Ten in the 10K.
“I’d like to own the top mark on the team for the 5K, but I’m just concerned with going out and running the fastest 5K of my life on Friday,” Behnke said.
Her 10K, which placed 10th at the Stanford Invitational and set a new personal record by 34 seconds, was just her third race in the event in her career.
Behnke ran the majority of her races in the 5K, where she placed seventh in the Big Ten Indoor Championships this season with a time of 16:25.99.
“There’s pressure that goes with being one of three runners sent to this meet,” Behnke said. “It’s a good pressure, though, because it shows the coaches believe in us and think that we can run with the high-level competition out there.”
Like Behnke, Esselink owns the top 10K on the men’s side with his Big Ten-leading time of 28:55.98, while Schwartzer follows close behind with his fifth-place time of 29:32.81.
“This meet won’t feel all that different because Matt is actually my training partner,” Esselink said. “We always talk during meets, so the fact that I only have two teammates at the meet won’t affect me all that much.”
The senior and his training partner have finished neck-and-neck throughout the entire season, including the Big Ten Indoor Championships, where Esselink finished 18th and Schwartzer finished 14th in the 5K.
Neither athlete has set a personal record in the 5K this season, but with a tough field ahead in Walnut, the possibility for a personal record is there.
“There are some really fast heats that I could run in, and then there are the slower heats,” Esselink said. “I’m hoping for a heat that I can fit in the middle of, where I can push myself to set a personal record and a national qualifying time.”
The goal for the three athletes, though, is simple.
“We just want them to set solid marks,” Helmer said. “Marks that would make the 5K an option for the NCAA First Round.”
