IU cross-country failed to advance to the NCAA Championships as a team last weekend, but three Hoosiers will run in the meet as individuals.
Seniors Jason Crist and Matt Schwartzer and sophomore Katherine Receveur will all compete at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships this weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The men’s team missed an at-large bid to qualify for the national meet. It tied for second place at the Great Lakes Regional Championships last week but lost the tie breaker to Michigan State due to head-to-head matchups. A second-place finish at the regional meet would’ve given the Hoosiers an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
“It’s frustrating for me and the kids because I thought they deserved to go to nationals, but sometimes things don’t go the way you would like them to,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said..
Receveur has led the way for the women’s team by finishing second overall at the Big Ten Championships and third at regionals. She has given the women’s team the spark it needed this season after the team learned they would be without senior Amanda Behnke for the entire year.
Helmer said he is proud of Receveur for her massive improvement from last year to this one. After a 70th place finish at the Big Ten Championships last season, she managed to improve to a runner-up finish and led the team in the process.
Crist and Schwartzer have been leading the pack for IU all season. The Hoosiers swept their first three meets and placed third at the Big Ten Championships and tied for second at regionals. Schwartzer finished fourth at regionals followed by Crist placing sixth, which was good enough for the two to qualify for nationals.
“They have consistently been really, really good,” Helmer said. “They have a chance to go in and run for All-American honors. I have all the confidence in the world that they’ll go out there and get it.”
Helmer said he thinks the men’s team was well deserving to advance to the national meet and said the Wisconsin Invitational, which it wasn’t invited to, is where all the teams who qualify for the national meet get their points.
Both Schwartzer and Crist will be graduating next spring, but they will have a chance to conclude their careers as Hoosiers with All-American honors.
Receveur still has two years left of eligibility, and the future looks bright for the women’s team, which is very young. The team will return Receveur along with fellow sophomore Brenna Calder who are the future leaders.
The women’s race this weekend will begin at 11 a.m. followed by the men’s race at 1 p.m.
“Katherine, Jason and Matt have the opportunity to bring home All-American honors, and for this race to be the guys’ last race is pretty special,” Helmer said.
