Indiana cross country is set to begin its postseason with the Big Ten Championships at 10:45 a.m. Friday in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Indiana head coach Ron Helmer said he feels both the men’s and women’s teams are better now than they were last year. In the 2021 Big Ten Championships, the Hoosier men placed fourth and the women placed fifth.
Both teams are ready for this competition because of the challenges they faced so far this season, Helmer said. Indiana has regularly competed against some of the best programs in college cross country, such as Georgetown University, University of North Carolina and Northern Arizona University. Helmer said he hopes this has prepared the team to perform on the biggest stage when other schools in the conference may not have had the same challenges.
“Wisconsin has been the most successful, and Ohio State is the higher-ranking team, but they haven’t run against anybody that’s real good,” Helmer said. “It’s going to be really interesting, because are they that good or did they just choose their schedule a little differently than we did?”
Helmer explained the focus was not to go out with the mindset to beat other teams but rather to focus on their own team running a good race. Despite not focusing on the results, Helmer is confident they will top last year’s performance.
Another reason for Helmer’s confidence, he said, is the fact that both teams are comprised of many runners from last year.
“Basically the same people, and they are way more prepared than they’ve been in the past,” Helmer said. “It bodes well for them and they’re going to be really comfortable. It’ll be pretty exciting to see how that race unfolds.”
Graduate students Sarah Schmitt and Jake Gebhardt were Indiana’s top finishers last year with Schmitt placing 14th and Gebhardt placing 23rd. Both athletes will be running again this season after they have consistently placed high for Indiana all season thus far.
The Big Ten Championships begin at 10:45 a.m. with the women’s 6k and the men’s 8k at 11:45 a.m. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. You can watch the competition on BTN+.
