The Indiana cross country team concluded its season at the Great Lakes Regional on Friday at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin.
The men placed seventh out of 30 teams in their first and only 10k test of the season. They finished behind No. 12 Butler — the regional champions with 43 points — and No. 5 Wisconsin who placed second with 70 points. The women were 10th out of 32 teams, finishing with 349 points. No. 9 Notre Dame earned the regional title with 39 points and No. 23 Wisconsin was second with 71 points.
The top two teams from each regional earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Nov. 18, with the rest of the 31-team field to be filled out by 13 at-large teams selected by the NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee. Most of those teams will consist of the third- and- fourth- place teams from the nine regional competitions.
On the men’s side, the Hoosiers saw four personal bests as well as two bests from junior Travis Hickner and freshman Brayden Henkle in their first collegiate 10k. Graduate students Austin Haskett and Skylar Stidam led the team with 30th and 39th place finishes, respectively. Haskett earned a new best time of 30:26.7, as did Stidam who finished in 30:40.2, followed closely by sophomore Abe Eckman who was 30th with a personal best of 30:40.3.
Martin Segurola — a junior transfer who was a key part of the Hoosiers’ success this season and was recently named a B1G Sportsmanship Award Honoree — was absent in this race due to an injury.
“Martin when moving up to the 10k had a little bit of an injury in his lower leg so we’re holding him out of this race, just to make sure he’s ready to go for the indoor track season,” Indiana head coach Eric Heins said before the meet.
The women were led by senior Phoebe Bates who finished 55th with a time of 21:32.0. She was followed by senior Mariah Wehrle who placed 62nd with a time of 21:39.1. Wehrle, an individual qualifier for last year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships, returned to racing after not being able to compete at the Big Ten Championship.
“We missed Mariah at the Big Ten meet because she had a sort of freak injury come up, but that didn’t keep her out for too long,” Heins said. “It’s exciting to have her back in the mix.”
The Great Lakes Regional was Indiana’s second meet in a row at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, and they looked to use their knowledge of the course to their advantage.
“They know what to expect, they know where the hills are, how to attack those hills and also how to save a little bit of energy for the second half of the race,” Heins said.
At the Big Ten Championships, the Hoosiers encountered mud and rain in Madison that proved challenging to their individual and team performances.
“I think with the makeup of our team that having the course in better conditions should help them out with being confident and being able to run their style of race,” Heins said.
The team capped off their first cross country season under the direction of Heins, and look to build on this success moving forward.
The Hoosiers return for their indoor track and field season to host the Indiana Early Bird Meet at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse on Dec. 8.
