Indiana men’s and women’s cross country teams took third place at the Sam Bell Invitational on Aug. 30 in Bloomington. The Hoosiers hosted the event at the Sam Bell Cross Country Course, where they raced against Indiana State University, the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Cincinnati.
Indiana State and Cincinnati placed ahead of Indiana in first and second, respectively.
The women ran a 4k and the men ran a 6k during the meet. Indiana had six men and nine women perform for their respective teams.
Each Hoosier who raced put up a personal best time, though first-year head coach Eric Hines expects more from the squad.
“As the first meet of the year, it’s never as great as you want it to be,” Hines said. "There's some things we did well, and there’s some things we need to work on.”
Four Hoosiers placed in the top 10 for the invitational: freshman Mary Eubank with a time of 14:40.41, senior Elka McFarland with a time of 14:35.73, sophomore Katelyn Winton clocking in at 14:23.73 and Nate Killeen with a final time of 18.44.52.
Although this event was not the perfect result for Indiana, Hines said the team can use it as a learning opportunity and grow from it.
“I’m really excited for the rest of the season,” Hines said. “You know, this is truly a rust-buster for us. I look at this meet as pre-season."
Hines also said the meet was an opportunity for younger and older runners to compete at home and prepare for the upcoming season.
This invitational starts the cross country regular season for the Hoosiers. Indiana has its sights set on the Big Ten Preview on Sept. 12 in Savoy, Illinois.
