Indiana Intercollegiates Meet Summary: September 18, 2009
I am posting this article on the cusp of the teams biggest meet of the year this weekend at Notre Dame. I would suggest that last Friday didn't go as the Sycamores would have hoped, however it doesn't end their season by any stretch of the imagination. This interview with one of the team leaders Junior Eric Schultz really helps us all understand why this meet means less than it ever has before.
My View:
Who really cares what my view is? We all know that I couldn't run cross country in highschcool let alone college... Ok ok, I will give my take anyhow. It was really nice to see the entire team run their first meet together, the weather was perfect - but the course was as dry as I have ever seen it. I think going into the meet we all knew that IU was going to be strong, but we all figured that the Sycamores were deep enough to win the meet. I really believe if we were to run this meet again their would be a different outcome, at least the Sycamores would be a little more competitive. However my understanding is the guys have really been working hard and putting in big miles and they came out a little flat. The guys were just unable to answer IU's move 5k into the race, thus they got their ass handed to them. I would suggest that this was not such a bad thing for a couple reasons. One being this is a young team and they can learn a lot from a meet like this and two finishing second in this meet is not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination.
Post Race Interview:
sycamorerunner.com: Eric needless to say I am sure you are a bit frustrated with the way the meet went today. But did the race go the way you expected it as far as race strategy or did IU do something out of the norm?
Eric: I am frustrated with how things went. We stayed together as a team for the first 5k but when the move was made at the 5k mark the whole team did not respond. IU covered the move very well which was normal for them. Personally I felt flat and tired after the 5k mark. I would always like to move with the top ISU guy and help them move the whole team up but it was not my day.
sycamorerunner.com: Yeah, it looked like most of the guys were a little flat. What if anything could you have done differently as a team to change the outcome of the meet?
Eric: We didn't go with Disher as a team at the 5k mark. We need to have a strong second half of the race, and we did not do that today. This will be very important for our team in the next couple of weeks. That will take being mentally strong and believing in our training.
sycamorerunner.com: In the past Sycamore teams have preformed very well at this meet in the past then fallen off the face of the earth, I don't think this will be the end of the world? In your opinion how important was having a good performance in this meet to getting an at large bid to nationals?
Eric: Not important at all. This meet was a confidence booster and for the winning team to have a year worth of bragging rights. These next 2 races are the races ISU need to show up at and turn some heads.
sycamorerunner.com: Everyone has to keep in mind that this is a young team, with that comes a bit of a learning curve, you all will be fine. The team had really been running really well coming into this meet, how do you really the troops and come back next week?
Eric: Well what I did was I told everyone that we are training very hard right now and that all of this work will pay off. We are getting stronger and all of this work will come easier later in the season. We are a tough strong team that has a lot of talent we need to keep our heads up and move on.
sycamorerunner.com: You can learn a lot about a team, seeing how that bounce back from a little adversity. Either you can lay down your come back fighting. Where are you all this coming weekend and what does the competition look like?
Eric: We will be running at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend IN. I know IL State and Southern IL will be there. These are two tough conference teams. There will also be a lot of Regional teams there. We will be trying to beat those teams so we can get some at large Bid points. This race is a fast course most of the time because it is on a golf course and there is a lot of good competition to compete with.
sycamorerunner.com: Eric good luck to you and the rest of the guys at Notre Dame this weekend. It appears their will be some great competition and a chance for this team to prove its self. Thanks for the interview and we look forward to hearing from you as the season progresses!
Results:
Place TmPl No. Name School Time
1 1 58 Rob Mullett BUTLER 24:44.6
2 2 265 Andrew Poore INDIANA 24:45.3
3 3 260 Andrew Bayer INDIANA 24:51.2
4 4 261 Cole Hardacre INDIANA 24:52.3
5 5 263 Zachary Mayhew INDIANA 24:57.4
6 6 269 Andrew Weatherford INDIANA 25:00.0
7 7 61 Madison Roeder BUTLER 25:05.1
8 8 483 Caden Shields PURDUE 25:12.2
9 9 296 Michael Disher INDIANA STATE 25:13.8
10 10 303 Eric Schulz INDIANA STATE 25:25.0
11 11 302 Craig Padgett INDIANA STATE 25:26.7
12 12 301 Andrew Lepkowski INDIANA STATE 25:30.8
13 13 294 Dustin Betz INDIANA STATE 25:36.5
14 14 300 Tyler Kent INDIANA STATE 25:38.5
15 15 299 Scott Keeney INDIANA STATE 25:45.7
16 16 410 Chase Kaufman IUPUI 25:48.0
17 306 Jeremiah Vaughan INDIANA STATE 25:53.2
18 17 409 Joe Hoffman IUPUI 25:54.0
19 18 480 Simon Rogers PURDUE 25:58.2
20 19 456 Andy Williams MANCHESTER 26:00.6
I am posting this article on the cusp of the teams biggest meet of the year this weekend at Notre Dame. I would suggest that last Friday didn't go as the Sycamores would have hoped, however it doesn't end their season by any stretch of the imagination. This interview with one of the team leaders Junior Eric Schultz really helps us all understand why this meet means less than it ever has before.
My View:
Who really cares what my view is? We all know that I couldn't run cross country in highschcool let alone college... Ok ok, I will give my take anyhow. It was really nice to see the entire team run their first meet together, the weather was perfect - but the course was as dry as I have ever seen it. I think going into the meet we all knew that IU was going to be strong, but we all figured that the Sycamores were deep enough to win the meet. I really believe if we were to run this meet again their would be a different outcome, at least the Sycamores would be a little more competitive. However my understanding is the guys have really been working hard and putting in big miles and they came out a little flat. The guys were just unable to answer IU's move 5k into the race, thus they got their ass handed to them. I would suggest that this was not such a bad thing for a couple reasons. One being this is a young team and they can learn a lot from a meet like this and two finishing second in this meet is not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination.
Post Race Interview:
sycamorerunner.com: Eric needless to say I am sure you are a bit frustrated with the way the meet went today. But did the race go the way you expected it as far as race strategy or did IU do something out of the norm?
Eric: I am frustrated with how things went. We stayed together as a team for the first 5k but when the move was made at the 5k mark the whole team did not respond. IU covered the move very well which was normal for them. Personally I felt flat and tired after the 5k mark. I would always like to move with the top ISU guy and help them move the whole team up but it was not my day.
sycamorerunner.com: Yeah, it looked like most of the guys were a little flat. What if anything could you have done differently as a team to change the outcome of the meet?
Eric: We didn't go with Disher as a team at the 5k mark. We need to have a strong second half of the race, and we did not do that today. This will be very important for our team in the next couple of weeks. That will take being mentally strong and believing in our training.
sycamorerunner.com: In the past Sycamore teams have preformed very well at this meet in the past then fallen off the face of the earth, I don't think this will be the end of the world? In your opinion how important was having a good performance in this meet to getting an at large bid to nationals?
Eric: Not important at all. This meet was a confidence booster and for the winning team to have a year worth of bragging rights. These next 2 races are the races ISU need to show up at and turn some heads.
sycamorerunner.com: Everyone has to keep in mind that this is a young team, with that comes a bit of a learning curve, you all will be fine. The team had really been running really well coming into this meet, how do you really the troops and come back next week?
Eric: Well what I did was I told everyone that we are training very hard right now and that all of this work will pay off. We are getting stronger and all of this work will come easier later in the season. We are a tough strong team that has a lot of talent we need to keep our heads up and move on.
sycamorerunner.com: You can learn a lot about a team, seeing how that bounce back from a little adversity. Either you can lay down your come back fighting. Where are you all this coming weekend and what does the competition look like?
Eric: We will be running at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend IN. I know IL State and Southern IL will be there. These are two tough conference teams. There will also be a lot of Regional teams there. We will be trying to beat those teams so we can get some at large Bid points. This race is a fast course most of the time because it is on a golf course and there is a lot of good competition to compete with.
sycamorerunner.com: Eric good luck to you and the rest of the guys at Notre Dame this weekend. It appears their will be some great competition and a chance for this team to prove its self. Thanks for the interview and we look forward to hearing from you as the season progresses!
Results:
Place TmPl No. Name School Time
1 1 58 Rob Mullett BUTLER 24:44.6
2 2 265 Andrew Poore INDIANA 24:45.3
3 3 260 Andrew Bayer INDIANA 24:51.2
4 4 261 Cole Hardacre INDIANA 24:52.3
5 5 263 Zachary Mayhew INDIANA 24:57.4
6 6 269 Andrew Weatherford INDIANA 25:00.0
7 7 61 Madison Roeder BUTLER 25:05.1
8 8 483 Caden Shields PURDUE 25:12.2
9 9 296 Michael Disher INDIANA STATE 25:13.8
10 10 303 Eric Schulz INDIANA STATE 25:25.0
11 11 302 Craig Padgett INDIANA STATE 25:26.7
12 12 301 Andrew Lepkowski INDIANA STATE 25:30.8
13 13 294 Dustin Betz INDIANA STATE 25:36.5
14 14 300 Tyler Kent INDIANA STATE 25:38.5
15 15 299 Scott Keeney INDIANA STATE 25:45.7
16 16 410 Chase Kaufman IUPUI 25:48.0
17 306 Jeremiah Vaughan INDIANA STATE 25:53.2
18 17 409 Joe Hoffman IUPUI 25:54.0
19 18 480 Simon Rogers PURDUE 25:58.2
20 19 456 Andy Williams MANCHESTER 26:00.6