When the Cardinals toe the starting line in Bloomington Sept. 16, they’ll get a chance to see where they stand in the hierarchy of Indiana cross country.
With runners from Indiana, Indiana State, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Purdue lining up next to Ball State in the Indiana Intercollegiate Championships, distance coach Raynee DeGrio said the Cardinals need a strong showing.
“We’re trying to build one of the top programs in the state,” she said. “Doing well in meets like this is indicative of where we’re at with that. There’s a lot of really good talent in the state and a lot of really good programs. We certainly want to be one of them, and I think we’re on our way to doing that.”
In their last meet, the Butler Open, the Cardinals finished third out of four teams. DeGrio said she loves the progress her team has made since then.
“We’ve gotten in a lot of really good training since [the Butler Open],” DeGrio said. “The competition gets progressively tougher each weekend that we race, so we’re excited about this opportunity.”
Ball State will also get a second chance at besting IUPUI this season. In the Butler Open, the Cardinals finished one point behind the second-place Jaguars — though Ball State freshman Hannah Cummings finished in 19:06.3, 4.5 seconds before IUPUI’s top finisher, freshman Shelby Pake, crossed the line.
The Indiana Intercollegiate Championships will be held at the IU cross country course in Bloomington.
