The Ball State University men's cross country team took 15 runners to the Indiana Open this past weekend to run a 7K with 52 other competitors. The non-scored meet was a good way for the team to get some racing experience and build confidence.
Senior Aaron Hoover started his season off well with a fourth-place finish and a time of 23:25.40. Hoover was only 15 seconds away from the winner of the meet, who was University of South Florida's Sean Burris. He ran a 23:10.58.
After Hoover, two freshmen had impressive performances, getting their collegiate careers off to a good start by placing in the top 10. Justin Stadt finished in sixth place with a time of 23:32.90 and Jeff Kent finished eighth with a time of 23:44.71.
"I couldn't be more happy with them, to go out in their first collegiate meet and not be intimidated," said Student Assistant Michael Johnson about the freshmen.
Sophomore Zach Scherer and Senior Steve Samuel, two runners expected to make an immediate impact, also had strong finishes. Scherer finished 11th with a time of 23:05.36 and Samuel finished 13th with a time of 24:05.36.
Rounding out the top 20 were freshmen Sean Dillon and Stephen Cohen and junior Kevin Lister. Dillon finished 17th with a time of 24:16.86, Lister finished 19th with 24:21.08, and Cohen finished 20th with 24:25.66.
One runner was missing from compition this weekend. Senior Sal Impellitteri has been battling a hip problem the past few weeks. Impellitteri was one of the top runners last season and is expected to be instrumental to this year's team. He led the team last year at the Great Lakes Regional with a 76th place finish. He is expected to compete in two weeks at the Miami Invitational.
"We're going to use these next two weeks to keep getting really fit," Johnson said.
In two weeks, the team will travel to Oxford, Ohio to compete in the Miami Invitational. Miami has always been one of Ball State's biggest rivals and the meet will be the team's toughest test so far.
Other finishers
Justin Gauthier, 22nd, 24:49.82
Kyle Hinkleman, 23rd, 24:53.41
Alan Hemmelgarn, 26th, 25:04.76
Cory Leas, 28th, 25:09.53
Jeremy Smith, 32nd, 25:31.17
Brad Dyke, 44th, 27:21.13
Alex Marchbanks, 48th, 27:38.52
Newcomers finish fifth, eighth in collegiate debuts
Junior Jill Scully started her season off the best way she could with a first-place finish at the Butler Open this past weekend. Scully's time of 18:10 set the mark for the meet, which was non-scored.
As predicted, Scully and her teammates Sarah Huddleston and Crystal Meeks were the top three runners for the team. Huddleston took second at the open with a time of 18:28 and Meeks took fourth with a time of 18:39.
Somewhat of a surprise for Head Coach Sue Parks was the performance of freshmen Rose Lehe and Amanda Ponsot. In their first-ever collegiate meet, Lehe and Ponsot finished fifth and eighth respectively. Lehe had a time of 19:04, putting her in the number four team spot, while Ponsot had a time of 19:41 putting her in the number five team spot. Both freshmen would have scored points for the team, had it been a scored meet.
"I was pleased with them from day one," said Parks about the freshmen. "They've done well with training over the last week and a half and carried it over to the race."
Nicole Hartford, Aubrey Gaffer and Lindsay Keazer filled the 10th through 12th place spots respectively with times of 19:49, 19:59 and 20:09.
Also competing was Lindsay Moldstad, who finished 18th with a time of 20:47. Linda Stebbins was the only runner that did not compete.
"We obviously need to close the gap between the fourth and fifth runner," Parks said when discussing ways to improve the team.
The team will have two weeks off before they start competing within the conference at the Miami Invitational.
"We're going to be working really hard these next few weeks," Parks said.
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