The 2024 cross country season is coming to a close for the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds.
Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Brad Robinson said he is looking forward to watching the athletes compete and transition into track season.
The UIndy cross country team traveled to the University of Illinois Springfield this past Saturday, Oct. 26. The men placed sixth in team competition while the women’s team placed tenth, according to UIndy Athletics. Junior Felix Revit placed second overall, earning All-GLVC honors and setting a new school record for the 8-kilometer race that had stood for nine years.
In the weeks preparing for the GLVC championships, Robinson said his athletes endured heavy training with the women running 40-50 miles a week. The men’s heavy-training weeks were 80+ miles a week. Robinson said in the days before the conference, the mileage decreased so athletes could recover and prepare for a quality race.
Robinson said he is excited to watch these athletes move to regionals and potentially the national level. Athletes that could be competing at this caliber, he said, are Revit who is leading the men’s team, freshman Conyer Wilson who is showing his strength as an athlete within his first year and senior Tom Saint-Juvin who is a good competitor and shows up in championship meets.
“On the ladies side, junior Emma Gaston will be leading the charge for us,” Robinson said. “If things really came together and she had a phenomenal race, there’s a chance to be top 20 and be all conference.”
Athletes who qualify at conference will be moving on to regionals at Lewis University in Illinois on Nov. 9. The national meet is in Sacramento, California, on Nov. 23.
Robinson said he is very happy with how the athletes have run this season and is excited to see how training this season will affect race times for indoor track and field season starting on Dec. 6. The cross country team is made up of 400-800 meter runners, hurdlers and multis. This means that a lot of the athletes on this team are not specifically training for these long distance races but are competing to help their performances with their main event in the spring.
“I do feel optimistic and strong about the trajectory for where we are headed for the track season,” Robinson said. “We are going to look to build off that momentum and keep that going into the track season as well.”
