Cross teams finish season at NCAA Regionals
Junior Josh Gornall leads the pack at the Wabash College Hokum Karem on Sept. 5. The men’s and women’s teams competed at the NCAA Division II Midwest Regionals on Nov. 7, placing 15th and 16th overall.
By Samantha Cotten | Managing & Sports Editor
The Greyhound cross country teams ended their season at the NCAA Division II Midwest Regionals, despite ambitions to send several athletes on to Nationals. The men’s team finished 15th of 19 teams overall, while the women settled for a team 16th of 19 teams.
Leading the ‘Hounds was freshman Mark Martinez, who finished in 44th place in a time of 34:49. Senior Michael Landy ended his collegiate career in 62nd place with a time of 35:27, while freshman Ian O’Boyle followed close behind in 63rd place in a time of 35:29. Junior Josh Gornall and sophomore Andrew Piropato rounded out UIndy’s scoring, placing 83rd and 121st respectively.
“Ian [O’Boyle] ran a really good race for us. For him to be as high as he was; it was great,” Gornall said. “Everyone else ran poorly. We lost to a bunch of teams that we beat at conference.”
The Lady ‘Hounds were paced by freshman Stephanie Cave, who completed the course in 53rd place in a time of 24:08. Following Cave was fellow freshman Katherine Wilhelm in 73rd place with a finishing time of 24:36. Juniors Katie Boester and Lindsay Houvner and sophomore Michelle Lewis closed out the top 100 runners, placing 83rd, 92nd and 97th respectively.
Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Grand Valley State won both the men’s and women’s races, sending both teams to NCAA Division II Nationals later this month.
Despite a disappointing performance at Regionals, senior Cody Parks said he is optimistic for the future of the cross country teams.
“We were missing senior Kean Coy, who would have been a major contributor had he not been injured,” Parks said. “That being said, the team is graduating three seniors, two that competed Saturday and Kean [Coy]. We’re looking at some very talented recruits that very well could contribute right off the bat coming in. We have the potential to be even stronger next year.”
Both teams will be back in action in the next few weeks with the start of the indoor track and field season.
“From here we take a few days off and get right back into training for track, where we plan on being even more competitive in the conference,” Parks said. “Watch for a conference champ or two, and that DMR [distance medley relay] record to be broken again.”
