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2001 Men's
Cross Country Outlook
Attitude
wins Championships
The University of Southern
Indiana men’s cross country team wants to recapture the swagger it had in
the 1980s and early 1990s. The first step to regaining that intimidating
presence on the cross country course is to win the Great Lakes Valley
Conference Championship.
The last time USI captured
the GLVC title was in 1991, exactly 10 years ago, at Joe Creason Park in
Louisville, Kentucky, the sight of the 2001 championship.
“The thing that I like
about this team is the attitude,” said USI Head Coach Mike Hillyard.
“This team is far more talented than we were in 1991, but talent does not
win championships and these guys understand that.”
Leading the way for the
Eagles will be sophomore Joey Byrne (Georgetown, Kentucky). The
transfer from the University of Louisville sat out the 2000-01 year, but made
the most of his extended layoff by recording a personal best of 24:38 for an
8k last fall as an unattached runner. “Joey brings a lot to the team both in
terms of raw ability and leadership,” said Hillyard. “He has lofty goals
for this season and he has paid the price to attain them.”
He will rejoin high school
teammate Miles Krieger (Floyds Knobs, Indiana), a junior who has shared
90-to-100 mile training weeks with Byrne over the summer months. The Eagles
are expecting a rebounding year from Krieger after he recorded a 10k personal
best of 31:39 on the track in 2001. His accomplishments on the track were even
more spectacular considering he missed winter base training due to illness.
The Eagles and Hillyard also
will expect a strong return from sophomore Doug Schwartz (Centralia,
Illinois). Schwartz, who was USI’s third-best runner all season, placed 16th
in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional, despite training for only six
weeks due to an injury.
Hillyard said, “Last summer
Doug ran zero miles. This summer he has put in over 500 and we expect him to
be at least a minute better over the 10k which would put him at the font of
the pack at the regionals.”
Senior Jeff Rumsey
(Rising Sun, Indiana) and junior Mark Thurner (Hebron, Indiana) also
have picked up their training regimen. Rumsey finished third at the GLVC
indoor championships in both the 3k and 5k while Thurner scored in both the
steeplechase and 5k at the outdoor championships.
USI has sophomore Matt
Cronch (Valparaiso, Indiana) and sophomore Lance Sluder (Fairbanks,
Indiana) round out the top seven. Cronch was a top-five performer on three
different occasions last fall and will contend for a top-five spot again this
fall. Sluder, who ran third for USI in his first collegiate meet in 1999, was
sidelined by injuries the last 18 months, but appears to be healthy and ready
for the fall.
