25. Illinois Fighting Illini
24. Villanova Wildcats
23. Eastern Michigan Eagles
22. Iowa State Cyclones
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys
20. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
19. Michigan State Spartans
18. Boise State Broncos
17. Washington State Cougars
16. Indiana Hoosiers
15. Washington Huskies
14. Eastern Kentucky Colonials
13. BYU Cougars
12. Wisconsin Badgers
11. Furman Paladins
10. Virginia Cavaliers
9. Colorado State Rams
8. Norther Arizona Lumberjacks
7. Arkansas Razorbacks
6. Colorado Buffaloes
5. Iona Gaels
16. Indiana Hoosiers
Flotrack’s #16: Furman Paladins
Flotrack's Ranking of Indiana: 17th
Coach: Ron Helmer
Flotrack's Ranking of Indiana: 17th
Coach: Ron Helmer
Notable Departures: Rorey Hunter, Owen Skeete
Notable Additions: Ben Veatch
Projected Scoring Five: Matthew Schwartzer (SR) [ET#41], Jason Crist (SR), Kyle DuVall (JR), Ben Veatch (FR), Carl Smith (SR)
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It wasn't the exact spot, but Flotrack and I seem to be on the same page about what we can expect from the Hoosiers this season. They're a talented program and very deep, but will have to face the always competitive BIG 10 conference and Great Lakes region.
Just like Boise State, Indiana started off last fall with their best man (Schwartzer) sidelined for the rest of the season. The Princeton Inter-regional was the first stop for the Hoosiers as they began they're 2015 campaign and it would also be the place where they recorded a team title by defeating teams like Columbia and Virginia Tech. But what goes up, must come down. Indiana placed 16th at Wisconsin which didn't seem as promising as their victory at Princeton.
BIG 10's was just the same as the Hoosiers placed a respectable, but unexciting 4th place overall. The Hoosiers would need to go into Great Lakes and pull off a performance similar to 2014 if they wanted to make nationals. That, however, did not happen and Indiana went home after they finished 5th overall.
There's no doubt that Indiana is a good team. They have experienced and proven seniors that give the team a sense of comfort and reliability. But as last season showed, they needed to find a spark and bring back some excitement.
Luckily, Matthew Schwartzer is the long-awaited low-stick that will bring some excitement up-front to the Hoosiers. Assuming he can stay healthy, he'll be the reason Indiana goes from a good team to a great team.
Jason Crist, on the other-hand, will be an excellent number two man. He has put together some really solid races throughout his time at Indiana like his two top-10 finishes at BIG 10's and his 7:56 3k on the track. If he can simply repeat what he did last year, that should be good enough for the Hoosiers to get past teams like Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and maybe Michigan State.
Then there are others like Kyle DuVall who has shown us spurts of just how good he can be. He was 4th Princeton Inter-regional and then 25th at Great Lakes. He will have to be a bit more consistent in 2016, but his strong series of mile races this past winter and spring makes him primed for a more impactful cross country season.
But just like Andrew Jordan of Iowa State and Justin Janke of Washington State, incoming freshman Ben Veatch could be the x-factor that makes Indiana that much more dangerous. His two-mile PR of 8:50 leaves me wondering what kind of potential he holds. Young guys have seemed to do pretty well at Indiana, so this may a great time for Veatch to enter the program before so many of Indiana's top guys graduate.
The final scorer, however, is up for debate. Carl Smith seems like the easy choice as he has been in and out of the varsity scoring for the last year. However, I am a big fan of guys like Bryce Millar and Kyle Mau who are coming off of their redshirt freshman seasons. They seem to have plenty of talent that we just don't know about (Millar ran 14:12 this past spring) and I think we'll finally see it in the coming months.
Others in the mix for the fifth man spot could be Eric Claxton or Mark Chandler. Chandler boasts a PR of 13:59, but hasn't always been to crazy during cross country. Claxton, on the other hand, doesn't quite have the flashy PR's, but he is always super consistent. Whatever the case may be, Indiana has an array of depth to back them up.
Whether it's the new guys entering the program that are hungry to prove themselves, or the experienced juniors or seniors readying themselves for one last effort to make nationals, this team is primed for something special. The Hoosiers may not have Rorey Hunter and Owen Skeete, but they get their ace back and have enough support to make this team a true contender to qualify for the big dance in Terre Haute.
It wasn't the exact spot, but Flotrack and I seem to be on the same page about what we can expect from the Hoosiers this season. They're a talented program and very deep, but will have to face the always competitive BIG 10 conference and Great Lakes region.
Just like Boise State, Indiana started off last fall with their best man (Schwartzer) sidelined for the rest of the season. The Princeton Inter-regional was the first stop for the Hoosiers as they began they're 2015 campaign and it would also be the place where they recorded a team title by defeating teams like Columbia and Virginia Tech. But what goes up, must come down. Indiana placed 16th at Wisconsin which didn't seem as promising as their victory at Princeton.
BIG 10's was just the same as the Hoosiers placed a respectable, but unexciting 4th place overall. The Hoosiers would need to go into Great Lakes and pull off a performance similar to 2014 if they wanted to make nationals. That, however, did not happen and Indiana went home after they finished 5th overall.
There's no doubt that Indiana is a good team. They have experienced and proven seniors that give the team a sense of comfort and reliability. But as last season showed, they needed to find a spark and bring back some excitement.
Luckily, Matthew Schwartzer is the long-awaited low-stick that will bring some excitement up-front to the Hoosiers. Assuming he can stay healthy, he'll be the reason Indiana goes from a good team to a great team.
Jason Crist, on the other-hand, will be an excellent number two man. He has put together some really solid races throughout his time at Indiana like his two top-10 finishes at BIG 10's and his 7:56 3k on the track. If he can simply repeat what he did last year, that should be good enough for the Hoosiers to get past teams like Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and maybe Michigan State.
Then there are others like Kyle DuVall who has shown us spurts of just how good he can be. He was 4th Princeton Inter-regional and then 25th at Great Lakes. He will have to be a bit more consistent in 2016, but his strong series of mile races this past winter and spring makes him primed for a more impactful cross country season.
But just like Andrew Jordan of Iowa State and Justin Janke of Washington State, incoming freshman Ben Veatch could be the x-factor that makes Indiana that much more dangerous. His two-mile PR of 8:50 leaves me wondering what kind of potential he holds. Young guys have seemed to do pretty well at Indiana, so this may a great time for Veatch to enter the program before so many of Indiana's top guys graduate.
The final scorer, however, is up for debate. Carl Smith seems like the easy choice as he has been in and out of the varsity scoring for the last year. However, I am a big fan of guys like Bryce Millar and Kyle Mau who are coming off of their redshirt freshman seasons. They seem to have plenty of talent that we just don't know about (Millar ran 14:12 this past spring) and I think we'll finally see it in the coming months.
Others in the mix for the fifth man spot could be Eric Claxton or Mark Chandler. Chandler boasts a PR of 13:59, but hasn't always been to crazy during cross country. Claxton, on the other hand, doesn't quite have the flashy PR's, but he is always super consistent. Whatever the case may be, Indiana has an array of depth to back them up.
Whether it's the new guys entering the program that are hungry to prove themselves, or the experienced juniors or seniors readying themselves for one last effort to make nationals, this team is primed for something special. The Hoosiers may not have Rorey Hunter and Owen Skeete, but they get their ace back and have enough support to make this team a true contender to qualify for the big dance in Terre Haute.
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