ISU women run first full-team meet on familiar ground
September 8, 2006
In its first full-team meet, the ISU women’s cross country team gears to continue its momentum this week in its only home meet – the ISU Open.
The ISU Open begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the ISU Cross Country Course, west of the Towers residence complex.
The Cyclones – racing only five of their 17 runners – placed all of their competitors in the top 15 last Friday in the Drake Fall Classic in Des Moines against regional competition that included the University of Northern Iowa and Drake University.
Freshman Kelsey Bulat won last week’s meet, finishing the 4,000 meter course in 14 minutes, 21 seconds.
“I definitely was not expecting it,” Bulat said. “It was my first college run, and I didn’t know what to expect.”
However, Bulat said she is not really setting goals.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself or stress myself out,” Bulat said. “I am looking forward to seeing what I can do and what the team can do this season.”
FASTTRAK
Women’s Schedule:
>>Drake Fall Classic
3:30 p.m. Sept. 01 – at Des Moines
>>ISU Open
10 a.m. Sept. 09 – at Ames
>>Roy Griak Invitational
11:20 a.m. Sept. 23 – at Minneapolis
>>SDSU Classic
TBA Sept. 30 – at Brookings, S.D.
>>Chili Pepper Invite
TBA Oct. 14 – at Fayetteville, AR
>>Big 12 Championships
11 a.m. Oct. 27 – at Lawrence, Kan.
>>NCAA Regional
11 a.m. Nov. 11 – at Minneapolis
>>NCAA Championships
11 a.m. Nov. 20 – at Terre Haute, Ind.
>>USA XC Championships
TBA Feb. 10 – at Boulder, Colo.
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The Cyclones will run 12 women in this meet, which will not have team scores.
Coach Dick Lee said this is the first chance for the majority of the team to race, so the team will try to keep this from being a really intense meet.
“We are looking forward to getting some of the runners their first racing experience of the year and to get them kids for the Minnesota meet in two weeks,” Lee said. “We are going to kind of keep this meet pretty low key as well.”
The other teams running in this meet include Morningside College in Sioux City, North Iowa Area Community College, North Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota.
Junior Lisa Koll said this meet is a good measuring stick to see where the team is now.
“It is an opener, you can kind of see where you are at,” Koll said. “You get your first taste of competition, but it is pretty relaxed, and we’ll go out and see what we can do.”
Koll won the 2005 ISU Open, finishing the 5K course in 19:17.63.
She said she would like to win again this year, but mostly wants to improve on her time from last year.
“A win is definitely my goal,” Koll said. “I did a lot more training this summer than last summer, so to see the improvement from last year would be great to give me confidence in upcoming meets.”
In addition, Koll said the team, especially the top five, is looking for times that are much faster than last year’s.
“Just overall improvement on our times from last year is our goal,” Koll said.
The ISU athletic department will also host an ISU Fun Run, open to the public, at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The course will be the 2-mile loop of the ISU cross country course beginning at the starting line. There is no entry fee, and no awards will be handed out.
Other cross country resources from ISD:
Cyclone men stretch their legs at Drake race (09/01)
(W) Drake Fall Classic gives team chance to tune up (09/01)
