After five straight years of finishing either first or second in the Mid-American Conference, the women's cross country team will have to recover from the loss of its two top runners in order to reach the top of the MAC again.
"We'd like to continue to be one of the best teams in the conference," head coach Sue Parks said. "We know we lost some off of last year's team, so it's going to be a difficult task."
When Ball State won the MAC two years ago, the team went through an off-season similar to this year's.
"The year we won it, we had lost our top two runners from the year before, too," Parks said. "We know it will be tough without Jill Scully and Sarah Huddleston, but I think the girls that are left are up to the challenge."
Scully, who has one year left of eligibility in indoor and outdoor track, was the team's top runner last year. She advanced to the NCAA Championships, where she finished 52nd.
Junior Rose Lehe and senior Nicole Hartford are primed to take over as the top two runners for the team, Parks said. Lehe finished 16th at the conference meet last year, followed by Hartford's 26th-place finish.
The team adds two strong incoming freshmen to the team in Vanessa Gilbert and Alli Grissom. Parks said Gilbert should be an instant contributor to the team.
"She is somebody we will be expecting really big things from," Parks said. "She should step right in and be in our top five."
There was a three-way battle last year for the MAC crown between Ball State, Kent State and Akron. Ball State ended up falling to Kent State by only two points at the conference meet. The same three teams are predicted to be at the top of the MAC again this year.
"I expect Kent and Akron to be strong again, and Toledo had a little bit of a down year last year, but I expect them to be up there this year," Parks said.
The team will open the season at the Butler Open on Sept. 2, but the team's first major meet will be at the Indiana Intercollegiates. It will be the first test for the team in a race against the best schools in the state, including Indiana and Purdue. Parks said that although winning is important during the regular season, it is all preparation for the MAC and NCAA championship races.
"We just want to run well in the season and put ourselves in a good position when the conference rolls around," Parks said.
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