Cross country travels to Terre Haute for NCAA Midwest Regional

Runner Cayla Eckenroth fights for the lead during the Butler Twilight meet at Northview Church on Sept. 1, in Carmel, IN. Eckenroth finished second in the 5K with a time of 18:27.3. Kyle Crawford, DN File
Runner Cayla Eckenroth fights for the lead during the Butler Twilight meet at Northview Church on Sept. 1, in Carmel, IN. Eckenroth finished second in the 5K with a time of 18:27.3. Kyle Crawford, DN File

Ball State cross country will travel to Terre Haute to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional meet this weekend.

As this could be the last meet of the season, distance coach Raynee DeGrio is ready to keep pushing through the rest of the season and end on a good note.

“Some of the pressure of the conference meet is off a little bit and this weekend is a good opportunity to cap off our season on a good note and continue to make forward progress for us as a program,” DeGrio said.

Senior Jessican Bryzek, sophomores Maritza Rodriguez, Hannah Cummings, Booke Talhelm, Peyton Kneadler, Stephanie McElhaney and freshman Cayla Eckenroth will be making the trip so compete.

As it put a lot of effort into the conference meet last weekend, the team has been taking it easy in preparation for this weekend.

“We want to do a lot better than what we did at conference,” Bryzek said.  “Conference was a little disappointing so we are looking to go out with a bang, work really hard and looking forward to the last run because we know we have a lot more in the tank.”

As they head into the regional meet, the Cardinals have one goal in mind.

“I can’t remember when we were in the top 20 in the region as a team, so for us to be in the top 20 as a team would be a really good day," DeGrio said. "Individually, I want to see more people get personal bests like last weekend and just keep improving. If we can beat a couple of teams from our conference, that would be great."

Ball State will see familiar faces from the Mid-American Conference, as every team from the MAC will be there besides Northern Illinois and Buffalo. 

“There will be ten MAC schools, the host school, a bunch of Big 10 schools and some of the top programs in our country are in the region as well, so it is good competition for sure,” DeGrio said.

The Cardinals will be competing this Friday on the Lavern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The starting time is to be announced.

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