Iowa women’s cross-country team is under pressure this weekend at the Big Ten championship meet on Nov. 1 in State, College, Pa.
The Hawkeye harriers enter the meet as ranked 23rd nationally in Division-I, behind conference foes Illinois (No. 13), Minnesota (No. 15), Penn State (No. 18), and Michigan (No. 22).
“This is what our season is about, and it’s one of the big things you aim toward every year,” Iowa women’s cross-country head coach Layne Anderson said. “I think we’re coming into this meet well-prepared, but it’s going to be competitive.”
The Big Ten meet has proven to be competitive for the Hawkeyes, who have placed anywhere from fifth to 11th in the last six years. In 2008, Iowa placed sixth, but Anderson said his team aims to move into the top three or four spots this time around.
Iowa’s focus throughout the season — and for this race specifically — is to run as a pack, which is something the Hawkeye have achieved thus far.
In their last meet, the NCAA Pre-Nationals, the first five Hawkeyes finished within 30 seconds of each other. It’s an accomplishment that Anderson said puts Iowa in “good shape.”
But the challenge this weekend will be maintaining a pack up with other teams.
“I think we’ve had a pretty low spread from our [No.] 1-5 runners all season,” senior captain Hannah Roeder said. “We just need to work on running with packs from other teams.”
She said Minnesota, Illinois, and Penn State are the most important teams to beat. While the Big Ten meet is not the end-all of the Iowa season, she said, it is more of a competition for “bragging rights.”
But although this is not a significant meet during the postseason, Anderson said, it is a significant indicator of the team’s success during the season. It is also a chance for the women to finish ahead of teams from other regions, which will gain them at-large points toward qualifying for the NCAA championship in November.
Iowa has only contended with a handful of other Big Ten teams thus far, and the Hawkeyes will meet Northwestern, Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, and Purdue for the first time this season in Happy Valley.
Junior Amanda Hardesty will compete in the conference championship for the third time as a Hawkeye. This is “the part of the season we get really excited about,” she said.
As the team closes out its schedule, the harriers have geared their workouts toward different aspects of racing, focusing on not straining their bodies. The goal is to peak later during the season, and Hardesty said the Hawkeyes are getting there. But they have yet to peak.
Her enthusiasm stems from confidence in her team’s intensive practices and training regimens for the past few months. Although Iowa lost its 2008 superstar runner in Racheal Marchand to graduation, Hardesty said she and the Hawkeyes are not worried about finishing strongly without her.
“We have the depth we haven’t had before, which has definitely played to our advantage this year,” Hardesty said. “It will definitely be a really close meet, and it is not clear who is going to be the Big Ten champion.”