The cross-country roster possesses great depth heading into its first meet.

By Adam Hensley
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Thirteen. Some see this number as an ominous, unlucky sign of disastrous events to come, but not everyone.

“Hopefully, lucky 13,” head cross-country coach Layne Anderson said as he enters his 13th year of coaching at Iowa, his second with the men’s program.

Superstition aside, the men’s cross-country team looks to surge ahead with a young, yet experienced group of runners. Iowa ranks seventh in the preseason rankings in the Midwest Region, with its first meet at 6 p.m.today in the Hawkeye Early Bird Invitational at the Ashton Cross-Country Course.

Sophomore Michael Melchert churned out an impressive freshman year for the Hawks in 2014. He acknowledged his solid start, but he wants to improve.

“I obviously want to build on that,” he said. “I’d like to get top 20 in the Big Ten and then become all-regional.”

“Michael has some big goals, and I believe the talent to achieve them,” Anderson said. “He is certainly one to watch this fall and beyond.”

There were only two runners to compete in all seven races last season. One of those, junior Ben Anderson, believes that gives him an advantage going into the year

“I got a lot of experience last year,” he said. “Running in all the meets was huge going into my junior year.”

The team aims to run as one, Anderson said.

“We are all taking the approach of running as a unit, being cohesive,” he said.

Layne Anderson believes that Ben Anderson has improved and should be one of the top guys on the team, someone to watch — and that’s coming from a coach who has seen a lot.

The Hawkeyes possess a significant number of true freshmen on the roster — 14, including two state champions in Daniel Soto and Eric Lenz. With a coach as experienced as Layne Anderson, the newcomers can feed off his experience.

“We are a young team but talented and looking ahead to some great performances both this year and beyond,” the coach said.

The Hawkeyes have only one senior on the team, Anthony Gregorio. Taylor Soltys is a junior. Gregorio looks to be one of the leaders for the younger runners, being the other runner aside from Ben Anderson who ran in all seven races last season.

“You just want to show them the ropes. Obviously, college is a whole new beast from high school,” Gregorio said. “The best way is to lead through example.”

Also leading through example, Kevin Lewis, first-team All-Big Ten in 2014, and Jon Michael Brandt will coach this season; both are former Iowa runners.

“They have been where these guys are, so they can share their experience and perhaps help others avoid the traps and setbacks,” Layne Anderson said.

“The potential for this group is tremendous, and I am excited to see each day the progress being made,” he said. “There is quite a bit of talent on the roster, and our goal is to work together as a team to achieve even greater success.”

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