By Adam Hensley
Hawkeye cross-country will return to the Ashton Cross-Country Course Saturday for the Regional Preview.
The day will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the women’s 6,000-meter run, the men follow with the 8,000-meters at 9:15 a.m.
Compared with Iowa’s previous meet, the Roy Griak Invitational, this weekend features a much smaller competition field: two teams besides Iowa on the men’s side (South Dakota and Western Illinois) and six on the women’s (Illinois, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, South Dakota, and Western Illinois).
“It really gives us a chance to regenerate and get ready for the pre-national meet in Terre Haute [Indiana],” coach Randy Hasenbank said.
The Regional Preview invited Midwest Regional teams — those who choose to participate come with the intent of figuring out the course and getting a feel for the environment, because the NCAA Regional meet will be held in Iowa City on Nov. 11.
Not all of the top teams in the Midwest will travel to the Ashton Cross-Country Course. Some have a good enough understanding of how the course is set up that they declined the invitation to either rest or participate in another meet.
The teams planning on coming to Iowa City are not to be taken lightly, however.
Northern Illinois (No. 7 in the Midwest) and Northwestern (No. 11) highlight the women’s competition, while South Dakota (No. 8) is the only team participating that ranks higher than the Iowa men.
At the Griak, the Hawkeyes went head-to-head with their toughest competition so far this season.
“Everything was pretty much standard — the meet went true to the rankings.” Hasenbank said.
The men finished 15th out of 29 teams. They managed to topple Oklahoma, which came into the meet at 19th in the nation, No. 4 in the Midwest.
Senior Ben Anderson proved to be one of the bright spots in Minneapolis and a key scorer. The Clive native’s 25:50 time earned him 34th-place in a field that featured more than 260 runners.
After finishing what he called “the best race of [his] career,” Anderson hopes that he’s found his rhythm and aims to take the rest of the season in stride.
“As a leader for this team, I want to be consistent for my guys,” he said. “We all run for each other, and I don’t want to let them down. That’s the biggest thing for me; I hate letting my teammates down. That drives me to be successful.”
The women failed to finish better than the men, coming in at 24th out of 34 teams. Senior Tess Wilberding was the fastest Hawkeye (23:23, 91st), and sophomore Andrea Shine was only four seconds behind.
Shine credits the success of her race to focusing on maintaining her position, staying comfortable yet being at a level where she could compete.
“I was able to move up and pass some girls without settling into too much of a pack,” she said. “I think around the 4K mark I got somewhat complacent. This weekend, I’d like to work on my mental strength, staying strong when the rest of the field starts to get tired.”
Having three home meets in a season, the Hawkeyes look forward to every opportunity to show off in front of the home fans.
“We have a really great course here in Iowa City,” Shine said. “Every opportunity we get to race out here is exciting. Knowing the ins and outs of the course adds a competitive edge that makes the racing pretty fun.”