September 1, 2005
Cross Country
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PICKED TO FIRST IN MVC;
WOMEN TABBED FOURTH

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The head men’s cross country coaches of the Missouri Valley Conference have picked the Indiana State Sycamores to finish first in preseason balloting. ISU’s women’s squad was chosen fourth by the head women’s cross country coaches of the MVC.
   The Sycamore men garnered nine of the ten first-place votes to finish with a total of 99 points. Indiana State shared the 2004 conference championship with Southern Illinois, which was picked second, earning 82 points. Missouri State picked up a first-place vote and came in third with 77 points, followed by Drake (73) and Wichita State (58). Evansville, Bradley, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, and Creighton rounded out the poll.
   Indiana State authored the greatest turnaround in Missouri Valley Conference history last season, winning a share of the conference championship after finishing seventh in 2003. The Trees return seven of its top ten runners from a year ago.
   Wichita State and Southern Illinois tied for first place in the women’s poll with 93 points. The Shockers garnered six first-place votes, while the Salukis earned three. Missouri State picked up the final first-place vote and totaled 82 points to earn third place. ISU garnered 69 points to come in fourth, followed by Illinois State. Northern Iowa, Bradley, Drake, Creighton, and Evansville completed the women’s poll.
   During head coach John Gartland’s 17-year tenure as head women’s cross country coach, he has led the Sycamores to two conference titles, and has finished in the top three of the conference eleven times. Most recently, the ISU women’s cross country team has placed third in the MVC Conference Meet in 2000, 2001, and 2003.
   ISU’s women’s team posted a fifth-place finish at the conference championships last season. The Sycamores have traditionally bounced back under Gartland, as they have finished no worse than third following fifth-place finishes in 1996 and 1999.
   Both teams begin the season on Saturday, September 3, when the Sycamores participate in the Evansville Early Bird Invitational.