2004-05 Men's Basketball Schedule

August 4, 2005

2005 Women's Cross Country Preview

    Indiana State’s women’s cross country program has a rich tradition of performing well at the conference and national levels. In 2005, the team should be strong at the top of the order. If a number of young runners develop to give the team adequate depth, the Sycamores could be vastly improved over 2004, when they finished fifth in the Missouri Valley Championships. 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.
   “I have high hopes for this year’s team,” said Gartland. “We will have a great front-runner in Laura Engle, and very good depth at the numbers two through five with
returnees Heather Stembridge, Dani Prince, Sarah Jarvis, and Leah Durr. The key to our team’s success will be the depth after that.”
   Laura Engle, a junior from Terre Haute South, made a huge competitive jump in 2004. She ran 17:44 on Loyola’s 5,000 meter course to become ISU’s fourth fastest cross country runner ever at that distance. After she finished as ISU’s top runner at the MVC Meet (15th, 18:55), she had great seasons in both indoor and outdoor track. She
improved to 4:56.67 in the mile and anchored ISU’s conference champion distance medley relay in 4:53.8. Outdoors, she ran 4:33.53 in the 1,500 and 17:28.13 in the 5,000.
   Heather Stembridge enjoyed a very good freshman year for the Sycamores. She ran a 5k best in cross country of 18:15, and became ISU’s fourth all-time fastest over 6,000 meters running 22:41. She ran 2:18.22 in the 800 meters during the indoor track season, and ran 4:44.43 in the 1,500 during the outdoor campaign. Dani Prince, the third runner for the Sycamores for most of 2004, made huge improvements in all three sports also. Last fall, she improved to 18:35 and 23:28 for the 5k and 6k distances, respectively. Competing during the indoor track season, she ran 10:06.26 and 5:08.67, and outdoors, she raced to fourth place in the MVC 10,000, running a personal best time of 37:20.70.
   Sarah Jarvis, a senior from Indianapolis, finished the year as the team’s fourth runner. She finished as ISU’s second runner at the MVC Meet, placing 26th in 19:24. She owns cross country bests of 18:42 and 23:01, both from 2003. Junior Leah Durr looks to fill out the top five for Indiana State. Durr improved to 19:08 and 23:46 in 2004. She also ran 18:32.66 for the 5,000 and 11:20.05 for the steeplechase outdoors this past spring.
   Other veterans who could challenge for one of the top five spots in the cross country pecking order are Maile Venable, Ashley Taflinger, Margaret Reyling, Sarah Engle, Carolyn Magley, and Karla Negron. Venable was ISU’s number two runner in 2003, running 18:16 and 23:12. She missed both indoor and outdoor track in 2005 because of injury and may redshirt the cross country season. Taflinger, a fifth year senior, was one of the top 800 runners in the MVC in 2005, improving to 2:12.64. Reyling has run 2:18.22 and 4:40.96 during her career at ISU. Sarah Engle has run 20:43 and 25:37 for the cross country distances. Magley, who ran in ISU’s top five as a freshman, posted a 5k best of 19:14 despite battling injuries in 2004-05. Negron looks to improve upon her freshman year, when she struggled with lower leg injuries.
   Several newcomers could also challenge for spots among the top runners. Hannah Weide, a freshman from Homestead High School, has unique qualifications. She was the first female athlete in the 33-year history of the Indiana Girl’s State Meet to medal in both the 100 and the 800. She also competed in the state cross country meet in her freshman and sophomore years until basketball obligations conflicted in the fall. Stacey Dennis, one of the top runners in British Columbia, claims track bests of 4:45.0 (1,500) and 5:07.0 (mile). In 2004, she placed second in her high school district cross country
championships.
   Emily Pugh, a freshman from Northview High School, placed 4th in the semi-state her senior year, making it to the state cross country meet for a second straight year. She was also the regional runner-up in track in the 3,200. Julia Costello, a freshman from South Vermillion finished 4th in the cross country sectional and 15th in the regional last year. In track, she improved to 2:21.16 in the 800.
   The Sycamores begin the 2005 schedule on September 3 at the Evansville Quad. ISU will also compete in the Indiana Intercollegiates (Sep. 17) and Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 30) before hosting the Brooks Pre-Nationals on October 16.
   “Our schedule could be a big positive this year,” said Gartland. “I felt we ran too many races too close together last year. This year the meets come every other week. This should allow us to be fresher at the end of the year when the important meets come.”