IU Columbus is a little thin on numbers as it begins its third year of intercollegiate cross-country.
The Crimson Pride have five men and three women on the roster. A minimum of five are needed to score as a team in meets.
“We’ve had a couple that have had to back out,” IUC coach Tim Hoeflinger said. “It is a little disheartening. But I’ll play the hand that I’ve been dealt.”
Jackson Neibert, a freshman from Indian Creek, has been leading the men’s team. Connor Beatty (senior, Galesburg, Michigan); Blake Nigg (senior, Mooresville) and Joey Martinez (senior, Columbus East) return to the team and are joined by Emiliano Rosales-Lopez (freshman, Columbus North).
“We have a couple guys who are dealing with nagging injuries right now, so we’re working through those,” Hoeflinger said. “We don’t have our first race until Sept. 14, so we have a little bit of time. But right now, we’re just working hard and trying to prepare for our season.”
Beatty, Nigg and Martinez are Crimson Pride baseball players who are running cross-country as a second sport.
“For a few of them, running is still new,” Hoeflinger said. “They worked over the summer and put in some miles, so I’m excited to see where they go this year.”
The women are being led by Abby Voss (senior, Seymour) and Erin Jones (freshman, Columbus North). They are joined by softball player Delanie Bronner (sophomore, New Prairie).
“Erin has been running on her own for awhile and started running with us last year in our training,” Hoeflinger said. “She’s worked really hard to establish herself. She and Abby are in the same ballpark. They do a lot of training together, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are pushing each other throughout the season. Delanie also started training with us last year when we lost a couple of people, and she worked hard over the summer, and we have high hopes for her.”
Jones is a 2013 North graduate who did not run cross-country in high school. But she has become an avid runner over the past few years.
“It’s definitely not something where you can just take the summer off and then start at cross-country season,” Jones said.
IUC has added men’s and women’s track and field for the spring of 2025. Athletics director Zach McClellan is hoping that will help attract cross-country runners to the school.
“Now that we’re offering track and field, we feel that long-distance running with track after the season should help with cross-country so they’re not waiting all spring for the next season,” McClellan said. “What we’re trying to do is sustain cross-country long enough because we have a great running community here. Once we have a home event, once we show what we’re doing, the feeling I have is, it’s just a matter of time. It’s just a sport that need that track offset to make sure that we could offer something that people want.”
The 2024 IUC men’s and women’s cross-country schedule:
Sept. 14 at Hanover Invitational, TBA
Oct. 4 at Terre Haute Twilight, TBA
Oct. 18 in River States Preview at Angel Mounds, TBA
Oct. 26 in Great Lakes Challenge in Grand Rapids, Mich., TBA
Nov. 9 in River States Championships at Angel Mounds, TBA
