COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Riding the crest of the team's
season-opening, first-place finish at the Carolina Invitational,
the Tennesse Tech men's cross country squad steps it up a few
notches this weekend with a head-to-head race against the Indiana
Hoosiers. The host Hoosiers come into Saturday morning's 8K race
ranked in the top 10 in three major national polls.
Indiana is ranked No. 6 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross
Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Coaches Poll and
No. 7 by both FloTrack and LetsRun.com. The No. 6 ranking is
highest ever in program history.
The reigning Big Ten champions finished in eighth place at last
year's NCAA Championships. The Hoosiers are poised to maintain
their top 10 form in 2014 as IU has finished in the top 10 in three
of the last four seasons, the program's best four-year stretch in
the national meet since 1977-80.
All five scorers from last year's NCAA meet return for the
Hoosiers in 2014. Evan Esselink paced the team at the national meet
with a 45th place finish in 2013 as he was followed by teammates
Jason Crist, Carl Smith, Matt Schwartzer and JR Ricker.
Tennessee Tech, meanwhile, has begun taking small steps toward
being more competitive within the Ohio Valley Conference and is
under the direction of first-year head coach Wayne Angel. Last
weekend, Tech took first-place at Carolina as sophmore transfer Geoffrey Sambu
was the individual winner on the 5K circuit. He was later named the
OVC co-Runer of the Week.
Sambu is expected to give a good challenge to the top Indiana
runners Saturday in his first 8K race as a Golden Eagle. He will be
joined on the course by a host of teammates looking to turn
training into improved times. The lineup for Tech at IU will
include four freshmen and six sophomores, along with Sterling Smith,
the lone senior on the squad.
At Carolina, sophomore Brennan Huber was the second finisher for Tech behind Sambu, covering the course in 16:09.80, while sophomore Daniel Williamson was third in 16:30.56. Joining the trio will be Smith, freshmen Ian Barclay, Collin Gwaltney, Blake Rhoden and Curtis Evers, and sophomores Sam Lariviere, Jordan Roth and Wesley King.
