Cross Country Heads to Terre Haute for NCAA Regionals

IMPORTANT LINKS: Watch Live (FloTrack) | 6K Course Map | Women's Entries | Results (When Available)

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State cross country team will return to the course Friday at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Terre Haute, Ind., looking to build on its performance at the Mid-American Conference Championships on Oct. 28.

The Cardinals' five scored runners all posted career-best 6K times in Oxford, Ohio, and second-year distance coach Raynee DeGrio says the team will continue to be aggressive and hopefully learn a few things going up against an extremely talented field of runners.

"At the MAC Championships, our top five runners competed really well," DeGrio said. "Every time our young team steps on the course, it's an opportunity to learn. The last couple of meets, we have learned we need to be more attentive and aggressive in the first half of the race. From there, we can let the back half of the race take care of itself. Especially with the quality of runners in this field, being more aggressive out of the gate will help our team."

At the MAC Championships, the Cardinals were led by sophomore Maritza Rodriguez (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) for the third time this season, as she crossed the finish line with a time of 22:19.1. Rodriguez came in 41st place, the best finish for a Ball State runner at the MAC Championships since 2012.

"Martiza is doing a really good job," DeGrio said. "She's dedicated and determined to perform at a high level, so it's been a lot of fun seeing her improve over the past couple months. Last year at this time, she was not even running in the regional meet. To see her step into a role as one of our top runners is impressive. It's going to be fun to see her continue to develop over these next two years, and to get one more good race in this year in preparation for a big track season."

Ball State will head into Friday's NCAA Regional after posting its best regional finish in 10 years at last season's Great Lakes Regional in Madison, Wis. (Nov. 11). Four of the five scored runners in that race clocked career-best 6K times.

DeGrio says the team has an excellent opportunity to improve upon last year's results Friday.

"We would like to end the season on a high note," DeGrio added. "If we run well as individuals, our team results will fall where we want them to. Realistically, we have a chance to break into the top 20, which is something our program has not done in a really long time. It would be nice to build off the momentum we got from last year's regional meet and have a good performance going into track season."

The women's race at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course is scheduled to start at 11:15 a.m.

For the most up-to-date news on Ball State cross country, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateTFXC.

Cross Country Heads to Terre Haute for NCAA Regionals

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maritza Rodriguez