TERRE HAUTE —
With three of the top five finishers in the Indiana Intercollegiates on Friday at LaVern Gibson, the Indiana State men’s team showed some promise.
With three Terre Haute natives running among the top seven through two races so far, Sycamores’ coach John McNichols will rely heavily on home-grown talent this season.
John Mascari, who redshirted as a freshman at Indiana University, gave his sophomore season a jolt with a victory in his first collegiate varsity race on the same course he raced on at Terre Haute North, where was teammates with sophomore Sycamore Milton Brinza. The duo spent time racing against Terre Haute South’s Taylor Head, who is a redshirt freshman that’s been ISU’s fourth runner so far this season.
“It feels good to have everybody back. We’ve all bonded over the years. It’s good to have everybody together as one team,” Brinza said of the local flavor on the Sycamores.
When Mascari left IU, he gave up a near definite chance to compete in the NCAA Championships for a an opportunity to take the Sycamores to the field for the first time as a team.
As he did when discussing his transfer months ago, Mascari expressed his desire for a trip to nationals without prompting in an interview prior to the Indiana Intercollegiate races.
“This is only the beginning. If we can get five guys under 25 [minutes for an 8K], I think we can get a shot at nationals,” said Mascari, who simply decided he would prefer the comforts of his hometown for the next four years.
“I think I was meant to be here, stay here. I couldn’t ask for better teammates. I’ve just got a better mind set here and I’m happy here. I’m ready to put all that behind me, all the injuries and everything and just compete for the team.”
No complaints from ISU coach John McNichols.
“[Expectations] were high. I watched him run all through high school. Very talented kid, but a very hard worker on top of that. And a good racer. He has all the ingredients,” McNichols said.
Mascari is in top form early in the season, and he and seniors Al Escalera and Dustin Betz will lead the Sycamores into the prestigious Notre Dame Invitational next weekend in South Bend.
Escalera and Mascari led much of the 8,000 meter race on Friday at LaVern Gibson, with Mascari running a personal best 24 minutes, 42.4 seconds. EScalera was second in 24:54, while Betz was fifth ni 25:00.2. Betz won the season-opening race at Bradley as the Sycamores took the team title in that race. The Sycamores finished behind IU and Butler for third at the Intercollegiates.
While McNichols likes the positive attitude Mascari brings to the team, the Sycamores will need to tighten their pack to have a shot at an NCAA berth.
“Well, it’s a long ways. We’ve got a lot of things to do. Obviously we’d have to show more depth than we did [Friday] to have a chance. But we definitely have three frontrunner types that can get up there and mix it up,” McNichols said. “Everything we do now is tough. We go to Notre Dame, that’s one of the toughest invitationals in the country. We go to Pre-Nationals; we’ve hosted that enough to know what that’s all about. Then we have our conference meet. Southern Illinois looks as good as they’ve ever been. Then we go to Wisconsin for the Great Lakes Regional.”
The next few races will be huge for ISU’s frontrunners, but it’s bringing up the fourth and fifth runners that can make the team a potential threat when the time comes to trek to Madison, Wis.
ISU showed stronger depth in its season-opening victory at Bradley as the gap between the winner, Betz, and ISU’s No. 5 runner Tristan Selby was only 32 seconds.
Head was also ISU’s No. 4 finisher that day. The South grad had a strong summer and he’s hoping he can play a role in the Sycamores’ success.
And he’s pretty excited to have Mascari and Brinza, former prep rivals, around to train and compete with.
“During high school our schools were rivals but we always talked in high school. So coming together and getting all these guys close from around the Wabash Valley. I really like that, keeping the talent at home,” Head said.
Head hopes to help bring the back of the Sycamores’ pack in closer to the frontrunners.
“Last year I knew was going to be a big change because the mileage was a big bump so I was just trying to adapt to the new training. This year, I’m just trying to help the team in as many ways that I can and score low,” Head said.
While Head spent his freshman year adjusting to the training of a college distance runner, Brinza felt he was ready to compete right away.
“Freshman year it was fun. Coach gave me the opportunity, after I had some pretty good preseason workouts, he gave me the opportunity to run varsity. I went ahead and put the singlet on and and raced varsity. I don’t regret any of it, it was a ton of fun. I had a great time and now I know I have some good experience,” Brinza said.
Several other Wabash Valley runners are on the roster, including Shakamak’s Drew Gambill and junior varsity runners Andrew Kump and Nathan Kump of West Vigo and Dylan Bertsch of Terre Haute North.
While those young harriers have a chance to develop in the next few years, Mascari is looking like he’s ready to become an elite runner within the region.
While at IU, Mascari suffered a stress fracture in his shin that caused him to miss 12 weeks of running. He made sure he had a productive summer.
“On April 23, I started my summer training. I increased mile every week, hit 100 miles six times. I’m feeling pretty fit, best shape I’ve ever been in,” Mascari said.
While the local products are going to be critical in ISU’s season, Mascari said the Sycamores are relying on the senior leadership.
“They’ve been awesome training partners,” Mascari said. “Every workout we’re together working together. I just want them to realize we can make it. It’s possible. I realize at regionals there’s good teams with IU, Wisconsin, Michigan, Notre Dame. I think we can surprise a lot of teams and see what happens.”
College
Related Photos
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Faster pace: Indiana State University cross country runner Milton Brinza runs in the Indiana Intercollegiate Cross Country meet Friday at the Lavern Gibson Championship course. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza In the front: Indiana State University's John Mascari runs at the front of the pack with fellow Sycamore, Al Escalera, during the Indiana Intercollegiate Cross Country meet Friday at the Lavern Gibson Championship course.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza He's run this course before: Indiana State cross country runner Taylor Head competes in the Indiana Intercollegiate Cross Country meet Tuesday at the Lavern Gibson Cross Country Championship course.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Big lead: Indiana State University runner John Mascari nears the finish line to take first place in the Indiana Intercollegiate Cross Country meet Friday at the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
Discussion
Indiana State team on the rise
New member gives squad spark
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Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.
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Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
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Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
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ISU baseball team builds on success with 14-2 rout
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Mission accomplished.
The Sycamores were aggressive from the opening inning at the plate and starting pitcher Devin Moore gave them eight valuable and effective innings on the mound as ISU defeated Alcorn State 14-2 at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a really good experience for everybody. It felt great to finally come out here and put some things together. It’s also really nice when your offense puts a lot of runs on the board,” Moore said.
Moore’s eight innings of work were as valuable as gold to an ISU team that is short on quality arms due to injury and ineffectiveness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and one of the two runs he conceded was unearned. -
Johnson, Lyke win MVC titles for ISU
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ISU earns badly-needed win
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ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
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ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
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To catapult oneself about 14 feet into the air with a large $500 fiberglass pole on a daily basis is a risky endeavor.
“We have to be fearless. You can’t be afraid at all,” said Hope, who has also catapulted herself into the NCAA’s elite in the event, ranking 15th in the NCAA with her leap of 13-feet, 9 1/4. -
Sycamores searching for answers after seventh loss in eight games
These are the bad times for the Indiana State baseball team.
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METRO ROUNDUP: ISU men's track picked first in MVC Championships, women second
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Manaea fights off bad hip, wet weather to toss four innings
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ISU track enjoys big night at IU's Billy Hayes Invitational
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Lansing looking for more home games for next fall
Indiana State’s men’s basketball team is looking for a few good games.
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Secret weapon: Kelsey Rosselli finishing Woods career with a bang
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In fact, her efforts almost seem like a government secret.
Rosselli’s name might sound familiar to longtime Terre Haute softball followers because she was a standout for North High School, from where she graduated in 2009.
Since then, she’s helped The Woods finish runner-up in three straight U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national tournaments in 2010, 2011 and 2012. -
ISU baseball gets back into rhythm with victory
Baseball is a rhythm game. With contests every day or five times a week in the case of many college programs, you have the chance to build on success or wallow in a slump.
Mother Nature took that rhythm away from Indiana State’s team last week. After a 7-1 loss to Indiana on April 24, ISU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee-Martin, but it was wiped out by rain.
So the rhythm was disturbed, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing.
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“It was a disappointing weekend. We went all the way down to Tennessee and didn’t get to play. We sat around in the hotel room. We came here and it was still raining. It was nice to get out and see some live pitching,” ISU center fielder Landon Curry said. -
Metro roundup: ISU hands out spring awards
The Indiana State University athletic community, along with family, friends and fans, paused Tuesday night to honor the spring sports teams at the Terre Haute Savings Bank Spring Sports Banquet.
Most of the ISU teams are still in competition with the baseball team having 13 games left of its regular-season schedule before beginning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament May 21, the softball team with just three games left of the docket this coming weekend against Southern Illinois and the track and field program with just one more meet before beginning its postseason events.
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