TERRE HAUTE —
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
This year, in distance running in particular, record-breaking times seem to be the norm.
One example is Indiana State freshman John Mascari, the Sycamores’ new 8,000-meter cross country record holder with his time of 23 minutes, 55 seconds.
Saturday’s Indiana high school meet was another example. Five girls ran faster than previous record for a state finals 5K at LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
Futsum Zienassellassie of Indianapolis North Central is thought by many to be the greatest cross country champion in state history after winning three straight titles from 2009-2011. His time of 14:48.8 in 2011 was fifth fastest in state finals history and by far the fastest at the tough but fair Gibson Course.
Zienasellassie also won the individual title at the Nike Team Nationals last fall.
Mascari raced Futsum for three years of his high school career. He also watched in person as Galen Rupp of Oregon won an NCAA title in Terre Haute. Mascari watched on television as Rupp brought home a silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics this summer — the first American medal in the 10,000 since 1964.
“It’s an Olympic year so that makes a difference,” Mascari said. “You just want to go out and run after watching that [Rupp take silver]. I just ran and worked.
Terre Haute South coach Kyle Walsh led the Braves to a program-best eighth-place finish behind junior Jackson Bertoli’s fourth on Saturday. The second-year coach and former ISU runner sees distance running in the U.S. at its best ever.
“The quality of running in the U.S., depth-wise, is better than it’s ever been. That’s trickled down into high school. A lot of people rank us as a top-five state in the nation,” Walsh said.
The Columbus North boys program has been one of the best in the state for many years, and its club team was ninth in the nation in the Nike Team Nationals last year.
The Carmel girls team won the team title once again Saturday. The Greyhounds’ club team finished fifth in the 2011 Nike Team Nationals.
“We have some of the top distance runners in the country, especially in the girls race,” Terre Haute North girls coach Mike Dason said in the days leading up to Saturday’s state finals. Dason also said these last few years he’s watched the depth of his team develop to unprecedented levels.
“I’d have never imagined having all my girls in the 19s and 18s [for a 5K],” said Dason, who also coached TaPring Goatee to an individual title in 2009.
Bertoli’s certainly enjoying being a part of it all in Cross Country Town, USA.
“I definitely consider us one of the better running states in the nation. Some of these teams, Carmel girls, are ranked No. 1 in the nation right now. It’s just aweseome to be in this era of awesome running,” said Bertoli, who appears to definitely have Division I cross country in his future.
Times are fast at that level as well, ISU men’s cross country and track coach John McNichols said recently.
“I think it’s happening particularly in distance area and there’s several reasons I think for that. One is the communication is so incredible right now with the Internet. Everybody knows what the workouts are, there really isn’t any hiding anymore what are the workouts of the really great runners. That’s seeping down even to the high school level; they know what it takes,” McNichols said. “And then we’ve been able to change the mindset here in the United States; instead of ‘We have to find the magic workout,’ now we know it’s just work. The reason the Kenyans have been good for so long is they work. We’ve finally accepted that and we’ve upped our workload throughout every level, and we’re starting to see the results of that.”
Indiana has taken a stage in the emergence of distance running in America. For a smaller state as far as population, the Hoosier state is producing a lot of Division I cross country talent.
With Terre Haute’s own Zach Mayhew playing a big role, the Indiana University team has been a top-10 team in the NCAA the past two years, and Mayhew could have a future beyond college.
Hoosier runners are also heading to prestigious programs all round the nation.
Indiana’s single-class cross country race is nearly unique to the sport, with Hawaii being the only other state to not have multiple classes. Many states have five or six classes.
Boys champion Connor Sorrells hails from Barr-Reeve, a Class A school with about 300 students. With class cross country, he’d have never known if he would have outraced every single runner in the state.
Walsh thinks the current format is a reason Indiana is developing talent so well.
“I credit Indiana’s success, for a small state, is that we have one class race,” Walsh said. “We’re one of the only states that still have that. It’s everybody versus everybody. One class has really made the state strong in running.”
• • •
The IHSAA state finals will return for a 10th straight year in 2013, and the NCAA Championships will be back in 2013 after a one-year absence.
Mascari is looking to qualify for the NCAAs in Louisville, however.
His win at the MVC Championships on Saturday was the Sycamores’ first ever individual title.
“I was surprised, I heard a while ago that no one from ISU had ever won it,” Mascari said Saturday. “I was a little surprised I was able to come up with the win. My teammates helped me out throughout the whole race. Thankfully I was able to finish first.”
Mascari sounds humble, but he’s clearly at an all-time high as far as confidence goes. The NCAA Regional is in two weeks at Wisconsin, which will be his first collegiate 10K race. Mascari, Al Escalera and Dustin Betz will all have a chance at qualifying as individuals, which means being in the top four runners on nonqualifying teams.
“What I’ve been thinking is the longer the distance the better,” Mascari said. “I know Al’s good in the 10K. Betz has been in really good shape. I think we’ll all be really fit.
“I was really motivated. Just wanted to come out here and make it the best freshman year you could ask for.”
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @TribStarCraig.
Given to Fly
October 29, 2012
GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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'Til It's Over: Hansbrough, Hibbert give Pacers glimpse of future
You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
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