TERRE HAUTE — Hundreds of elite cross country runners will arrive in Terre Haute today for NCAA Championship.
No runners developed in Terre Haute will be racing Monday, but there is one knocking on the door.
Indiana University redshirt freshman Zach Mayhew had a breakout season for the Hoosiers, but the former Terre Haute North standout finished one heartbreaking second from earning an at-large berth to Monday’s race at LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
When Indiana was ranked as high as 17th in the nation in October, it appeared Mayhew might be racing on the same course which he started racing in middle and high school for Otter Creek and Terre Haute North.
The Hoosiers, however, had disappointing efforts as a team in the Big Ten meet as well as the Great Lakes Region meet on the IU Golf Course. Mayhew was a bright spot in both of those meets, racing to sixth in the Big Ten and 11th in the Great Lakes.
“Starting out the year, I wouldn’t have thought the level of success I had was even possible,” Mayhew said this week. “To do this my freshman year, was a big accomplishment for me. Coach has been training me just as hard as anybody else. I’ve just really adapted to the training and to Indiana in general.”
Mayhew arrived at IU in 2008 suffering from mononucleosis, which made the decision to redshirt an easy one for coach Ron Helmer. That year of training paid off for Mayhew.
“It took me a while to get me adjusted to the higher-intensity training,” Mayhew said. “Being able to train that whole first year, I’m really glad that [coach Helmer] decided to do that for me.”
Helmer admitted Mayhew’s rise to being one of the Hoosiers’ top three this season was a bit of a surprise. Helmer recruited Mayhew, but the all-state high school runner joined the Hoosiers as a walk-on.
“Some of our best recruiting has come after we run out of money,” Helmer said. “He had a really good year of training as a [true] freshman. We could tell things were starting to happen [based on some of his training times].”
Mayhew got stronger as this 2009 season went along, and making the first-team All-Big Ten was definitely the highlight.
“Since they’ve had the first-team and second-team, I’m only the 8th Hoosier to ever get that. It’s unbelievable. I still don’t believe that it’s happened,” Mayhew said.
Mayhew was one of several IU runners to get out fast at the region meet, but he lost some ground later in the race that he would regain in the final 2,000 meters.
“I wasn’t quite used to the extra distance,” Mayhew said of the 10K distance that NCAA men jump to in the final two weeks of the season from 8K. “With about 1K to go, I was able to move up on the field again and able to pull out 11th place.”
But Mayhew was 1.37 seconds behind Purdue’s Caden Shields, who earned the final at-large berth from the Great Lakes.
“[Shields] hadn’t beat me all season. That’s the way it happens sometimes,” Mayhew said. “I’ve got three more cracks at it. I’m confident next year my team will make it. I’ll be in the national meet soon enough.”
Helmer has the utmost confidence that Mayhew will have a chance to race in the NCAA meet in the next three years.
“We will have a team — we were too young, too inexperienced in high pressure situations,” Helmer said. “He’s going to be on a very good cross country team.”
“We’ll be a player at the national meet once we can get a handle on it,” Helmer said. “Every kid on our team, has at least 2 years of eligibility left. Zach’s definitely going to be right in the middle of it.”
High School
Mayhew was close to running on home course
IU freshman misses finals by 1 second
- High School
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South’s Lough to wrestle for state title
The day didn’t start in a promising fashion for Wabash Valley high school wrestlers at the Evansville Semistate in Ford Center on Saturday — but it got better as it went along.
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TERRE HAUTE NORTH SECTIONAL: Mooresville tops South for fourth straight title
For Terre Haute South High School girls basketball fans, it might sound good that the Braves did not miss a shot in the first four minutes of their Class 4A Terre Haute North Sectional championship game Saturday.
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BLOOMFIELD SECTIONAL: Sullivan rebounds from tough start for title
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Sullivan struggled mightily in the first half, eerily reminiscent of its eventual elimination in the final seconds of overtime by Edgewood in last year’s Class 3A girls basketball sectional. -
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NORTH VERMILLION SECTIONAL: Twenty years in the waiting
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PREP ROUNDUP: Rox clinch WRC
Class A No. 8-ranked Rockville knocked off Attica 50-35 in boys high school basketball Saturday afternoon, clinching the Wabash River Conference championship in the process.
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THN SECTIONAL: Braves to play Mooresville for sectional title tonight
Terre Haute South continued to show what’s new and Terre Haute North unfortunately reverted back to what’s old in Class 4A high school girls basketball sectional action Friday night at North.
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OWEN VALLEY SECTIONAL: Eagles bring Vikes down to earth
Baby steps. A baby takes that first step and grins, then attempts the second step and tumbles. The West Vigo High School girls took their first step with a victory Tuesday night in the Class 3A basketball sectional at Owen Valley.
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BLOOMFIELD SECTIONAL: Sullivan jumps to early lead in sectional victory
Sullivan jumped out to a 9-0 lead and were never threatened in a dominant 48-25 win over Eastern Greene in a semifinal game of the Class 2A Bloomfield girls basketball sectional inside Glover Gymnasium on Friday.
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North Vermillion Sectional: Panthers, Falcons to meet for NV title
Outstanding defense and quality passing landed Riverton Parke in the championship game of the Class A North Vermillion Sectional. The Panthers will have to get through the host school tonight in order to secure the program’s first sectional crown since 1992.
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South swimmers don’t advance at Finals
Terre Haute South’s trip to the IHSAA girls swimming state finals at the Indiana University Natatorium was a short one Friday night.
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South runs into talented North Central team
Terre Haute South players and coaches knew when they got off the bus Saturday afternoon that they couldn’t run with the Class 4A No. 3-ranked Indianapolis North Central Panthers.
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BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Duncan’s OT free throws help Marshall down H-P
Jacob Duncan hit four free throws in overtime Friday night as visiting Marshall defeated Hutsonville-Palestine 51-49 in Little Illini Conference action.
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O'Leary pours in career-high 34 for Terre Haute North
Matt O’Leary poured in a career-high 34 points, 17 in each half, to lead Terre Haute North to a dominant 69-46 home victory over Center Grove in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference boys high school basketball Saturday afternoon.
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Davis hits layup in double overtime to lift Terre Haute North at Bloomington North
Playing without their two leading scorers against a team that — most of the time — seemed more determined to win than they did, Terre Haute North's Patriots got a driving layup from Steven Davis with 2.8 seconds left in the second overtime to escape Bloomington North with a 54-52 win in high school basketball Thursday night.
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Sullivan stays on top of WIC for third straight year
Western Indiana Conference boys basketball teams have been trying to storm the Sullivan castle for three years now. The Golden Arrows have endured nearly every kind of strategy in the effort to breech their wall. West Vigo tried a few more on Thursday in a showdown for the WIC championship.
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South girls looking for solid performances at swimming state finals
One individual and one relay team, which includes that same individual, will represent Terre Haute South in the IHSAA girls swimming state finals today and possibly Saturday at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cesinger, Jones each score 24 in Clay City win
Blake Cesinger and Brylan Jones poured in 24 points apiece to lead visiting Clay City over North Central 67-53 in SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference boys high school basketball Thursday night.
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Teutopolis knocks off record-setting Marshall girls in regional championship
Marshall jumped ahead 4-0 only to watch Teutopolis score the next 11 points Thursday in the championship game of the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional.
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Sullivan wins battle in low post
Sullivan dominated the low block at both ends of the court Wednesday to defeat South Knox 43-30.
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State wrestling berths won't come easily
If high school wrestlers thought regional competition was tough last weekend, they can expect the competition, as Keegan Michael Key used to say on MADtv, taken to “a whole notha level” on Saturday.
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South pulls upset
Plainfield’s 16-5 record made the Quakers the team to beat in the Class 4A Terre Haute North Sectional.
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Vikings break long sectional drought
You’ll have to forgive West Vigo for celebrating just a wee bit prior to the postgame handshake with South Vermillion, but its first victory in a sectional game in 11 years was worthy of celebrating.
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PREP ROUNDUP: RP rolls past Attica
Riverton Parke jumped to a 20-point halftime lead and easily defeated Attica 59-34 in the Class A North Vermillion girls basketball sectional on Tuesday.
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They’re the pride of Marshall
With a 24-1 record, coach Kathy Miller’s Marshall team earned the top seed in the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional.
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Union season more fun with Talpas around
The Union boys basketball team has had its share of fun moments in the past, arguably the most fun being its Class A state runner-up in 2000.
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Injury bug follows girls into postseason
Who’s healthy is the question at least three of the four teams will be asking tonight when Class 4A girls high school basketball sectional play begins at Terre Haute North.
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Rockville needs late run to stop West Vigo
It was a game of fits and starts, but host Rockville finally overcame a stiff challenge from visiting West Vigo in a 53-46 victory in boys high basketball action on Saturday.
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Northview holds off Plainfield
Northview got its sixth victory in boys high school basketball action Saturday night, defeating Plainfield 59-56.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cloverdale helps Rady to career win No. 714
Brandon Dorman and Joe Fidler combined for 37 points and six 3-pointers Saturday night as visiting Cloverdale defeated Turkey Run 63-45 in boys high school basketball.
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