Men's cross country team has high hopes

By John Wakefield
Staff Writer

Now that the men’s cross country team has Coach Mike Poehlein’s "undivided attention," the team hopes to post fast results in the upcoming season.

Over the summer, there was a major coaching realignment which saw former track and field assistant coach Lissa Olson take over both the men's and women's track and field programs. Former women's track and cross country coach Ben Paolillo stepped down, and Poehlein, formerly the head coach for the men's track and cross country teams, was reassigned to take over both the men's and women's cross country programs.

An experienced distance man, Poehlein has been associated with the Purdue cross country program since 1973, when he took over as Purdue's head cross country coach. In addition to guiding the cross country programs, Poehlein will be an assistant coach of the track and field teams focusing on the distance track events.

Teammates Adam English and Rob Heise, both juniors, are excited to have Poehlein as their head coach.

"It will be really great to have his undivided attention this year to focus on each individual’s race," Heise said. "It will be a real strength for this year. Poehlein always uses many different venues to train on since we compete on so many different kinds of courses."

The team will rely heavily on its large classes of juniors and sophomores as this year’s senior class consists of only one man.

"Scott Bush is our only senior," Heise said. "He is a tenacious competitor, a really hard worker and a great leader for the team.

"We’re really lucky to have him around for his last year."

With the new coaching changes and the addition of several incoming freshmen, the men have set many team goals for the new season.

Their chief goal is to get in the top half of the Big Ten conference at the Big Ten Championships in October.

"Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois will be our biggest competition there and throughout the semester," said Heise. "The Big Ten conference is the best cross country conference in the country."

"We always have at least four of the top 10 teams in the nation come out of the Big Ten every year," English added.

Additionally, the men hope to place well at the NCAA District Championship from where they can earn the right to move on to the NCAA Championships.

Another team goal concerns the recent recruits. "This year we will also get the new freshmen class ready to run as experienced sophomores next year," said Heise.

"As is with almost every year, we will rely on returning upperclassmen heavily throughout the season, and now that we’re experienced upperclassmen, we’ll be prepared to step up and compete," English said.

One more team goal is to continue their academic supremacy. For many years, Purdue’s men’s cross country team has achieved academic excellence and is always the top or one of the top sports teams at Purdue in terms of team grade point average.

"We’ve gotten Academic All-American so many times in the past, it's become a great Purdue cross country tradition," said English.

One of the new facets of the cross country team this year is the new cross country course, built near the soccer field on McCormick Road. There, the Indiana Intercollegiates will be held on Sept. 14 where almost all the colleges in the state will compete.

"We are really excited about the new cross country course here at Purdue," English said. "It will be really good to run on a challenging, top notch facility here at Purdue."

Another new factor that is different from any other year is the co-ed training. Since Poehlein coaches the two teams, they will be practicing together.

"Co-ed training this year also will help greatly." Heise said. "It will be especially nice to have more friendly faces when traveling and training."

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