Red Wolves - IU East

Indiana University East's men's cross country runners see their motivation any time they go for a drive in or around Richmond.

Billboards. Big crimson billboards promoting IU East.

The runners want one of their own. And they figure a Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship might be enough to earn one.

"From Day One, their goal has been to get on a billboard like some of the other sports, and they have promised to win a KIAC championship," says second-year IU East coach Pam Mertz.

IU East is coming off of a 2009 season that concluded with a fifth-place finish in the KIAC and Zach Burns' appearance at the NAIA National Championships. The Red Wolves start fresh in 2010 with seven new runners and most likely a revamped top five. Mertz looks for her new pack to improve on IU East's 2009 finish at the KIAC meet and to send more runners to the national meet.

The roster

The Red Wolves might not have a dominant force at the top of the lineup, but they won't have a weak link, either.

Mertz says sophomore Justin Taylor (Waynesville, Ohio/Wilmington College), redshirt freshman Brandon Arnett (Lynn, Ind./Indiana University), freshman Patrick Smith (Fountain City, Ind./Northeastern High School) and freshman Aaron Myers (Lynn, Ind./Randolph Southern High School) could lead IU East in any given race.

Taylor transferred to IU East after running for one season at NCAA Division III Wilmington College, where he gained valuable experience at the college level.

Arnett came to IU East after spending a year at IU Bloomington, where he competed for the IU Run Club.

Smith is the Red Wolves' most decorated recruit. He led his high school team to the Indiana semistate and experienced success in community distance races.

Mertz says Myers, a fast finisher, will thrive at the 8K college cross country distance.

"There is a pack of four that makes it their goal every day at practice to go out and kill each other and see who is going to come in first," Mertz said.

Redshirt junior Tim Lowman (Eaton, Ohio/Miami University) joined the Red Wolves program during the summer after enjoying his experience at IU East's Run with the Wolves 5K in July. Lowman quickly is catching up to the Red Wolves' lead pack.

IU East freshman Joshua Allen (Lynn, Ind./Randolph Southern High School) ran fast 5K times in high school and adds valuable depth as he works his way back from a knee injury.

Another freshman, Hunter Curtis (Williamsburg, Ind./Northeastern High School), is a hurdler by trade but is willing and able to compete when called upon.

Sophomore Jordan Kearney (Centerville, Ind./Centerville High School) was IU East's No. 4 runner in 2009.

"They are all good and will push each other to the limit," Mertz said.

The schedule

Mertz sees all of the Red Wolves' regular season meets as a buildup to the KIAC meet at Asbury University on Nov. 6.

"We're running small meets and large meets. We're running against NCAA Division I schools. We're running on our conference course. All to get us ready for the conference and hopefully national meets," Mertz said.

Mertz hopes to boost her teams' confidence - and get an early look at the KIAC meet layout - with a strong showing at the season-opening A-J Special on Sept. 2 at Asbury.

History will be made Sept. 7 when the Red Wolves host Cincinnati Christian University in the first intercollegiate meet at the new Indiana University East Cross Country Course. It will be the first on-campus NAIA intercollegiate athletics event in IU East's history.

The Red Wolves will see how they stack up against the state's best at the Indiana Intercollegiates on Sept. 17 at Purdue University.

IU East will stay close to home Oct. 2 for the crosstown Earlham College Invitational, where most of IU East's runners earned their best individual placings in 2009.

It's off to the flat, fast course at Wilmington College on Oct. 15. Look for most of the Red Wolves to establish personal bests on teammate Taylor's former stomping grounds.

The Shawnee State Invitational on Oct. 8 and the Late Knight's Run on Oct. 30 also are part of the run-up to the KIAC meet.

The goals

The KIAC coaches picked IU East fifth in their preseason poll.

Mertz thinks the Red Wolves can do better.

IU East sent one runner to the NAIA National Championships in 2009.

Mertz thinks the Red Wolves can do better.

She says IU East will need five runners under 28 minutes by the end of the season to accomplish its goals.

She hopes to see five Red Wolves finish under 30 minutes in their first 8K race and just get faster from there.

"My main goal is to get the team to slow down in the first mile and make the adjustment from running 5K races (the typical high school and community road race distance) to running five miles (the NAIA men's cross country distance)," she said.

"This year's men's team is unlike past years. I look forward to the year because we don't have just one standout runner.

"They are all good."

Sounds like a good slogan for a billboard, doesn't it?

Click here to view the 2010 IU East men's cross country roster

Click here to view the 2010 IU East men's cross country schedule