After both his teams finished second in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference last season, head coach of the men's and women's cross-country teams, Kori Stoffregen, will aim to turn up the dial on training this coming season.
These expectations are especially high with the men's team, which Stoffregen believes will make great strides because of its youth.
"The guys need to take their training to the next level," he said. "They will be challenged by me more than they ever have, and we have the tools to do it."
With just two runners having graduated and junior NCAA Div. III qualifier Noah Droddy leading the team, the men are poised for a successful season if they respond well to Stoffregen's training plans.
"I think it was definitely time for that to happen," Droddy said in reference to the increased expectations. "It's easy to slack off when things don't change. We weren't always pushing as hard as we should, and coach pushing us harder is going to improve performances."
Droddy said he was excited to get back and see what his coach has in store for him and his team. As for himself, he has an opportunity to improve upon last year when he finished fifth in the SCAC championships and ninth in the Great Lakes Regional competition.
"Noah will be in the hunt to win every race," Stoffregen said. "So that is a nice point total for the team. He's very dedicated and very coachable and other guys need to see that and realize that's what we're trying to accomplish."
On the women's side, Stoffregen expressed similar views.
For the first time in seven straight seasons, the women's cross-country team did not take first place in the SCAC championship.
"The girl's team didn't come together quite as I hoped," Stoffregen said. "They need to make a commitment to excellence. This is their team, and they have to take responsibility and step up to training hard."
The return to the top will be lead by junior Jess Macy, who finished seventh in the SCAC championship and 55th in the regional competition.
Stoffregen said that if Macy can continue to trail well and have confidence during races, she could be quite a force in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Either way, the conference switch will have one certain boost for both teams. As all NCAC schools are located in states with similar temperatures to Indiana, the Tigers won't have to prepare for a southern climate.
"It cools down here, and then we take a flight down to Texas and its 90 and high humidity," Droddy said of the team's time in the SCAC. "That's a shot to the system. It'll be a lot better for us to not have that shot to the system, because running a race is just as difficult even with the weather not being a factor."
With a new approach to training and less change in climate, the Tigers may be poised to take the NCAC by storm.
"My goal as a coach is going to be challenging them more than we ever have," Stoffregen said. "It's going to be an aggressive training season, and I hope it works out."