Indiana University
Big Ten Championships
IU Men Fourth, Women Sixth at Big Ten Championships
11/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
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Site: Ashton Cross Country Course (Iowa City, Iowa) |
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IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Indiana cross country teams competed in the Big Ten Championships on Sunday at the Ashton Cross Country Course in Iowa. The Hoosier men placed fourth as a team as the women finished sixth.
The IU women's sixth place finish matched its same team finish from a year ago. It marked the team's best back-to-back finish at Big Tens since 2004 and 2005 when the Hoosiers placed fifth and fourth, respectively, in those two years.
Redshirt freshman Brittany Neeley led the way for IU with a 21st overall (20th in team tally) finish in a time of 20:41.2 in the 6K race. Her twin sister, sophomore Bethany Neeley, followed her and placed 23rd overall (22nd) with a time of 20:43.1. Indiana sophomore Amanda Behnke clocked in at 21:00.0 to come in 32nd overall (31st). Also scoring for the Hoosiers was freshman Jill Whitman in 36th overall (35th, 21:07.2) and freshman Madison Stenger in 55th overall (51st, 21:24.5).
The Indiana women tallied 159 points. The top team finishers in front of the Hoosiers were No. 1 Michigan State in first place (26 points), No. 8 Wisconsin in second place (55 points), No. 4 Michigan in third (93 points), No. 19 Ohio State in fourth (127 points) and No. 20 Minnesota in fifth position (139 points).
On the men's side, sophomore Jason Crist was the top IU finisher in ninth place in 23:52.9 in the 8K run. Just behind him was his teammate in junior Matt Schwartzer in 10th in a time of 23:54.9. Senior Evan Esselink was the third Hoosier to cross the finish line in a time of 24:05.6 in 16th position. Juniors Rorey Hunter (21st, 24:14.2) and Owen Skeete (39th, 24:28.6) rounded out the Indiana scoring.
The No. 20 IU men combined for 95 team points, just three points out of third place and 18 out of second in the team standings. No. 6 Wisconsin won the Big Ten title taking first with 47 points. No. 14 Michigan finished second with 77 points and Penn State placed third with 92 points.
Next up for Indiana cross country will be the Hoosier Invitational at the IU Cross Country Course on Friday, Nov. 7 at 3:20 p.m. ET. The event will feature all the non-championship runners for the Hoosiers as well as other schools.
The NCAA Great Lakes Regional will take place on Nov. 14 in Madison, Wis. followed by the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.
Media Contact: Ryan Sheets, rmsheets@indiana.edu
Players Mentioned
