This weekend in East Lansing, Mich., men and women’s cross-country teams from the Big Ten will compete in the Big Ten Championships. The Wisconsin men’s team, coached by Jerry Schumacher, will be trying to win their fifth straight Big Ten title.
The Badgers, ranked No. 2 in the country behind Stanford, have tough competition in the grueling 8,000 meter run against the rest of the Big Ten. Besides the Badgers, the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes are the two other teams who are ranked nationally in the top ten.
The Michigan Wolverines, ranked No. 6 in the nation, are led by sophomore runner from New Zealand, Nick Willis. He was the top team finisher in three races and second in the Notre Dame Invitational. Another top runner is Michigan freshman Andrew Ellerton, who finished second overall with a time of 25:06 at the Michigan Intercollegiate 8,000 meter race. The Wolverines won the team title at that meet.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked No. 7 nationally. They are led by junior Aaron Fisher, who finished the Great American Cross Country Festival 8,000 meter race in Raleigh, N.C. He was first on the team and twentieth overall with a time of 26:18. The team took third overall.
At the Pre-National Championships in Waterloo, Iowa, Fisher and the Buckeyes again performed well. Fisher took tenth over all with a time of 23:42. The Buckeyes took third place as a team, defeating No. 7 Oregon.
“This year, even more so than last year and even past years, I think the Big Ten has gotten a lot deeper,” Schumacher said. “It’s definitely probably the best field we’ve seen in recent years.”
Schumacher went on to say that the Big Ten is “the best cross country conference in the country.”
On the women’s side, the Badgers are coached by Peter Tegen, who is going to retire from coaching after the track and field season. The Badgers are ranked No. 18 nationally and are among the Big Ten’s best. The Badgers will have stiff competition with other nationally ranked teams in their 6,000 meter Big Ten Championships race.
The Michigan State Spartans are ranked No. 4 in the nation and in three races this season, the Spartans finished with a first place victory. The Spartans are led by senior Michelle Carson, who has been awarded with three Big Ten player of the week awards this season. Carson was the number one runner in the 6,000 race in the Michigan Intercollegiate with a time of 21:17. She won the Spartan Invitational with a time of 20:53. Carson is the defending Big Ten individual champion from 2002.
Nationally competitive No. 10 Michigan Wolverines is led by senior Jessie Allen-Young. She finished the Miami Invitational 5,000 meter race with a time of 17:38. The team also won the meet. Michigan is attempting to defend their Big Ten Title from 2002.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are ranked No. 19 in the country and are one of the powerhouses of the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions are led by junior Molly Landreth who has been named Big Ten Athlete of the week twice this season. At the Penn State National 6,000 meter race, Landreth had a personal record breaking time of 20:30, finishing third out of 225 runners.
Badger coach Peter Tegen stated that the Big Ten Championships are “definitely going to be, as usual, very interesting and very competitive.”
By the end of the weekend, the Big Ten will know who the best runners of the conference are and who will represent their respective teams in the NCAA Championships later in November.
