Cross Country Set for B1G Championships

Sunday, October 29

Bloomington, IN

TBA

Rutgers University

Big Ten Championships (6k)

Oct 27 | General, Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Live Results Championship Central Men's 8K Map Women's 6K Map Men's Top Times Women's Top Times

Sunday’s conference meet begins at 10:45 a.m. ET

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 27, 2017) – Rutgers men's and women's cross country will take on the Big Ten in the 2017 conference championships in Bloomington, Indiana on Sunday, Oct. 29 at the Indiana Championship Cross Country Course. The men's 8,000-meter race starts at 10:45 a.m. ET, followed by the women's 6K at 11:45 a.m. ET.

The race can be viewed on the Big Ten Network on tape delay on Monday, Oct. 30 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

The Course
Hosting its sixth Big Ten Cross Country Championships (1969, 1978, 1987, 1996 and 2006), the Indiana Championship Cross Country Course is rolling, wooded terrain that is optimal for both racing and spectating. After starting on flatter ground, the course works its way into rolling hills at the race's midpoint before re-lopping the first part of the race backwards.

The Competition
Eight teams enter the men's 8K either ranked or receiving votes in the most recent (Oct. 17) USTFCCCA poll. Michigan enters the meet as the highest nationally ranked team in the conference at No. 13, while No. 15 Michigan State and No. 18 Minnesota are close behind. Not included in the rankings is defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin who ranked among the top-10 earlier in the season. Illinois is receiving votes and were recently ranked as high as No. 16.

Six teams enter the women's 6K either ranked in the top 30 of the latest (Oct. 17) USTFCCCA Poll. Penn State enters this weekend's championships at No. 9, followed by Michigan at No. 10, Wisconsin at No. 18, Minnesota at No. 19, Michigan State at No. 20 and Indiana at No. 29. A year ago, Michigan captured the Big Ten women's cross country title followed by Penn State in second and Michigan State in third.

The Last Time… (Men)
…Rutgers competed, the Scarlet Knights won the Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the first time since 1986. RU placed all five point-scoring runners in the Top 11 of the 8K. For the third time this season, and second time at Van Cortlandt Park, sophomore Cole Pschunder crossed the finish line first for the Scarlet Knights.

…at the Big Ten Championships, then-sophomore Conor Murphy placed 58th overall to lead Rutgers to an 11^th place team finish at Les Bolstad Course in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

The Last Time… (Women)
…Rutgers took third place at the Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park for the second-straight season. All seven Scarlet Knights finished in the top 25 with only 13.4 seconds separating the beginning and end of the pack. Sophomore Nadia Saponara led the contingent finishing the 5K race in 19:12.6 for 12th, while fellow classmate Emma Bergman finished in 14th in 19:14.5.

…at last year's Big Ten Championships, the Scarlet Knights were led by Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree, Alexandra Juzwiak. completing the 6K Les Bolstad Course in Minnesoata in 23:37.9.

The Rank
The men have been ranked 14th in the Mid-Atlantic by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in the fifth regional rankings of the 2017 season released on Oct. 16. Rutgers reached as high as No. 10 this season in the Sept. 11 rankings.

The women appeared in the USTFCCA Regional Poll the week of Oct. 2, landing at No. 15 in the Mid-Atlantic rankings.

The Squad (Men)
The current Scarlet Knights have plenty of Big Ten Championship experience with a combined 13 races since Rutgers joined the conference in 2014. Not including freshmen, four RU harriers set new personal records in the 8K this season (sophomore Andrew Comito, Murphy, Pschunder and senior Luke Wiley).

Junior Dom Munson paced the Scarlet Knights in back-to-back 8K's at the Rider Invitational and the Paul Short Run, although at Paul Short, Wiley was just a fraction of a second behind Munson. Pschunder led Rutgers in both races at Van Cortlandt Park, first at the Fordham Invitational, then at the Metropolitan Championships.

The Squad (Women)
The Rutgers women boast a youthful roster with 11 of the 17 members of the Scarlet Knight roster listed as either freshmen or sophomores. Nearly all nine of the Scarlet Knights heading out to Bloomington, Indiana this weekend have reset both their 5K and 6K PR's this season.

Freshman Olympia Martin, the 2016 NJSIAA champion out of Ridgewood High School, has led the Scarlet Knights in three of its four races to date, including a top ten performance at the Lehigh Invitational (6K) to open the season. Also consistently among the top runners across the finish line for Rutgers this fall have been sophomores Emma Bergman and Nadia Saponara, who both had top 20 finishes last weekend at the Metropolitan Championships.

RU's top experienced runner and last year's top Scarlet Knight finisher at the conference championships, senior Alexandra Juzwiak, captured a new PR in her last 6K race. posting a time of 22:03 at the Paul Short Invitational in late September. Her time was the best finish for the North Middletown, New Jersey native since the 2014 Big Ten Championships

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers men's cross country, follow the program on Twitter (@Rutgers_MensTF). The team is also on Facebook (facebook.com/ RutgersMensTF/).

- RU -