The IU women’s and men’s cross-country teams finished sixth and fourth, respectively, at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa.
Twin sisters Brittany and Bethany Neeley paced the way for the Hoosier women with Brittany finishing 21st and Bethany in 23rd. Brittany, a freshman, finished with a time of 20:41.2 in the 6K race.
Sophomore Amanda Behnke was 32nd, followed by freshman Jill Whitman in 36th and freshman Madison Stenger in 55th to round out the scoring for IU.
The women’s sixth-place finish is the same as the 2013 season. It’s the program’s best back-to-back finish at the Big Ten Championships since 2004 and 2005, when IU went fifth and fourth, respectively.
IU finished with 159 points. Michigan State won with 26 followed by Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State and Minnesota all placing ahead of IU.
On the men’s side, sophomore Jason Crist paced the Hoosiers in ninth place with a time of 23:52.9 in the 8K.
Junior Matt Schwartzer finished just behind him in 10th place. Senior Evan Esselink was third among Hoosiers in 16th followed by juniors Rorey Hunter and Owen Skeete.
The No. 20 Hoosier men combined for 95 points, three points behind third place and 18 behind second. No. 6 Wisconsin won the Big Ten title with 47 points followed by Michigan and Penn State.
The next event for IU cross country will be the Hoosier Invitational at 3:20 p.m. Friday at the IU Cross-Country Course.
Sam Beishuizen
