The IU cross-country team had three runners named first-team All-Big Ten at the Big Ten Championship meet in Minnesota on Sunday.
Seniors Jason Crist and Matt Schwartzer and sophomore Katherine Receveur all received the nod and led Hoosier men and women to third and eighth place finishes, respectively.
Crist and Schwartzer placed third and fourth overall for the men, and IU finished behind Wisconsin and Michigan State. The Hoosiers finished the meet with 92 points, and freshman Ben Veatch placed eighth overall to collect his first All-Big Ten honors.
Crist managed to notch his fourth consecutive All-Big Ten selection and third first-team selection at the meet. The accolades add to an already impressive senior season that saw him named Big Ten Athlete of the Week on Oct. 5.
“This race probably favors me more,” Crist said in an interview with Big Ten Network. “I’ve always been able to get things going at the end of the race, and that’s how it went today.”
IU Coach Ron Helmer said before the meet he was looking forward to competing against Wisconsin, a quality team IU respected, and the Badgers lived up to his expectations. Wisconsin won the men’s meet with a first-place finish from Morgan McDonald.
“I’m not sure if there’s a better distance runner in the conference right now, and you just have to accept that.” Crist told Big Ten Network.
Receveur was the only Hoosier in the women’s race to finish in the top 10 and placed second overall. She is the first Hoosier to be named first-team All-Big Ten since 2013 and the only one to earn any Big-Ten honors at the meet.
Senior Amanda Behnke accomplished the same feat in last year’s meet as a junior.
“I just trusted my coaches,” Receveur said. “They had a goal for me to be top 10. Normally I get scared, but I decided to stay with the top runners and stick with them.”
Receveur, along with sophomore Brenna Calder, stepped up in Behnke’s place this season after it was announced Oct. 13 a leg injury would keep her out for the rest of the season. Calder finished 22nd overall and was the second Hoosier to cross the finish line.
Final times were slower than usual Sunday across the board because the course featured numerous hills and rain caused muddy sections on the course that took away some traction. Crist said these factors made for tough finishes for everyone.
Despite the conditions, a few Hoosiers were able to earn accolades. Receveur attributed this to the benefits of practicing in Bloomington.
“Bloomington is really hilly,” Receveur said. “So I thought that we were prepared in the sense that we were used to the hills.”
