This weekend, the Hoosiers will travel to Geneva, Ohio, to compete against the best competition in the Big Ten Conference. The Big Ten Championship will begin on Friday and continue through Saturday.
Last weekend at the Alex Wilson Invitational, IU Coach Ron Helmer registered select athletes in an effort to improve times. This effort was successful as IU men's Distance Medley Relay team shaved three seconds off its best time. In last year’s Big Ten Championship meet, the IU’s men’s DMR took first place with a time of 9:34.20. Currently, the DMR’s best time is 9:28.62, which is the best in the Big Ten.
In the 2017 Big Ten Championship, the mile event was won by Minnesota in 4:01.85, with IU coming in at the No. 2 slot by just one second. This season IU sophomore Kyle Mau, who place in third in the mile event of last year's Big Ten meet, was able to break a four-minute mile time with a time of 3:59.15.
Mau’s 3000m best for the season is a solid 22 seconds faster than the best time of last year's Big Ten Championship, with a winning time of 8:12.58 by Wisconsin. Mau ran the 3000m event in 7:50.85 in the Iowa State Classic just a few weeks ago.
Freshman Ben Veatch’s best time for the season in the 5000m event is currently 13.57.27, while last years Big Ten Championship winning time in the event was 14.04.44 by Wisconsin.
For this season, senior Daniel Kuhn’s best 600m time stands at 1.16.62, but in last year’s Big Ten Championship, Kuhn was able to win the 600m event in 1:15.23. Kuhn’s season best in the 800m, 1:47.89, also comes very close to the winning time for last year’s Big Ten Championship of 1:47.23 by Penn State.
The Big Ten Championship is one of the most important meets for the Hoosiers. This is something Helmer, who won the Coach of the Year in last year's meet, prepares his athletes for all season long.
Events on Friday will begin at 10 a.m. and continue through 6:50 p.m. Events on Saturday will begin at 10 a.m. and continue through 4:35 p.m.
