Oct. 30, 2005

Complete Results

Wisconsin senior Simon Bairu shaved 14 seconds off his time that won last year's Big Ten Cross Country Championships race, crossing the finish line at 23:31.73 for his third individual title in as many years. Bairu finished 25 seconds ahead of the pack and led the Badgers, who claimed eight of the nine top spots overall, to their seventh-straight championships win.

The Badgers' dynasty ran strong Sunday, scoring a near-perfect 16 and distancing themsevles from second-place by a whopping 85 points. Junior Chris Solinsky stayed with Bairu for much of the race, but finished at 23:56.38 for second. Right behind him was freshman Matt Withrow at 24:06.58, and a tenth of a second later, fellow freshman Stuart Eagon crossed the line for fourth. The Badgers also placed Anthony Ford, Christian Wagner, Time Nelson and Ben Gregory at positions six through ninth.

Indiana's Sean Jefferson broke up the sweep, finishing fifth with a time of 24:13.58.

Leaping four spots from a fifth-place finish in 2004, Ohio State turned up 101 points for second, paced by senior Brian Olinger's 10th-place finish at 24:41.38. Freshman Jeff See and John Ealy finished just outside the all-conference second team honors with 16th- and 18th-place finishes. Junior Glenn Collins also turned in a top-30 finish to round out the core of the Buckeyes' runner-up showing.

Minnesota finished a mere point behind the Buckeyes at third. Leading the hosting Gophers, Antonio Vega finished 12th with a time of 24:44.38. Ryan Malmin finished two seconds behind him for 13th, and freshman Chris Rombough also gave a top-20 performance, finishing 17th at 25:01.58.

Iowa slipped a spot, landing in fourth with 124 points. Seniors Adam Roche and Matt Esche led the Hawkeyes with 20th and 21st respectively. Junior Jeff Ket was a step behind them, finishing at 22nd with a time of 25:10.68, and sophomore Eric MacTaggart turned in a top-30 run to finish 29th.

It was also a narrow distance to fifth with Michigan taking the No. 5 spot with 125 points. Sophomore Mike Woods paced the Wolverines at 24.:52.78. Woods closed out the All-Big Ten Second Team at 14th overall.

Indiana totalled 137 points for sixth, dropping several marks from a runner-up finish in 2004. Led by Jefferson, the Hoosiers also got solid contributions from seniors Stephen Haas, who finished 11th, and Charlie Koeppen, who crossed the line at 35th.

Michigan State remained steady from their 2004 finish at seventh, while senior Nick Oertel and junior Matt Bartlebaugh provided a one-two punch to finish at 23rd and 24th. Purdue counted 235 points for an eighth-place finish. The Boilermakers were led by seniro David Rae's ninth-place finish. Rae, who turned in a time of 24:41.63, also earned All-Big Ten Second Team Honors.

Rounding out the team finishes, Penn State solidified the ninth spot with 239 points. Junior Dan Mazzocco paced the Nittany Lions at 24:57.48 and just missed the all-league status with a 15th-place finish. Illinois was not far behind with 241 for 10th.