Oct. 31, 2004
IOWA CITY, IA – Iowa City, IA – The University of Iowa cross country teams competed in the Big Ten Championship on a beautiful Sunday afternoon on the Ashton Cross Country Course. The men’s team finished third, their highest performance since 1967. The women delivered their best performance since 1993 placing seventh.
The Hawkeyes sealed their third place finish with 110 team points in the 8,000 meter race, finishing just behind Indiana (104 points). Sophomore Micah VanDenend led the Iowa pack and ran to a second team all Big-Ten Conference honor, placing 14th overall in 24:39. Freshman Eric MacTaggart finished just behind VanDenend placing 16th in 24:40. Senior Matt Esche finished 18th with a time of 24:49 while junior Adam Roche finished in 27th in 25:03. Sophomore Jeff Kent ran 25:10, placing 35th while junior Dan Haut finished 39th in 25:13. Senior Tony Rakaric and junior Brian Rae rounded out the Hawkeye lineup with 43rd and 48th place finishes.
Wisconsin captured the team championships title for the sixth consecutive year with 23 team points. Wisconsin’s Simon Bairu defended his individual title from last year and set an Ashton Cross Country Course record, finishing the 8,000 meters in 23:45. The Badgers were followed in the standings by second-place Indiana (104) and third-place Iowa (110). Minnesota (124) and Michigan (125) rounded out the top five.
The Hawkeye women delivered their best Big Ten performance in 11 years with a seventh place finish and 170 team points. In a year the Iowa women improved by four places and 71 points. Sophomore Nikki Chapple was Iowa’s top individual for the fourth consecutive meet. Chapple finished 18th overall with a time of 21:48. Freshmen Racheal Marchand and Meghan Armstrong finished 21st and 24th in 21:56 and 22:20. Sophomore Shannon Stanley contributed a top 50 finish placing 46th in 22:38. Sophomore Christine Kortarba finished 65th in 23:08 while senior Michelle Sokol ran 23:47 to finish 79th. Freshman Molly Esche (81st, 23:56), senior Jenni Capista (82nd, 24.00) and freshman Jessica Schmidt (89th, 24:24) completed the Hawkeye roster.
Michigan captured the team title for the third consecutive year with 45 points. Michigan State’s freshman Danette Doetzel captured the women’s individual title running the 6,000 meter course in 20:33. Doetzel and men’s champion Simon Bairu attended the same high school and trained together. Michigan State and Illinois will share second place finish, both scoring 85 team points. Minnesota (133) took fourth place while Indiana (135) finished fifth.
The Hawkeyes will take a week off and prepare for the NCAA Midwest Regional in Peoria,IL, Saturday, November 13.