XC Notebook: Big Ten Championships

XC Notebook: Big Ten Championships

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Shelbyville, Indiana, to compete at the Big Ten Championships on Saturday. The Hawkeyes compete at the Blue River Course. The women’s 6,000-meter race begins at 11:30 a.m. (CT). The men’s 8,000 meters begins at 1 p.m.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Big Ten Conference will crown a team and individual champion in both the men’s and women’s races. Not all Big Ten schools are scheduled to compete, and Iowa will not record a team score. Each team must have five runners to be eligible for the team title.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The meet will be streamed live on BTN+ and results will be posted on the Iowa cross country Twitter account: @Iowa XC_TF and online at Hawkeysports.com. The meet will also air on the Big Ten Network at 11:30 a.m. (CT) Saturday, Feb. 6. The event can also be seen Feb. 7 at 7 a.m, Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. and Feb. 9 at 2 p.m.

HAWKEYES TO WATCH
The University of Iowa men’s and women’s cross country team will be sending Max Murphy (first appearance), Spencer Smith (third appearance), Aiden King (first appearance), Jack Pendergast (first appearance), Kelli Tosic (first appearance), Gabby Skopec (first appearance), and Emma Gordon (second appearance) to compete at the Big Ten Championships.

QUOTING COACH RANDY HASENBANK
“Right now we are in track season, so we will have a few kids focus on track and we will also take a few men and women on both sides for cross country. The kids that are going are really excited to get out there.

“Kelli Tosic has been a fantastic newcomer to the program,” Randy said. “She has broken five minutes in the mile and she’s run a great 5k in 17:21. Max Murphy has been really impressive, he went 4:08 in the mile and then 14:28 so he is prepared. The distance program has made its biggest progress during the indoor track season, it’s where we get fast and we are dialed into that training program. We have Nebraska on the road next week and then a big home meet two weeks later.”