Buckeyes Look to Make Noise at Big Ten Championships Sunday – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Ohio State brings experienced and determined squad to Happy Valley
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Championship season begins Sunday for the Ohio State men’s cross country team as it heads to State College, Pa. for the 2009 Big Ten Cross Country Championships.
The Buckeyes will bring an experience squad to Happy Valley. Jeff See has been the Buckeye anchor in 2009, taking home two titles and a runner-up finish. The senior has experience on the big stage, having been named to the 2007 all-Big Ten team after a sixth-place finish at the 2007 conference championships. Sophomore Taylor Williams has been the picture of consistency in his second season with the Scarlet and Gray, recording two top 10 finishes. Adam Green has enjoyed a successful sophomore campaign as well, highlighted by a third-place finish at the All-Ohio championships.
Ohio State is looking to redeem itself after a disappointing eighth-place finish at the 2008 Big Ten Championships. An inexperienced squad, led by a freshman in Williams, struggled in its first big meet of the year, as no Buckeye finished among the top 20. With the addition of See, who redshirted in 2008, the Scarlet and Gray are determined to show that 2008 was an aberration.
Wisconsin, winner of the past 10 Big Ten championships, looks to once again be the favorite in 2009. No. 18 Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State and the Buckeyes look to be the Badgers top challengers.
Penn State’s Blue/White Golf Course will play host to the 5.2 mile race, set to begin at approximately 10:45 a.m. ET. A complete recap will be posted after the race at www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
Cross Country on BTN
The Big Ten Network will air the Big Ten Cross Country Championships in their entirety on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. ET.
Last Time Out
Led by See, the Ohio State men’s cross country team enjoyed quite a day Oct. 24 at the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic in Dexter, Mich. The senior led the Scarlet and Gray on the rain-sodden 5k course, taking the title in a time of 15:03. Patrick Sovacool, competing unattached, finished second at 15:13.
Freshman Donny Roys continued an outstanding start to his collegiate career, placing third in 15:15. Roys had just enough to outlast teammate Adam Green at the finish line – the sophomore completed the course in 15:16.
Four other Buckeyes finished among the top 10, including Julian Meyer (seventh in 15:23), Christopher Olinger (eighth in 15:24), Taylor Williams (ninth, 15:27) and Cory Leslie (10th, 15:30). In all, 13 members of the 2009 squad competed in Dexter.
See Named Big Ten Runner of the Week
Senior Jeff See was named the Big Ten runner of the week Tuesday in recognition of his dominating performance at the EMU Fall Classic last Friday.
Fighting the rain and a muddy course, See captured his third top 3 finish of the season to fuel a dominating Buckeye effort as 11 of the top 13 finishers donned Scarlet and Gray. The Middletown, Ohio native completed the 5k course in 15:03, besting the field by more than 10 seconds.
See has enjoyed an outstanding senior campaign, claiming second place at the Mountaineer Open (9/18) and first at the All-Ohio Championships (10/2). He is the first Buckeye runner to take home the award since Skyler Schmitt earned the honor in Oct. 2008.
Buckeyes Remain Eighth in Great Lakes Regional Rankings
Ohio State held on to the No. 8 spot in the Oct. 26 Great Lakes regional rankings by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
No. 15 Wisconsin remains the top-ranked team in the Great Lakes, followed by Butler, No. 18 Indiana and Michigan. The Badgers and Hoosiers are currently the only Great Lakes squad ranked in the USTFCCCA national poll.
Ohio State History at the Big Ten Championships
In its 96 year history, the men’s cross country team has won only one Big Ten title (1923). The Buckeyes have placed among the top 5 40 times, including seven runner-up finishes, two under head coach Robert Gary.
Eight individuals have been named to the all-Big Ten team based on their performances at the conference championships. Current Buckeye Jeff See was given the award in 2007 after a sixth-place finish. Assistant coach Brian Olinger earned the award in 2004, while Gary was a three-time honoree as a student-athlete at Ohio State.
Former All-American Olinger Added to Coaching Staff
Brian Olinger joined the Ohio State staff in August 2009 as a volunteer distance coach for both cross country and track and field.
A constant threat on the national stage, Olinger is one of the top American athletes in distance events, specializing in the 3000m steeplechase, in which he owns a personal record time of 8:19.56. Olinger has competed on some of track and field’s biggest stages, including the 2009 USATF Championships, the 2009 USA 7 Mile Challenge and the 2008 Olympic Trials.
During his four years in Columbus, Olinger was a five-time All-American, competing in five NCAA championship races while winning the 2004 Big Ten title in the 5000m (14:09.80). In June 2005, Olinger became just the second American collegiate athlete to break the 8:20 mark in the 3000m steeple at the KBC Night of Athletes in Heusden, Belgium.
“Brian is a great illustration of what you can accomplish when you get out with the team daily and put your best effort into getting better,” head coach Robert Gary said of Olinger. “He is a great role model for out student-athletes because he overcame struggles in our program and became an outstanding runner — I expect him to be a huge asset to our cross country and track teams because of this.”
Head coach Robert Gary
Robert Gary is in his fourth season as the head men’s track and field coach and his 13th coaching the cross country team at Ohio State.
Gary ended a decorated running career in 2005. In 2004, he became the fifth former Buckeye to gain a bid to two separate U.S. Olympic teams and continued running by making the finals for the 11th-straight year at the 2005 USA Nationals.
A 1996 participant at the Atlanta Games, Gary placed second in the men’s steeplechase at the Olympic Trials with a career-best 8:19.46. Eight years later, his third-place finish at the trials gained an automatic bid on the U.S. team headed to Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympic Games.
Gary also earned honors as a cross country athlete, winning the 2004 Track and Field News Cross Country Runner of the Year. He qualified for the U.S. team for the second-straight season in both the four-kilometer and 12-kilometer events and finished as the top American at the 2004 World Championships in the 4k. Gary’s 2004 qualification to the world championships in two events marked the first time a U.S. runner made both teams in consecutive years and moved his tally to 11 national cross country teams qualified for.
In 2003, Gary qualified for his sixth United States world cross country team by winning the 2003 U.S. 4-kilometer Cross Country Championship in Houston, Texas. That same year, he claimed a third-place standing in the steeplechase at the USATF championships in June with a time of 8:24.82. Gary ended the year by representing the U.S. at the 2003 Outdoor World Championship en route to earning a No. 3 ranking by Track and Field News. During the 2002 outdoor campaign, Gary ran the fourth-fastest time by an American in the 3000-meter steeplechase. As a result of his performance, Gary was ranked among the Top 10 in the U.S. for the seventh-straight year.
As a student-athlete at Ohio State from 1992-1995, Gary was a six-event All-American, winning the Big Ten 3000m steeplechase outdoor title in 1994, where he set the Ohio State and Big Ten record in the event. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and member of three Big Ten champion teams (1992 outdoor, and 1993 indoor and outdoor).
Along with his numerous accolades in cross country and track, Gary has established himself as one of the nation’s elite coaches. Former Buckeye greats Rob Myers (1500m), Dan Huling (steeplechase) and Brian Olinger (steeplechase) along with current Buckeye Jeff See (1500m) trained under Gary while preparing for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Myers, Huling and Olinger advanced to the finals of their events before coming up short while See – just a sophomore at the time – missed the finals by one spot. Gary was selected to be an assistant coach for Team USA’s U23 team in July 2008 at the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) meet in Toluca, Mexico. Joining him was See, who competed in the 1500m run. Myers and Huling finished the year having run the second-fastest times by an American in their respective events. At the 2009 USATF Championships, two former (Olinger and Huling) and one current Buckeye (See) qualified for final day competition, with Huling making the USA track and field team after a second-place finish in 8:32.86. In Sept. 2009, Huling ran the sixth-best steeplechase in U.S. history, finishing fourth at the Brussels Golden League in 8:14.69 while shattering the previous American-best time in 2009 by more than seven seconds.
Coach Gary’s student-athletes are known nationally for their work in the classroom – 18 members of the 2009 track and field team were named Academic All-Big Ten, while five members of the cross country team claimed the honor. The cross country team was named 2009 Division I All-Academic for the eighth straight season.
A recent inductee into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame, Gary received a degree in English education from Ohio State in the fall of 1996.
Up Next
Ohio State will compete Nov. 14 at the NCAA Great Lakes regional in Bloomington, Ind.
