Buckeyes Look to Rebound Saturday at Great Lakes Regional Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s cross country team heads to Bloomington, Ind., for the 2009 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships Nov. 14.
The Buckeyes will be looking to rebound from an eighth-place finish at the Big Ten championships two weeks ago – securing a spot in the NCAA championships, the first in program history, would do the trick. Three automatic bids will be up for grabs on the 6k course, with No. 23 Michigan and No. 26 Michigan State considered heavy favorites for the top two spots. The third and final spot will more than likely be a battle between four teams – Notre Dame, Indiana, Miami (OH) and Ohio State.
Distance coach Chris Neal will bring a young but talented squad to Indiana Saturday, led by juniors Jordan Jennewine and Sarah Foster. Jennewine has enjoyed quite a junior campaign, claiming an All-Ohio championship and second-team all-Big Ten honors after a 12th-place finisher at the conference finals, while Foster has been the picture of consistency throughout the season for the Scarlet and Gray. The addition of senior Katie Williams and freshman Victoria Brink has added much needed depth to the roster.
Saturday’s 6k is set to begin at approximately 1:15 ET on the campus of Indiana University. A complete recap will be available after the race at www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
Competing Teams
Akron
Bowling Green
Butler
Central Michigan
Cincinnati
Cleveland State
Dayton
Detroit Mercy
Eastern Michigan
Evansville
Indiana
Indiana State
IPFW
IUPUI
Kent State
Marquette
Miami (OH)
No. 23 Michigan
No. 26 Michigan State
Notre Dame
Oakland
Ohio
Ohio State
Purdue
Toledo
Wisconsin
Valparaiso
Western Michigan
Wisconsin-Green Bay
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Wright State
Xavier
Buckeyes Fall to Fifth in USTFCCCA Regional Rankings
Ohio State fell one spot to No. 5 in the Nov. 2 Great Lakes regional rankings by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The top three remained unchanged as No. 23 Michigan retained the top spot, followed by rival Michigan State, ranked 26th nationally, and Notre Dame. Indiana, by virtue of its seventh-place finish at the Big Ten championships, jumped the Buckeyes into the No. 4 spot.
Big Ten Announces Sportsmanship Award Winners
Big Ten officials announced honorees from each of the 21 cross country squads for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Nov. 4. Student-athletes selected distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes were chosen based on outstanding work in the classroom and in their community.
The Buckeyes were represented by senior Katie Williams. The Upper Arlington, Ohio native is now candidate for Big Ten Sportswoman of the Year, a prestigious recognition that the conference office will award at the end of the academic year.
Head coach Karen Dennis
Karen Dennis was hired as Ohio State’s first women’s head coach since 1993 in July of 2005. Prior to taking over the OSU women’s helm, Dennis spent four seasons as a sprints and hurdles assistant for both the Buckeye men’s and women’s programs. The Detroit, Mich. native and Michigan State grad returned to the Midwest in 2003 following a 10-year stretch (1992-2002) as head coach at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and after serving as the head coach of the United States women’s national team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
The women’s track and cross country programs have witnessed steady improvement since Dennis took over the reins in 2005. The 2009 saw a young roster for both the track and cross country, and each side improved significantly throughout their respective seasons. Sarah Foster, Emily Thompson and Jordan Jennewine led the Buckeyes o a one-spot improvement at the Big Ten Championships, while the track team hit its stride late in the season, qualifying five individuals for the NCAA championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Under the direction of Dennis, Letecia Wright finished 16th in the 100m finals, while Latoya Sanderson, Ashley Caldwell, Ayrizanna Favours and Shaniqua McGinnis claimed 11th in the 4x400m relay. The 4x400m squad also claimed the team’s only Big Ten title at league’s 2009 outdoor finals.
Prior to UNLV, Dennis served as the head coach of the Michigan State University track and field program for 11 seasons, where she guided the Spartans to a 1982 Big Ten Outdoor Championship as she was named District IV Coach of the Year. The Spartans thrived under her direction as she produced a number of outstanding athletes. Judi Brown-King won the silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Cheryl Gilliam was a 12-time Big Ten champion. Odessa Smalls won 13 Big Ten titles and earned All-America honors three times. In addition, Dennis coached a Big Ten champ in the 10,000 meters, two-time All-American Mary Shea.
In 1992, Dennis took over the UNLV cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field teams after 11 seasons at Michigan State. While in Las Vegas, Dennis guided 12 different student-athletes to All-American status. She also coached former distance standout Katie Barto to the NCAA championships in 2002, All-American status and NCAA Woman of the Year honors for the state of Nevada. That same season, Dennis guided Michelle Davis, a six-time All-American, to the 2002 UNLV Sportswoman of the Year Award.
Dennis has been involved on the national and international track and field scenes for quite some time. She served as the assistant coach of the 1995 World Championships squad in Goteborg, Sweden. She also coached the U.S. women’s team at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba and served as an assistant women’s coach at the World University Championships in Duisburg, Germany, in 1989.
Distance coach Chris Neal
Chris Neal is in his second season as an assistant coach at Ohio State after spending the three seasons at Tulane University in New Orleans. Hired in July 2008, Neal works closely with the Buckeye distance runners and cross country team.
In his first season in Columbus, the Buckeye distance program grew by leaps and bounds. During the cross country season, a young Ohio State team improved its placement in the Big Ten standings, while finishing 13th at the NCAA regional championships. Sarah Foster earned Big Ten Runner of the Week honors under Neal’s leadership.
Records fell throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons – Jordan Jennewine broke the school record in the 1500m at the Big Ten outdoor championships, while putting her name into the OSU record books in the 800m (indoor), one-mile run (indoor) and 5000m run (outdoor). Foster and Emily Thompson also earned their spot within the Ohio State annals thanks to outstanding effort during the year.
During his time at Tulane from 2006-08, Neal coached his runners to an eighth-place team finish at the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regionals and a ninth-place finish at the 2007 South Central Regional Cross Country Championships – its first Top 10 finish in school history. The 2007 cross country team won three meets and placed in the Top 10 in three others, while freshman Laurie Dalrymple ran her way to All-Conference USA honors. The Green Wave took sixth at the Conference USA championships and gained its first Top 10 finish at the 2007 NCAA South Central Region Championship – also the school’s first time bringing a full squad to a regional meet.
Prior to Tulane, Neal served as assistant coach at the University of New Orleans from 2005-06 and as a volunteer assistant at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. Neal is USATF Level II certified in both the endurance and jumping events and was a lettewinner in cross country at Eastern Kentucky University, where he helped the Colonels to the Ohio Valley Conference cross country championship.
Last Time Out
Running against some of the nation’s top collegiate athletes, a young Ohio State women’s cross country team finished in eighth-place at the 2009 Big Ten Championships Nov 1.
Led by junior Jordan Jennewine, who earned second-team all-Big Ten honors thanks to a 12th-place finish in 21:02, the Buckeyes showed a tremendous amount of improvement from 2008, when the team failed to place a runner in the top 30.
Sarah Foster, the Buckeyes’ top finisher at the conference championships a season ago saw an eight-spot improvement in her final standing from 2008 – the junior finished 27th in a time of 21:29. Senior Katie Williams (21:40) and junior Ellen Birmingham (21:42) were next up for Ohio State, finishing 36th and 37th respectively.
Freshman Victoria Brink represented the Buckeyes well in her inaugural championship meet, finishing 52nd in 22:15. Sophomore Sarah Lowe (62nd, 22:31) and junior Ashley Chirco (63rd, 22:34) rounded out the Buckeye effort.
No. 18 Penn State took home the team title on their 6k home course with 71 points, followed by No. 13 Illinois (77) and No. 15 Minnesota (80). Indiana’s 161 points were just enough to hold off the Buckeyes (164) for seventh.
Cross Country on BTN
The Big Ten Network will air the 2009 Big Ten Cross Country Championships in their entirety on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. ET.
Up Next
With a top three finish Saturday, Ohio State will secure an invitation to the 2009 NCAA Championships Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.
