Stifel, Elswick Help Ohio State Finish Ninth at the Big Ten Championships
11/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 1, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Led by sophomores Evan Stifel and Nick Elswick, the Ohio State men’s cross country team raced to a ninth-place finish at the 2015 Big Ten Championships Sunday morning in Chicago, Ill.
Stifel, competing at his first Big Ten meet as a Buckeye, crossed the line in a 24th-place time of 24:08.8, finishing just ahead of Elswick, who was 26th in a personal-best 8k time of 24:09.9, a 43-spot improvement from his finish as a freshman in 2014.
Senior Michael Brajdic used a 12-second PR of 24:20.3 to place 36th in his final Big Ten race, his best finish in three trips to the conference championships. Sophomores Clayton Bowie (55th, 24:45.4) and Mitch Leitch (67th, 24:53.9) completed the scoring for Ohio State.
No. 5 Michigan won its first team title since 1998 with a team score of 63, followed by Illinois (81) and Minnesota (98). Ohio State finished with a team score of 201, two points shy of eighth place and 27th-ranked Wisconsin, the defending conference champion.
Ohio State Results
Scorers
24. Evan Stifel, 24:08.8
26. Nick Elswick, 24:09.9
36. Michael Brajdic, 24:20.3
55. Clayton Bowie, 24:45.4
67. Mitch Leitch, 24:53.9
Non-scorers
85. Kevin Blank, 25:36.2
88. Jared Fleming, 25:43.1
98. Patrick Kunkel, 26:58.1
101. Luke Landis, 27:40.4
Team Standings
1. No. 5 Michigan – 63 points
2. Illinois (RV) – 81
3. Minnesota – 98
4. No. 28 Indiana – 112
5. No. 19 Michigan State – 113
6. Penn State – 169
7. Purdue – 173
8. No. 27 Wisconsin – 199
9. Ohio State – 201
10. Iowa – 265
11. Nebraska – 284
12. Rutgers – 337
Up Next
Ohio State competes at the 2015 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships Nov. 13 in Madison, Wis.
