Jha Leads Buckeyes at Big Ten Championships

Friday, October 27

Madison, WI

11:45 AM

Ohio State

Big Ten Championships

Photo by: Ohio State Athletics

Jha Leads Buckeyes at Big Ten Championships

10/27/2023 2:58:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Photo Gallery

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Back to back! Addie Engel, who claimed Ohio State's first Big Ten women's cross country championship in 2022, defended her championship Friday at the meet in Madison, Wis. Daniella Santos crossed the line eighth, as the women finished fifth as a team. Zubin Jha paced the Buckeye men with a Top 20 finish, with the men placing seventh.

Results

Quoting head coach Sara Mason Vergote
"The course was pretty messy, so our men took a chance and ran aggressive from the start. I'm really proud of how they competed and was especially impressed with Zubin today. We have very good momentum moving into the regional championships in two weeks.

"This women's team has dealt with its fair share of adversity this season and today was no exception. Even today, our fourth runner lost a shoe in the mud. I'm confident we will be in a much better place in two weeks.

"I'm especially proud of Andrea who has barely run due to a freak injury suffered this summer. She gave everything she had for the team today with virtually no miles under her belt.

"For Addie to defend her Big Ten title is an incredible accomplishment and testament to her toughness and work ethic."

Back to Back Champion and All-Big Ten Buckeyes
Addie Engel won the 2022 title en route to Big Ten Athlete of the Year accolades a season ago. With her first place finish, she earned First Team All-Big Ten honors for the third time; she is the first Buckeye with more than one first team accolade.

Daniella Santos, a first team honoree last season after finishing fourth, was a second team selection in 2023. Santos and Engel are two of just three Buckeyes to earn all-conference accolades more than once, joined by Katie Borchers (first team in 2013, second in 2014).

Ohio State has had at least one all-conference honoree each of the last five years and a Buckeye has finished among the Top 6 finishers four years in a row. Allie Guagenti was fifth in 2020 and Engel was fourth in 2021.

The Buckeye Women
Addie Engel finished the 6K first in 20:47.9, nearly 10 seconds ahead of second place. Daniella Santos was eighth (21:25.2). Akemi Von Scherr was third for the Scarlet and Gray, crossing in 33rd, with Andrea Kuhn, who was running her first race of the season, fourth and Gia Napoleon fifth for Ohio State.

The women placed fifth, their fourth time in the Top 5 in the last six years. The squad edged out sixth-place Northwestern by two points. Michigan State won the team title.

The rest of the Buckeye lineup was Ana Karmol, Audrey DeSantis, Zoee Lehman, Sydney Paul, Annie Allen, Aniya Mosley and Chloe Dawson.

Engel notched her 11th career Top 2 finish (her fifth this season) and has been in the Top 17 in 19 of her last 20 races, with the lone exception when she ran as an individual at the 2021 NCAA Championships.

The Buckeye Men
Zubin Jha led the Buckeye men, crossing the line 18th in 24:54.6. He was the first Buckeye finisher in three of his four appearances at the Big Ten Championships, with this year his first time placing in the Top 20. The last Buckeye in the Top 20 was Evan Stifel, who placed seventh in 2016.

Giovanni Copploe was 31st and Kevin Agnew finished 49th. Liam Saughnessy and Keegan Freyhof closed out the Buckeye counters, in 64th and 66th, respectively.

Kaleb Martin, Sean Carney, Alex Dediu, John Cuozzo and Zach Beneteau also ran for the Buckeyes at the championships.

The men placed seventh, the highest finish for the Buckeyes since 2011.

Back to Madison for Regionals
The men and women will travel back to Madison, Wis., for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships Nov. 10.

Big Ten Championships
Oct. 27 – Madison, Wis.

Women's 6k
Team – 5th/14 (154 points)
1. Addie Engel (20:47.9)
8. Daniella Santos (21:25.2)
33. Akemi Von Scherr (22:08.1)
61. Andrea Kuhn (22:44.1)
64. Gia Napoleon (22:45.3)
83. Ana Karmol (23:00.8)
86. Audrey DeSantis (23:04.4)
94. Zoee Lehman (23:17.1)
100. Sydney Paul (23:28.2)
106. Annie Allen (23:34.7)
110. Aniya Mosley (23:46.1)
126. Chloe Dawson (23:57.5)

Men's 8k
Team: 7th/12 (200 points)
18. Zubin Jha (24:54.6)
31. Giovanni Copploe (25:16.4)
49. Kevin Agnew (25:35.7)
64. Liam Shaughnessy (26:03.3)
66. Keegan Freyhof (26:05.9)
76. Kaleb Martin (26:20.7)
78. Sean Carney (26:22.4)
90. Alex Dediu (26:40.1)
91. John Cuozzo (26:40.5)
100. Zach Beneteau (26:48.8)