Buckeyes Open Campaign Friday Evening at Akron
8/29/2024 12:15:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Ohio State will travel for the Tommy Evans Invitational
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Friday, the Ohio State men's and women's cross country teams will open their seasons at the 55th annual Tommy Evans Invitational hosted by Akron at Silver Creek Cross Country Park in Norton, Ohio.
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The women's 5K will start at 6:15 p.m., followed by the men's 6K at about 6:45 p.m. Live results are expected to be available HERE.
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Santos, Jha Named B1G Runners to Watch
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The women's 5K will start at 6:15 p.m., followed by the men's 6K at about 6:45 p.m. Live results are expected to be available HERE.
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Santos, Jha Named B1G Runners to Watch
- For the first time, the Big Ten announced a B1G Cross Country Runners to Watch List, with Buckeyes Zubin Jha of the men's team and Daniella Santos of the women's squad recognized. The watch lists were determined by the conference's head coaches.
- Jha, from Worthington, Ohio, has competed in all 20 cross country races over the last four years, including the four Big Ten Championships and three NCAA Regionals in the stretch, and was a counter for the Buckeyes in all seven B1G and NCAA events. At last year's Big Ten Cross Country Championships, Jha placed 18th, the first Buckeye man to post a Top 20 finish since 2016. A computer science and engineering major, he is a four-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
- A native of Hilliard, Ohio, Santos earned her bachelor's degree in early education this past spring. She is a two-time First Team All-Midwest Region honoree and earned First Team All-Big Ten honors in 2022, with a second-team nod in 2023. She was an individual qualifier to the NCAA Championships last season after finishing seventh at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals. Santos is a four-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and an Academic All-Big Ten selection and earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete accolades in 2023-24.
- The race Friday allows the Buckeyes the chance to race on the course that will also host this year's NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships.
- The women return nine of 12 runners from last year's Big Ten Championships, where the women placed fifth as a team. Among the returnees are Addie Engel, who won her second B1G title in 2023, and Daniella Santos, who earned All-Big Ten honors for the second year in a row with a Top 8 finish. Andrea Kuhn was a 2022 All-B1G honoree and was fourth for Ohio State last year.
- For the men, eight of the 10 runners who raced in the conference championships a season ago are back, including four of the five counters. The men were seventh at the B1G race as a team, led by Zubin Jha who placed 18th.
- In the USFTFCCCA regional rankings to start the year, the Buckeye women are fifth in the Great Lakes Region, behind Notre Dame, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Toledo. Ohio State's men are 13th in the region, with B1G schools No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Michigan State, No. 6 Indiana and No. 7 Purdue in the Top 10. Â
- Regular season meets at Minnesota (Sept. 20), Loyola (Oct. 4) and Wisconsin (Oct. 19) follow this week's race at Akron.
- The postseason starts at the Big Ten Championships Nov. 1 in Champaign, Ill., with the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships Nov. 15 in Norton, Ohio, and the NCAA Championships in Madison, Wis., Nov. 23.
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