Postseason Begins Friday with First Big Ten Championships

EUGENE, Ore. – The 2024 postseason for the Oregon cross country team kicks off Friday morning with the Big Ten Championships hosted by the University of Illinois. The conference meet will be air live on the Big Ten Network beginning at 8:30 a.m. (PT).

The women's 6K will go off at 8:35 a.m. (PT) followed by the men's 8K at 9:35 a.m.

How to Follow
2024 Big Ten Cross Country Championships
Orange and Blue Golf Course (Savoy, Ill.)
TV: Big Ten Network | Live Results

Oregon Entries
Men: Benjamin Balazs, Simeon Birnbaum, Evan Burke, Elliott Cook, Evan Dorenkamp, Tayson Echohawk, James Harding, Quincy Norman, Jeffery Rogers, Joshua Schumacher, Aiden Smith

Women: Silan Ayyildiz, Mia Barnett, Maddy Elmore, Ali Ince, Klaudia Kazimierska, Harper McClain, Samantha McDonnell, Ella Nelson, Wilma Nielsen, Charlotte Sinke, Anika Thompson, Ella Thorsett

All-conference accolades are determined by individual finish with places one through 10 collecting first-team honors and places 11 through 20 named to the second team. New to the Big Ten this year, an all-freshman team will be announced as part of the championship release following the event.

The Ducks return three all-conference performers—Elliott Cook, Maddy Elmore and Quincy Norman—from last year's Pac-12 Championships.

Ranked Teams in the Big Ten
Men: #9 Wisconsin, #18 Washington, #25 Oregon, RV Michigan State, RV Michigan
Women: #2 Washington, #11 Wisconsin, #17 Oregon, #22 Minnesota, #24 Penn State, #26 Michigan State, RV Northwestern

The Wisconsin men and Michigan State women are the defending Big Ten team champions.

Collectively, the Ducks have won 26 conference team titles—16 men, 10 women—in program history but will be running for a first Big Ten crown this weekend. Individually, Oregon has won 24 conference titles—16 men, eight women—spread among 16 runners. Edward Cheserek is the most recent UO man to win a league title, a four-time Pac-12 champ between 2013-16. The UO women last had an individual champion in 2010 with Jordan Hasay.

Team Titles by the Years
Men (16): 1969-70, '73, '76-79, '82, '88-90, '92, '95, 2006-08
Women (10): 1986-88, '90-92, '95, 2012, '14, '18

Oregon head coach Jerry Schumacher won 11 Big Ten cross country team titles and was an eight-time Big Ten Coach of the Year during his time leading Wisconsin (1998-2008). He was also a two-time all-conference performer during his collegiate career in Madison. Dorenkamp, a UO transfer from Penn State, also brings previous Big Ten experience with a pair of top-20 finishes in 2021 and 2023.

Last Time Out
Both teams registered runner-up finishes at the Bill Dellinger Invitational (Oct. 11) in Springfield, Ore. Maddy Elmore won the women's race in 19:40.2 and the Women of Oregon placed its top-five lineup inside the top 17. Elliott Cook and Tayson Echohawk ran to 11^th- and 14^th-place efforts, respectively, to lead the UO men.

Up Next
The postseason continues with the NCAA West Region Championships (Nov. 15) in Colfax, Wash. The top-two teams in each race earn an automatic spot at the NCAA Championships. The at-large qualifiers will be announced when the entire national field is announced later that weekend. The NCAA meet will be held Nov. 23 in Madison, Wis.

For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.