Back-to-Back #B1GXC Sweeps - University of Oregon Athletics

Friday, October 30

Madison, WI

8:35 AM

University of Oregon

Big Ten Championships

B1GXC men's and women's sweep podium (Oct. 30, 2026)

Photo by: Rian Yamasaki

10/30/26 | Cross Country

Meet Results | B1G Championships

Diana Cherotich and Simeon Birnbaum added individual titles Friday in Wisconsin.

MADISON, Wis. – For a second-consecutive season, the Oregon cross country teams swept the Big Ten team and individual titles with a dominant showing Friday morning at the 2026 Big Ten Championships in Madison, Wis. Individually, Diana Cherotich successfully defended her conference title while Simeon Birnbaum made it consecutive Big Ten champions for the UO men.

With Friday's results, Oregon has won 12 of the 14 Big Ten team titles across cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field since joining the conference. Five of those wins have come in cross country with three in a row for the Women of Oregon.

The Ducks occupied three of the top-four spots led by a course- and meet-record time of 18:56.1 from Cherotich. She was followed by teammates Juliet Cherubet and Dalia Frias in second and fourth place, respectively. Cherotich and Cherubet—19:10.0 in Friday's 6K—also finished 1-2 at last season's Big Ten meet. Frias was up a spot from last year's fifth-place outing.

Oregon's top-five scoring lineup also featured freshman Sofia Thogersen in 11^th place overall and senior Ella Thorsett in 17^th, both of which earned spots on the All-Big Ten Second Team.

Cherotich becomes the fourth woman to win back-to-back Big Ten individual titles since the conference starting running a 6K in 2003. With her performance, Cherotich also took three seconds off the previous Zimmer Championship Course record of 18:59.1 set by Pamela Kosgei (New Mexico) at the 2024 Pre-Nat meet.

The UO women have now won three-consecutive individual titles in addition to their team efforts. The last time one school won three in a row was 1999-2001 (Wisconsin). Silan Ayyildiz won the Ducks' first Big Ten individual title in 2024 with the then-meet record of 19:13.6 in Champaign, Ill.

On the men's side, the Ducks put their top-six runners inside the top nine with Birnbaum pulling away down the final stretch of the Zimmer Course for a final time of 23:04.2. Evan Jenkins (23:07.0), in his Oregon debut, was third overall with Aiden Smith (23:11.9) in fourth. The rest of Oregon's first-team nods went to Connor Burns, Benjamin Balazs and Tayson Echohawk in places seven through nine.

The Men of Oregon had two more finish in the top 20 with freshmen Juan Gonzalez and Xavier Perras-Phaneuf in 13^th and 20^th place, respectively. In addition to all-freshmen selections, the two also added their names to the All-Big Ten Second Team.

Oregon now has 31 conference team titles—18 men, 13 women—in cross country, and 29 individual titles—18 men, 11 women—spread among 20 runners.

Big Ten Championships | Madison, Wis.
WOMEN
1. Oregon – 35 | 1-2-4-11-17
               1. Diana Cherotich – 18:56.1
               2. Juliet Cherubet – 19:10.0
               4. Dalia Frias – 19:43.3
               11. Sofia Thogersen – 20:09.3
               17. Ella Thorsett – 20:16.6
               43. Ava Parekh – 20:46.7
               81. Kendall Martin – 21:12.3 (74)
               84. Landen LeBlond – 21:14.4
               106. Allura Markow – 21:40.1

Team Standings (top five)
1. Oregon – 35
2. Northwestern – 90
3. Penn State – 92
4. Washington – 115
5. Minnesota - 127

MEN
1. Oregon – 23 | 1-3-4-7-8
               1. Simeon Birnbaum – 23:04.2
               3. Evan Jenkins – 23:07.0
               4. Aiden Smith – 23:11.9
               7. Connor Burns – 23:17.8
               8. Benjamin Balazs – 23:18.1
               9. Tayson Echohawk – 23:18.2
               13. Juan Gonzalez – 23:23.1
               20. Xavier Perras-Phaneuf – 23:34.3
               44. Evan Bishop – 24:01.9

Team Standings (top five)
1. Oregon – 23
2. Wisconsin – 62
3. Michigan State – 90
4. Minnesota – 122
5. Michigan – 133

Up Next: The postseason continues in two weeks with the NCAA West Region Championships (Nov. 13) in Sacramento, Calif. The top-two teams in each race earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.

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