Nov. 19, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Eleven Big Ten squads will represent the conference at this year's NCAA Cross Country Championships. Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin will compete on the men's side and Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State Minnesota, Ohio State and Penn State will race on women's side. The conference will send four individuals to the national meet in Indiana's Andrew Poore, Penn State's Vince McNally, Purdue's Caden Shields and Wisconsin's Caitlin Comfort. The event takes place on Monday, Nov. 23 with the men's 10,000 meters starting at 12:08 p.m. ET and the women's 6,000-meter race commencing at 12:58 p.m. Both competitions are set to run on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind.
Big Ten w omen's cross country currently houses six nationally ranked squads with No. 11 Penn State and No. 13 Minnesota appearing within the top-15 teams in the country. No. 16 Illinois, No. 27 Ohio State, No. 29 Michigan and No. 30 Indiana round out the conference contingent of ranked teams. Illinois' Angela Bizzarri was recently named Midwest Region Cross Country Runner of the Year after being crowned individual champion and leading the Illini to a runner-up finish at the event. Meanwhile, Minnesota head menotr Gary Wilson was tabbed Midwest Region Coach of the Year after guiding his team to its third-consecutive regional title, Ohio State placed second in the Great Lakes Regional to earn its first-ever bid to the NCAA Championship.
On the men 's side, the Big Ten features three ranked teams in the Top-30 coaches poll. No. 10 Wisconsin leads the conference march as the Badgers picked up the team trophy at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. No. 28 Michigan State and No. 29 Minnesota round out the contingent of ranked Big Ten teams. The conference recently saw two harriers earn annual regional honors in Minnesota's Hassan Mead and Ohio State's Jeff see, who captured individual crowns to earn Midwest and Great Lakes Athlete of the Year laurels, respectively.
The NCAA Championships will be broadcast live on Versus Network and streamed online via ncaa.com. Admission is $5 for all spectators with children under the age of two admitted for free.
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