Oct. 30, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ? The Purdue men?s cross country team traveled to State College, Pa., today to take on the best the Big Ten has to offer, in the 1999 Big Ten Cross Country Championships. The Boilermakers tabulated 233 points, just ten points behind ninth-place finisher Iowa. The Boilermakers fell three spots from their seventh-place finish in last year?s conference championships to claim last place in this year?s competition. The youthful Boilers faced experienced teams in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, who all entered this weekend?s competition nationally ranked. Winning this year?s conference title was Wisconsin, followed by the Wolverines and the Golden Gophers. The Badgers capped off the day with 38-points.
?We have been hampered this year by injuries and having guys out for the season, but I think considering the circumstances, these guys have competed well all year,? Purdue head coach Mike Poehlein says. ?We were up against the best competition we have seen all year, and I think that this was a valuable learning experience for the year ahead.?
The Boilermakers top finisher was again junior Donnie Fellows. The Mercer Island, Wash., native finished 18th, in the 82-athlete field. Fellows crossed the finish line in 26:04.32, to finish the season as the only Boilermaker to crack the top-20 in every competition this season. Fellows missed Second Team All-Big Ten honors by only four spots. Fellows finished 36 spots ahead of the next closest Boilermaker. Coming in 54th for Purdue was sophomore Chris Boesch. Boesch finished the race in 27:09.93, followed by teammate Tito Downer who closed out the day in 55th place. The Boilers claimed four of the five spots in the 54-58 rankings, adding freshmen Robert Heise and Toby Buechner, who finished 56 and 58, respectively. Rounding out the competitors for the Old Gold and Black were senior Matt Seeds, who finished his final cross country season with Purdue in 78th place, followed by freshmen Logan Wealing who finished 79th.
?We had a tough day today, but this is a very young team,? Poehlein says. ?With the return of redshirt-junior Geoff Fleming and the development if this young team, we should be very capable of being a contender next year.?
Winning the Big Ten Individual Championship for the second consecutive year was Wisconsin?s Matt Downin. Downin crossed the finish line in 24:57.20, becoming only the 17th man in Big-Ten history to win back-to-back titles. The Badgers claimed the top-two spots, as teammate John Schoenfelder finished second. The Big Ten?s fastest runner this season, Michigan?s Jason Cantin, finished third.