Men's Results | Women's Results
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Matthew McClintock paced the Purdue Boilermakers at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday at the Ashton Cross Country Course at the University of Iowa. McClintock finished third to help the men's team take ninth, while the women's team, led by freshman Kendall Hacker, took eighth.
"On the women's side, it was absolutely spectacular," said assistant coach Jeff Kent. "It was a phenomenal performance to be eighth today. The conference has gotten a lot stronger since last year, so to do what we did today was great. For the men, Matt was great. He was right at his personal record and went head to head with a handful of All-Americans. He gave us great momentum heading into the regional."
McClintock hung with the lead pack throughout the entire race. He started near 10th, before gradually moving up a spot at a time. By the 3,000-meter mark, the junior from Athens, Maine, had moved up to fourth with a pair of Wisconsin Badgers and a Michigan Wolverine. By the 6k mark, McClintock had taken the lead and was side-by-side with Michigan's Mason Ferlic. McClintock fought him off, as well as Malachy Schrobilgen and Michael VanVoorhis of Wisconsin, until about 300 meters to go when the Badger pair made its move. McClintock was able to outkick Ferlic and take third place with a time of 23:39.9, just under five seconds behind two-time champion Schrobilgen. The time matched McClintock's personal record.
"The race really started at about the 6k, or just before," McClintock said. "Ferlic took off going down the big hill for the last time. He put on another big surge at about the 7k and that put the front four in front with some distance. I had one more half a gear coming up the final hill and the Wisconsin guys flew by. I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them, but I was able sit on Ferlic and move by him in the final stretch. I'm content with today's performance, but never satisfied."
On the women's side, Hacker, running in her first career Big Ten Championships, ran a gutty race. She hung around Purdue's top three throughout the 6,000-meter run, but found her strength late. The Pacifica, Calif., native closed her last 3k in 10:41 to finish with a time of 21:10.1, a personal best by a minute and a half. It was the first time this season that she has been Purdue's top runner.
"I wanted to run the best race today that I could and try to PR," said Hacker. "I wanted to beat some Wisconsin girls, since my dad ran for them when he was in college. I think I definitely achieved if not surpassed all the goals that I had for myself today. It feels pretty good to see all of my hard work pay off, so that's very satisfying."
The Purdue women finished with eight runners under 22 minutes, the program's best in years. Kiara McIntosh, a sophomore Menifee, Calif., was second for the Boilermakers. She came across the finish line in 41st with a time of 21:11.4. Sharise Lund was Purdue's third finisher. The junior led the Boilermaker contingent for much of the race, before finishing 56th overall with a time of 21:25.2.
Hope Schmelzle was the race's next finisher as she took 57th. The sophomore posted a time of 21:26.5. Freshman Gabrielle Broschard rounded out the scoring for the women with a 63rd-place finish. Broschard finished in 21:31.3. Nearly every Purdue woman that ran Sunday posted a PR.
The women's team finished in eighth place with 241 points. The finish matches last season's at the Big Ten Championships, which was a program best since 2007. The women's finish is even more impressive, considering five of the Boilermakers were competing in their first ever Big Ten Championships, and the women had to beat two more teams, Maryland and Rutgers, than they did a year ago.
David Dalton ran a solid race on the men's side. The freshman finished 57th overall with a time of 24:58.6, a new personal best. Caleb Kerr took 66th overall in the race. The junior was Purdue's third finisher and crossed the line in 25:07.0. Tyler Wynn and Dillon Hinen rounded out the scoring for the Boilermakers. The two came across the finish line together as Wynn was 74th with a time of 25:22.5 and Hinen was 75th with a time of 25:24.2.
The men's team finished ninth with 253 points. Of the nine competing runners, six were making their Big Ten Championship debuts in a field that included one addition team from last year in Big Ten newcomer Rutgers.
The Boilermakers have two weeks to prepare for the Great Lakes Regionals, hosted by the University of Wisconsin. McClintock finished runner-up at the event a year ago.