SHELBYVILLE, Ind. – Senior Curt Eckstein came in fifth place as the No. 22-ranked Purdue men's cross country team finished in third place at the 2020-21 Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon at the Blue River Cross Country Course at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville, Indiana.
The men came in third with 97 points to place in the top four in three consecutive years for the first time since 1948. The Purdue men also have notched four top-five finishes in as many years after not earning a top-five placing since 1986.
Eckstein's fifth-place finish marks the third year in a row a Boilermaker has finished fifth in the conference championship race. He earned All-Big Ten First Team honors and is the sixth in school history to collect the accolade. Seven of Purdue's 11 All-Big Ten First Team accolades have come in the past eight years.
"I thought it was a very good, solid race by the entire men's team," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "Our top five runners ran together and were very competitive, and our other three runners were up there and also ran well. Hopefully a third-place Big Ten finish is good enough for NCAA selection, I think we have a really good shot. I have to highlight Curt's time, he paced the way for the team the entire way, and I couldn't be more proud of his effort. Additionally, Brody Smith's effort was great as well. He was pushed, fell, and got muddied up, but got up and had a really good, strong finish."
"I thought the race went well. It was pretty tough, especially being up at the front, it was really windy," Eckstein said. "After a while, the wind wore down my energy and made me more tired, especially at the end of the race, which made it tough. What did help though was that my teammates were up there with me. Brody (Smith) was right up there, Bailey (McIntire) was close behind, Joey (Humes) too. The whole Purdue team was up there racing well, and that helped and encouraged me. It helped me keep going and keep fighting for it. Overall it was a good race for our team and it turned out well. We had a pretty good day."
On a chilly, windy day, Purdue's men squad had three top-18 finishers and four in the top-23.
The women placed 10th with 239 points in the 6k race. The team was led by sophomore Emma Tate in 22nd and senior Megan Slamkowski in 37th. All three runners with previous Big Ten Championships experience posted their best finish at the conference meet.
"The women's team is young and learning," Elliott added. "The future looks really bright. They finished the race in positive spirits. Competing in the Big Ten is the most powerful cross country conference, so the women now know what they have to do to rise to the occasion of where the men are."
The men were competing against two top-25 teams, as No. 12 Wisconsin won the meet with 40 points. No. 19 Indiana was second with 51 points. Michigan State also received 97 points, but the Boilermakers won the tiebreaker. In the women's race, No. 9-ranked Michigan State won with 48 points, and No. 12 Minnesota was second with 76. A total of six ranked women's teams competed on Saturday afternoon.
"I want to congratulate our cross country coach, John Oliver, who has done a wonderful job of preparing this team," Elliott said. "Especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a difficult task to keep them all healthy as they train in groups. Coach Oliver and our trainers, to be able to line up two teams to race today, I want to give them a pat on the back."
Eckstein led the way for the men and finished the 8k course in 24:13.0. He edged out the sixth-place finisher, from Wisconsin, by 0.2 seconds, to earn his best career Big Ten finish.
Senior Brody Smith and junior Bailey McIntire were 16th and 18th, respectively. Smith finished in 24:28.6, while McIntire crossed the line in 24:29.2. It was McIntire's first top-20 finish at the Big Ten Championships.
In his first race as a Boilermaker, senior Joey Humes was 23rd, in 24:40.6. Sophomore Blake Selm came in 36th with a time of 25:00.6, while junior Alec Fleming just finished ahead of sophomore Andrew Brandt. Fleming was 40th, in 25:08.0, and Brandt was 41st, in 25:11.5. Sophomore Ian Hunter came in 65th in 25:56.5. Selm, Fleming and Hunter each posted their best showing at the conference championship, while Brandt made his Big Ten debut.
Tate led the way for the women with a time of 21:13.3 to finish 22nd by 0.6 seconds with a 6k personal-best mark. Slamkowski was 37th in 21:33.0. Junior Rachel Anderson was 63rd, in 22:11.4, and freshman Katelyn Wasson came in 83rd with a time of 22:51.0.
Junior Anna Morozov ran her first Big Ten race and was 88th in 23:19.6 Freshman Payne Turney came in 100th in 24:13.0.
The Big Ten Network will air the championship four times on television. The first broadcast is set for Feb. 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by Feb. 7 at 8 a.m., Feb. 8 at 11 a.m. and Feb. 9 at 3 p.m.
Qualifying Boilermakers will compete at the NCAA men's and women's cross country championships, set for March 15 at the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Additionally, the Purdue track & field team returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 6, at Indiana's Hoosier Hills Invite.
For more on the Purdue track & field and cross country program, visit PurdueSports.com/CrossCountry and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The men came in third with 97 points to place in the top four in three consecutive years for the first time since 1948. The Purdue men also have notched four top-five finishes in as many years after not earning a top-five placing since 1986.
Eckstein's fifth-place finish marks the third year in a row a Boilermaker has finished fifth in the conference championship race. He earned All-Big Ten First Team honors and is the sixth in school history to collect the accolade. Seven of Purdue's 11 All-Big Ten First Team accolades have come in the past eight years.
"I thought it was a very good, solid race by the entire men's team," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "Our top five runners ran together and were very competitive, and our other three runners were up there and also ran well. Hopefully a third-place Big Ten finish is good enough for NCAA selection, I think we have a really good shot. I have to highlight Curt's time, he paced the way for the team the entire way, and I couldn't be more proud of his effort. Additionally, Brody Smith's effort was great as well. He was pushed, fell, and got muddied up, but got up and had a really good, strong finish."
"I thought the race went well. It was pretty tough, especially being up at the front, it was really windy," Eckstein said. "After a while, the wind wore down my energy and made me more tired, especially at the end of the race, which made it tough. What did help though was that my teammates were up there with me. Brody (Smith) was right up there, Bailey (McIntire) was close behind, Joey (Humes) too. The whole Purdue team was up there racing well, and that helped and encouraged me. It helped me keep going and keep fighting for it. Overall it was a good race for our team and it turned out well. We had a pretty good day."
On a chilly, windy day, Purdue's men squad had three top-18 finishers and four in the top-23.
The women placed 10th with 239 points in the 6k race. The team was led by sophomore Emma Tate in 22nd and senior Megan Slamkowski in 37th. All three runners with previous Big Ten Championships experience posted their best finish at the conference meet.
"The women's team is young and learning," Elliott added. "The future looks really bright. They finished the race in positive spirits. Competing in the Big Ten is the most powerful cross country conference, so the women now know what they have to do to rise to the occasion of where the men are."
The men were competing against two top-25 teams, as No. 12 Wisconsin won the meet with 40 points. No. 19 Indiana was second with 51 points. Michigan State also received 97 points, but the Boilermakers won the tiebreaker. In the women's race, No. 9-ranked Michigan State won with 48 points, and No. 12 Minnesota was second with 76. A total of six ranked women's teams competed on Saturday afternoon.
"I want to congratulate our cross country coach, John Oliver, who has done a wonderful job of preparing this team," Elliott said. "Especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a difficult task to keep them all healthy as they train in groups. Coach Oliver and our trainers, to be able to line up two teams to race today, I want to give them a pat on the back."
Eckstein led the way for the men and finished the 8k course in 24:13.0. He edged out the sixth-place finisher, from Wisconsin, by 0.2 seconds, to earn his best career Big Ten finish.
Senior Brody Smith and junior Bailey McIntire were 16th and 18th, respectively. Smith finished in 24:28.6, while McIntire crossed the line in 24:29.2. It was McIntire's first top-20 finish at the Big Ten Championships.
In his first race as a Boilermaker, senior Joey Humes was 23rd, in 24:40.6. Sophomore Blake Selm came in 36th with a time of 25:00.6, while junior Alec Fleming just finished ahead of sophomore Andrew Brandt. Fleming was 40th, in 25:08.0, and Brandt was 41st, in 25:11.5. Sophomore Ian Hunter came in 65th in 25:56.5. Selm, Fleming and Hunter each posted their best showing at the conference championship, while Brandt made his Big Ten debut.
Tate led the way for the women with a time of 21:13.3 to finish 22nd by 0.6 seconds with a 6k personal-best mark. Slamkowski was 37th in 21:33.0. Junior Rachel Anderson was 63rd, in 22:11.4, and freshman Katelyn Wasson came in 83rd with a time of 22:51.0.
Junior Anna Morozov ran her first Big Ten race and was 88th in 23:19.6 Freshman Payne Turney came in 100th in 24:13.0.
The Big Ten Network will air the championship four times on television. The first broadcast is set for Feb. 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by Feb. 7 at 8 a.m., Feb. 8 at 11 a.m. and Feb. 9 at 3 p.m.
Qualifying Boilermakers will compete at the NCAA men's and women's cross country championships, set for March 15 at the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Additionally, the Purdue track & field team returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 6, at Indiana's Hoosier Hills Invite.
For more on the Purdue track & field and cross country program, visit PurdueSports.com/CrossCountry and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.