WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue cross country team opens the 2021 season at the Winrow Valparaiso Open on Friday, September 3, at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Valparaiso, Indiana.
The meet begins with the women's 5k at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT, and the men's 6k is set for 6:45 p.m. ET/5:45 p.m. CT. Updates from Valparaiso can be found by following and connecting with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Along with host-Valparaiso, the Boilermakers will race against Notre Dame and Green Bay.
Sixteen men and 12 women will compete for Purdue on Friday, as the squad runs at its first regular-season meet since 2019. The Boilermakers are racing at Valparaiso for the first time since the 2018 campaign began there.
The men's squad enters the year receiving votes in the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll, and they are ranked No. 6 in the Great Lakes Region. The women check in at No. 8 in the regional rankings.
A LOOK BACK AT 2020-21
Due to COVID-19, just two meets were on the Boilermakers' schedule last season, both in the winter and early spring of 2021. The Big Ten Championships was on Jan. 30, where the men placed third and the women finished 10th. The men's team registered a top-four finish for the third consecutive year, a program-first since 1948. Senior Curt Eckstein led the way in fifth place to mark the third year in a row a Purdue runner notched a top-five finish and earned All-Big Ten First Team honors.
The men qualified for a third consecutive NCAA Championships and 15th in program history on March 15 and placed 29th overall. Purdue made the NCAA Championships as a team for a third year in a row for the second time in program history, joining the 1946-50 squads. Prior to when the current NCAA streak began in 2018, the team last qualified for the national championships in 1986.
A total of 21 Boilermakers, 14 men and seven women, were named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team in the fall of 2020. Both the men's and women's teams, along with four individual men, also were recognized as USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams.
BOILERMAKERS IN VALPO
Purdue returns to Valparaiso for the first time since 2018, when both the men and women were second at the season-opening meet. Current Boilermaker Megan Slamkowski was 10th overall and second on the women's team, while Tyler Bowling was third for the men and 25th overall.
To open the 2017 season, the women were first and the men placed second.
Friday is the 32nd year of the Winrow Open, and the first year it has been named in memory of former Valpo head cross country coach Ed Winrow, who passed away in March, 2020.
NEXT UP: ON TO TERRE HAUTE
Following a weekend away from competition, Purdue travels to the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, on September 18. Indiana State will host the meet.
For more on the Purdue cross country and track & field and program, visit PurdueSports.com/CrossCountry and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The meet begins with the women's 5k at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT, and the men's 6k is set for 6:45 p.m. ET/5:45 p.m. CT. Updates from Valparaiso can be found by following and connecting with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Along with host-Valparaiso, the Boilermakers will race against Notre Dame and Green Bay.
Sixteen men and 12 women will compete for Purdue on Friday, as the squad runs at its first regular-season meet since 2019. The Boilermakers are racing at Valparaiso for the first time since the 2018 campaign began there.
The men's squad enters the year receiving votes in the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll, and they are ranked No. 6 in the Great Lakes Region. The women check in at No. 8 in the regional rankings.
A LOOK BACK AT 2020-21
Due to COVID-19, just two meets were on the Boilermakers' schedule last season, both in the winter and early spring of 2021. The Big Ten Championships was on Jan. 30, where the men placed third and the women finished 10th. The men's team registered a top-four finish for the third consecutive year, a program-first since 1948. Senior Curt Eckstein led the way in fifth place to mark the third year in a row a Purdue runner notched a top-five finish and earned All-Big Ten First Team honors.
The men qualified for a third consecutive NCAA Championships and 15th in program history on March 15 and placed 29th overall. Purdue made the NCAA Championships as a team for a third year in a row for the second time in program history, joining the 1946-50 squads. Prior to when the current NCAA streak began in 2018, the team last qualified for the national championships in 1986.
A total of 21 Boilermakers, 14 men and seven women, were named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team in the fall of 2020. Both the men's and women's teams, along with four individual men, also were recognized as USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams.
BOILERMAKERS IN VALPO
Purdue returns to Valparaiso for the first time since 2018, when both the men and women were second at the season-opening meet. Current Boilermaker Megan Slamkowski was 10th overall and second on the women's team, while Tyler Bowling was third for the men and 25th overall.
To open the 2017 season, the women were first and the men placed second.
Friday is the 32nd year of the Winrow Open, and the first year it has been named in memory of former Valpo head cross country coach Ed Winrow, who passed away in March, 2020.
NEXT UP: ON TO TERRE HAUTE
Following a weekend away from competition, Purdue travels to the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, on September 18. Indiana State will host the meet.
For more on the Purdue cross country and track & field and program, visit PurdueSports.com/CrossCountry and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.