University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
2017 Big Ten Cross Country Championships
Ali Earns All-Big Ten Honors, Gophers Finish Sixth
10/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Results
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 18 University of Minnesota men's cross country program finished sixth as a team on Sunday at the 2017 Big Ten Cross Country Championships behind an All-Big Ten performance by senior Obsa Ali.
The Gophers totaled 142 points in the men's eight-kilometer competition, which was hosted by Indiana at the IU Championship Cross Country Course.
"We knew this was going to be a competitive race - it is every year," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "We felt pretty good coming in to today, but some of the other squads had really nice days, and we just didn't have luck on our side. We'll regroup and be ready to go for the NCAA regional in two weeks."
For the second competition in a row, Ali led the Maroon & Gold - this time coming in eighth for the senior's best performance at the Big Ten meet. Ali clocked a 24:19.7 over the eight-kilometer course to earn Second Team All-Big Ten honors for the second time in his collegiate career.
Alec Basten followed up with a 26th-place finish in 24:54.8 as the redshirt freshman has now factored into Minnesota's scoring in all four of his races this season.
Connor Olson was third across the line for the Gophers, clocking a season-low 24:59.0 to finish in 29th.
Hamza Ali (34th, 25:03.4) and Evan Ferlic (46th, 25:12.0) rounded out the scoring for the Gophers.
Nick Rink (55th, 25:17.8), Charlie Lawrence (59th, 25:22.3), Derek Wiebke (62nd, 25:24.3) and Owen Hoeft (88th, 26:10.4) ran for Minnesota but did not factor into the team's scoring.
Michigan claimed the Big Ten championship with 71 points, followed by Michigan State (82), Wisconsin (88), Illinois (113), Purdue (133), Minnesota (142), Indiana (159), Penn State (159), Nebraska (196), Iowa (235), Ohio State (332) and Rutgers (366). Oliver Hoare of Wisconsin claimed the individual title at 24:09.3.
Minnesota returns to action next weekend as the Maroon & Gold will compete at the Fall Finale in Collegeville, Minn.
Players Mentioned
