After leading the No. 14 Hoosiers to a first overall finish at the Rim Rock Farm Classic in Kansas, senior Jason Crist was named the Big Ten Cross-Country Athlete of the Week.
Crist is the first Hoosier to win the award this season after recording his fastest time of the year at 24:09.2 in this past Saturday's meet to finish third overall. Crist has lead the Hoosiers all season long, placing in the top three of all races IU has competed in thus far.
Going into the meet, Crist said the team’s mindset was to go out, make a statement and win the race, and they did just that. He also said the team wanted to stay relatively together throughout the meet, and the Hoosiers placed all five runners in the top ten.
Crist earned First Team All-Big Ten honors last season, but has never won the Big Ten Cross Country Athlete of the Week.
After dropping down to No. 14 in last weeks USTFCCCA rankings, the Hoosiers jumped back up to No. 13 after their impressive performance this weekend. The team was looking forward to making a statement in Kansas to ascend in the rankings, and their lead runner got the credit he deserved on top of that.
The Hoosiers’ next meet will be the Bradley Classic in Peoria, Illinois on Oct. 14, where both teams will look to continue their undefeated streaks of three meets swept.
Michael Ramirez
