Michigan State, Wisconsin Win 2020-21 Big Ten Cross Country Championships
Spartans claim second consecutive women’s title, Badgers earn third straight men’s crown

2020-21 Big Ten Cross Country Championships – Final Results

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Michigan State claimed its second consecutive women’s title, while Wisconsin earned its third straight men’s crown at the 2020-21 Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville, Ind.

The Michigan State women’s cross country program earned its eighth Big Ten Championship and its second in as many years, registering 48 points after all five of its scoring runners finished in the top 16. Minnesota finished second with 76 points, led by individual champion Bethany Hasz, who completed the 6K course in 20:13.2. Hasz became the second Gopher to claim the individual championship and the first since Eileen Donaghy in 1987.

For the third consecutive year and 51st time overall, the Wisconsin men’s cross country program won the Big Ten Championship, tallying 40 points to outdistance runner-up Indiana (51 points). The Badgers, who secured three straight conference titles for the first time since their Big Ten-record 14 in a row from 1999-2012, placed all five scoring runners in the top 15, clinching the 10th conference championship for head coach Mick Byrne. He is now the third coach in Big Ten men’s cross country history to reach double-digits, trailing only Wisconsin’s Martin Smith (12) and Jerry Schumacher (11).

Nebraska’s George Kusche earned the men’s individual title, finishing the 8K course in 24:01.2 to edge out Illinois’ Jonathan Davis by less than one second. Kusche becomes the first Husker to win the individual men’s cross country championship since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011-12.

A recap of Saturday’s Big Ten Championships will be televised on BTN at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 6, with replays at 8 a.m. on Feb. 7, 11 a.m. on Feb. 8 and 3 p.m. on Feb. 9.

The All-Big Ten first and second teams are listed below — the top seven finishers at the Big Ten Championships earn first-team all-conference honors, while the runners ending up in places 8-14 are awarded second-team All-Big Ten accolades. Big Ten Coach of the Year will be announced on Tuesday (Feb. 2), while Big Ten Athlete and Freshman of the Year will be named on March 18, following the NCAA Championships.

For more information on this year’s Big Ten Cross Country Championships, visit the official Championships Central page at bigten.org/xcchamps.

Women’s Honorees:

First-Team All-Big Ten
Bailey Hertenstein, Indiana
India Johnson, Michigan State
Jenna Magness, Michigan State
Bethany Hasz, Minnesota
Erika Freyhof, Nebraska
Allie Guagenti, Ohio State
Brogan MacDougall, Wisconsin

Second-Team All-Big Ten
Rebecca Craddock, Illinois
Allison McGrath, Illinois
Sarah Schmitt, Indiana
Lynsie Gram, Michigan State
Makayla Perez, Michigan State
Abby Kohut-Jackson, Minnesota

Alexa Westley, Wisconsin

Men’s Honorees:

First-Team All-Big Ten
Jonathan Davis, Illinois
James Uhlenberg, Michigan State
George Kusche, Nebraska
Curtis Eckstein, Purdue
Rowen Ellenberg, Wisconsin
Jackson Sharp, Wisconsin

Charlie Wheeler, Wisconsin

Second-Team All-Big Ten
Jake Gebhardt, Indiana
Arjun Jha, Indiana
Matthew Schadler, Indiana
Skylar Stidam, Indiana
Ben Veatch, Indiana
Brendan Favazza, Michigan State
Bob Liking, Wisconsin