Big Ten Teams Gear Up for NCAA Regionals :: All 21 Big Ten teams will participate in the NCAA Regionals this weekend.

Nov. 7, 2007

All 21 Big Ten men's and women's cross country teams will compete at NCAA Regionals this weekend in hopes of moving forward to the NCAA Championships. NCAA Regionals take place Saturday, Nov. 10. Six men's and six women's squads will participate in the Great Lakes Region, including Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin, with Indiana serving as the event's host. Penn State's men's and women's teams will represent the Big Ten in the Mid-Atlantic Region at Lehigh University in Bethleham, Pa. The Midwest Region features four Big Ten schools with Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and the Northwestern women participating in the event hosted by Bradley in Peoria, Ill.

The men's 8,000 meter races will begin at 11 a.m. local time, followed by the women's 6,000 meter races starting at 12:15 p.m. local time.

In last year's men's regional action, Wisconsin claimed the Great Lakes title. Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State each grabbed top-10 team finishes in 2006, placing fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively. In the Mid-Atlantic Region, Penn State placed fifth, led by Dan Mazzocco's third-place finish. Micah Vandenend ran to a first-place finish for Iowa in the Midwest Region as the Hawkeyes took third place overall.

On the women's side in 2006, the Big Ten took the first three spots in the Great Lakes Region, led by Michigan State. Wisconsin placed second, and with the help of Nicole Edwards' first-place finish, Michigan took third. Penn State finished eighth in the Mid-Atlantic Region, led by Bridget Franek's fifth-place finish. Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa claimed the top three spots in the Midwest Region last year as Iowa's Diane Nukuri placed first, Illinois' Angela Bizzarri placed second and Minnesota's Emily Brown finished third.