Big Ten Sweep in East Lansing

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Oregon swept the team titles at the 2025 Big Ten Cross Country Championships Friday morning at the Forest Akers Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich. The Women of Oregon successfully defended their Big Ten title from a season ago while the UO men won their first conference title in cross country since 2008.

Individually, the Ducks also collected a pair of titles with first-place performances from Abdel Laadjel for the men and Diana Cherotich for the women. Friday is the first time Oregon has swept conference team and individual titles in the same season since 1988. It's also the first team sweep for Oregon since 1995.

With Friday's efforts, Oregon has now won 29 conference cross country titles—17 men, 12 women—in program history. Laadjel is the 10^th Oregon man to win a cross country title and Cherotich becomes the ninth UO woman to run to an individual crown at a conference meet.

Dating back to the indoor meet this past winter, the Men of Oregon have won three-consecutive Big Ten team titles while the Women of Oregon also secured their third Big Ten title. Oregon has now won six of eight conference titles in cross country and track and field since joining the Big Ten.

How It Happened: Leading from the first 1K split of the race, the UO men placed eight inside the top 20 including first-team performances from Laadjel, Michigan native Evan Bishop in fourth place and Aiden Smith in sixth overall. The Ducks placed five on the All-Big Ten Second Team—spots 11 through 20—with Benjamin Balazs (12^th place), Connor Burns (13), Simeon Birnbaum (17), Tayson Echohawk (19) and Jack Meier (20).

Meier also earned a spot on the all-freshman team.

Laadjel is the Ducks first conference champion on the men's side since Edward Cheserek won four in a row from 2013-16. Laadjel (23:11.6) held a spot inside the top four at every split point and over the final 1K ran clear of the field, crossing seven seconds ahead of runner-up Riley Hough of Michigan State.

Oregon snapped Wisconsin's seven-year run of Big Ten cross country titles.

In the second race of the day, the Women of Oregon turned in a record-breaking collective effort with a meet-record 18 team score. The Ducks put their top six inside the top nine of the women's 6K. Cherotich led the team's 1-2-3 finish with her winning time of 19:31.3, followed by teammates Juliet Cherubet and Silan Ayyildiz in second and third, respectively.

The previous Big Ten meet scoring record of 22 points was set by Wisconsin in 1985.

Dalia Frias was Oregon's fourth runner across the finish line, good for a fifth-place finish. This is her first cross country season since 2022. Mia Barnett matched her seventh-place showing from a year ago while Anika Thompson was a career-high ninth place.

Big Ten Championships Results
MEN (top 5)
1. Oregon – 36 | 1-4-6-12-13
2. Michigan State – 68 | 2-3-16-23-24
3. Wisconsin – 90 | 8-9-10-30-33
4. Michigan – 100 | 11-14-15-26-34
5. Washington – 135 | 5-20-29-37-44

1. Abdel Laadjel – 23:11.6
4. Evan Bishop – 23:28.2
6. Aiden Smith – 23:32.7
12. Benjamin Balazs – 23:44.0
13. Connor Burns – 23:44.9
17. Simeon Birnbaum – 23:55.4
19. Tayson Echohawk – 23:56.0
20. Jack Meier – 23:56.3
39. Jeffery Rogers – 24:17.3
61. Sergio Del Barrio – 24:35.1
75. Anthony Fast Horse – 24:46.9
77. Michael Mireles – 24:51.8

WOMEN (top 5)
1. Oregon – 18 | 1-2-3-5-7
2. Penn State – 78 | 4-8-12-25-29
3. Northwestern – 96 | 13-14-17-24-28
4. Washington – 103 | 11-15-19-22-36
5. Michigan State – 147 | 6-31-33-37-40

1. Diana Cherotich – 19:31.3
2. Juliet Cherubet – 19:46.2
3. Silan Ayyildiz – 19:47.8
5. Dalia Frias – 19:57.0
7. Mia Barnett – 20:10.8
9. Anika Thompson – 20:13.4
26. Ali Ince – 20:38.0
69. Katie Clute – 21:28.6
79. Allura Markow – 21:37.5
99. Landen LeBlond – 21:58.3
143. Hannah Seubert – 22:49.7
-- . Ella Thorsett – DNF

Up Next: The postseason continues Nov. 15 with the NCAA West Region Championships in Sacramento, Calif. The top-two teams automatically advance to the NCAA Championships (Nov. 22).

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