Zubin Jha competing in a meet in College Station, Texas. Credit: Evan Pilat
Ohio State’s men’s cross-country team finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships in Madison, Wisconsin Friday, led by an 18th-place finish by senior Zubin Jha.
“I thought it was pretty good, I was not that far up a year ago. I’ve worked really hard to put myself in that spot, and the guys have helped me out so much,” Jha said. “It was nice to see it all come together.”
Head coach Sara Mason Vergote said Zubin’s performance was incredibly impressive.
“For Zubin to be 18th, I mean, that’s the highest finish we’ve had individually on the men’s side, and also as a team on the men’s side,” Vergote said.
Though the course was wet and muddy, Jha said that didn’t bother him one bit.
“I really love those conditions actually,” Jha said. “I think it messes with some people’s head and if you’re able to be in it the right way mentally, it ends up working out for the better.”
Wisconsin won the men’s 8K championship at home at the Zimmer Championship Course, its sixth straight championship and 54th championship overall. Wisconsin senior Bob Liking won his third straight Big Ten individual cross-country championship.
The Badgers finished on 19 points overall, tying for the third-lowest winning score in the history of the Big Ten Championships. Ohio State finished seventh in the rankings with 200 points, one place higher than its 2022 Big Ten Championship finish.
Wisconsin had a strong start in the men’s 8K race, with three runners at the front of the pack after just the first kilometer of the race, and four in the top five.
The Buckeyes remained in contention through the beginning of the race, with two runners around the top 20 of the race through the first two kilometers, but slipped further back as the race continued.
Fifth-year Giovanni Copploe led the Buckeyes through the first two kilometers of the race but fell behind Jha and junior Kevin Agnew shortly after.
“Those two guys are a little bit better at managing the traffic early on, so my job is always to tuck in right behind them,” Jha said. “We’re running like eight wide in the race, but I was right next to them, then I take over and try to help them out a little bit after.”
Jha remained in the lead of the Buckeye runners for the remainder of the race, but the team fell from fourth in the rankings to sixth by the halfway point.
He remained around 20th among the individual runners until nearly the 6K mark of the race, where he managed to jump all the way up to 16th as the only Buckeye in the top 20 runners.
Finishing the race with a time of 24:54.6, Jha was first among Buckeyes and 18th overall, his best finish at the Big Ten Championships during his collegiate career.
Copploe was the second finisher for the Buckeyes, finishing 31st overall with a time of 25:16.4, his second-best finish in the event.
Agnew finished third among Buckeyes and 49th overall with a time of 25:35.7, his best finish in the event.
Freshman Liam Shaughnessy and sophomore Keegan Freyhof rounded out the top five finishers for the Buckeyes, finishing with times of 26:03.3 and 26:05.9, respectively, and in places 64 and 66.
Ohio State will run back in Madison on Nov. 11 for the Great Lakes Regional in the penultimate race of the cross-country season.
