COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two weeks removed from a second-place finish at the Big Ten championships, the Ohio State men's cross country team heads to Bloomington, Ind. for the 2009 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships Nov. 14.

Three automatic bids to the NCAA championships will be up for grabs Saturday afternoon on the 10k course, as the Buckeyes look to be in a prime position to secure their first trip to the national championship since 2007. For the second straight meet, Ohio State will look to overtake 10th-ranked Wisconsin, the 2009 Big Ten champion and favorite to win its eighth-straight regional title. No. 26 Butler and Big Ten rivals Michigan and Indiana will be the likely challengers for the second and third spots - the Hoosiers will have the added advantage of running on their home course.

The Buckeyes will bring one of their stronger lineups in recent history to Bloomington this weekend, led by All-American Jeff See, the third-place finisher at the 2009 Big Ten Championships. If running at top form, the senior should challenge for the individual title. Sophomore Taylor Williams has been a solid second runner throughout the season, finishing within the top 20 in all but one race this season. Freshmen Donny Roys and Julian Meyer have proven to be solid contributors as well, despite their relative inexperience at the collegiate level.

Action from Bloomington will get underway at noon ET Saturday on the campus of Indiana University. A complete recap will be posted after the race on www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com.  

Competing Teams
Akron
No. 26 Butler
Central Michigan
Cincinnati
Dayton
Eastern Michigan
Evansville
Indiana
Indiana State
IPFW
IUPUI
Kent State
Marquette
Miami (OH)
Michigan
Michigan State
Notre Dame
Oakland
Ohio
No. 28 Ohio State
Purdue
Toledo
No. 10 Wisconsin
Valparaiso
Wisconsin-Green Bay
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Wright State
Xavier
Youngstown State

Buckeyes Make Debut in USTFCCCA National Rankings
Following its second-place finish at the Big Ten championships, Ohio State checked in at No. 28 in the Nov. 3 Division I Top 30 rankings by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Buckeyes also made a considerable jump in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes regional rankings, vaulting to No. 3 behind 10th-ranked Wisconsin, the Big Ten champion and No. 26 Butler. Conference rivals Indiana and Michigan came in at fourth and fifth, respectively.

Big Ten Announces Sportsmanship Award Winners
Big Ten officials announced honorees from each of the 21 cross country squads for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Nov. 4. Student-athletes selected distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes were chosen based on outstanding work in the classroom and in their community.

Senior Taylor Candella collected his second-consecutive cross country Sportsmanship Award, which will put him the running for his second Big Ten Sportsman of the Year honor, a prestigious recognition the conference will allocate at the end of the academic year. Candella took home the prize for 2008-2009.

Former All-American Olinger Added to Coaching Staff
Brian Olinger joined the Ohio State staff in August 2009 as a volunteer distance coach for both cross country and track and field.

A constant threat on the national stage, Olinger is one of the top American athletes in distance events, specializing in the 3000m steeplechase, in which he owns a personal record time of 8:19.56. Olinger has competed on some of track and field's biggest stages, including the 2009 USATF Championships, the 2009 USA 7 Mile Challenge and the 2008 Olympic Trials.

During his four years in Columbus, Olinger was a five-time All-American, competing in five NCAA championship races while winning the 2004 Big Ten title in the 5000m (14:09.80). In June 2005, Olinger became just the second American collegiate athlete to break the 8:20 mark in the 3000m steeple at the KBC Night of Athletes in Heusden, Belgium.

"Brian is a great illustration of what you can accomplish when you get out with the team daily and put your best effort into getting better," head coach Robert Gary said of Olinger. "He is a great role model for out student-athletes because he overcame struggles in our program and became an outstanding runner -- I expect him to be a huge asset to our cross country and track teams because of this."

Head coach Robert Gary
Robert Gary is in his fourth season as the head men's track and field coach and his 13th coaching the cross country team at Ohio State.

Gary ended a decorated running career in 2005. In 2004, he became the fifth former Buckeye to gain a bid to two separate U.S. Olympic teams and continued running by making the finals for the 11th-straight year at the 2005 USA Nationals.

A 1996 participant at the Atlanta Games, Gary placed second in the men's steeplechase at the Olympic Trials with a career-best 8:19.46. Eight years later, his third-place finish at the trials gained an automatic bid on the U.S. team headed to Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Gary also earned honors as a cross country athlete, winning the 2004 Track and Field News Cross Country Runner of the Year. He qualified for the U.S. team for the second-straight season in both the four-kilometer and 12-kilometer events and finished as the top American at the 2004 World Championships in the 4k. Gary's 2004 qualification to the world championships in two events marked the first time a U.S. runner made both teams in consecutive years and moved his tally to 11 national cross country teams qualified for.

In 2003, Gary qualified for his sixth United States world cross country team by winning the 2003 U.S. 4-kilometer Cross Country Championship in Houston, Texas. That same year, he claimed a third-place standing in the steeplechase at the USATF championships in June with a time of 8:24.82. Gary ended the year by representing the U.S. at the 2003 Outdoor World Championship en route to earning a No. 3 ranking by Track and Field News. During the 2002 outdoor campaign, Gary ran the fourth-fastest time by an American in the 3000-meter steeplechase. As a result of his performance, Gary was ranked among the Top 10 in the U.S. for the seventh-straight year.

As a student-athlete at Ohio State from 1992-1995, Gary was a six-event All-American, winning the Big Ten 3000m steeplechase outdoor title in 1994, where he set the Ohio State and Big Ten record in the event. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and member of three Big Ten champion teams (1992 outdoor, and 1993 indoor and outdoor).

Along with his numerous accolades in cross country and track, Gary has established himself as one of the nation's elite coaches. Former Buckeye greats Rob Myers (1500m), Dan Huling (steeplechase) and Brian Olinger (steeplechase) along with current Buckeye Jeff See (1500m) trained under Gary while preparing for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Myers, Huling and Olinger advanced to the finals of their events before coming up short while See - just a sophomore at the time - missed the finals by one spot. Gary was selected to be an assistant coach for Team USA's U23 team in July 2008 at the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) meet in Toluca, Mexico. Joining him was See, who competed in the 1500m run. Myers and Huling finished the year having run the second-fastest times by an American in their respective events.  At the 2009 USATF Championships, two former (Olinger and Huling) and one current Buckeye (See) qualified for final day competition, with Huling making the USA track and field team after a second-place finish in 8:32.86. In Sept. 2009, Huling ran the sixth-best steeplechase in U.S. history, finishing fourth at the Brussels Golden League in 8:14.69 while shattering the previous American-best time in 2009 by more than seven seconds.  

Coach Gary's student-athletes are known nationally for their work in the classroom - 18 members of the 2009 track and field team were named Academic All-Big Ten, while five members of the cross country team claimed the honor. The cross country team was named 2009 Division I All-Academic for the eighth straight season.

A recent inductee into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame, Gary received a degree in English education from Ohio State in the fall of 1996.

Last Time Out
Jeff See ran a third-place time of 25:07.3 to lead the Ohio State men's cross country team to a second-place finish at the 2009 Big Ten Cross Country Championships Nov. 1.

Ohio State put together its best team effort of the season to take the runner-up spot, the highest finish from a Buckeye squad at the conference meet since 2005. Sophomore Taylor Williams finished 15th overall in a time of 25:44.8, an 11-spot improvement from his 2008 finish. Senior Christopher Olinger ran his best race of the year to take 19th in 25:53.6, one spot ahead of sophomore Adam Green (20th in 25:54.6).

The Buckeyes' fifth runner secured the team's second-place finish - junior Skyler Schmitt placed 34th in 26:27.1, followed by a pair of freshmen in Donny Roys (37th, 26:33.9) and Cory Leslie (38th, 26:35.7).

No. 15 Wisconsin won its 11th-consecutive Big Ten title on the 5.2 mile course in dominant fashion - the Badgers' 26 point total easily eclipsed Ohio State's 91 points. Third-place Minnesota finished with a score of 97, while No. 18 Indiana took fourth with 106.

Cross Country on BTN
The Big Ten Network will air the 2009 Big Ten Cross Country Championships in their entirety on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. ET.

Up Next
With a top three finish Saturday, the Buckeyes will secure an invitation to the 2009 NCAA Championships Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.