Curt Eckstein was unanimously voted the Big Ten Men’s Cross Country Freshman of the Year, the conference office announced.

The men’s team had its highest finish in 31 years at Big Tens, placing fifth with 133 points, both program bests since 1986.

The Big Ten Championships begin Sunday at 10:45 a.m. ET at the IU Championship Cross Country Course in Bloomington, Indian.

Megan Slamkowski and Gabrielle Broschard went 1-2 in the women's race, while Cole Hester led the men with a fourth-place finish.

Purdue competes in the Illini Open with the women’s 5,000-meter run starting at 5 p.m. ET and the men’s 8k following at 5:40.

The men’s team finished 20th and the women were 27th at the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational.

Twenty ranked men's teams and 16 ranked women's teams make up a loaded field at Wisconsin.

Jaret Carpenter ran the fastest 8,000-meter race of his career, while Emma Benner had the second fastest 5k of her career to pace the Boilermakers.

The Boilermakers will be among a loaded field that includes the top-ranked team on the men's side and a top-15 team in the women's race.

Emma Benner repeated as the Indiana Intercollegiates champion and helped the Boilermakers win the meet for the first time since 2008.