Lots of teams talk about having a will to win, but few teams actually have the guts to lay everything on the line. The Ohio State men’s and women’s cross country teams spilled their guts at the 2003 Big Ten Championships despite not getting the results they wanted.

Senior Rob Myers led the Buckeyes placing sixth overall and earning First Team All-Big Ten honors. Dan Glaz and Brian Olinger also had a strong day finishing in the top 20. The team finished in fourth place, three points behind third place Indiana.

“In the end I was pretty pleased,” OSU men’s coach Robert Gary said. “Our No. 1 guy was injured, so obviously we were hoping to do a little bit better. We were disappointed Indiana nipped us but it felt good going for the win.”

The No. 1 guy for the Buckeyes had been Aaron Fisher. Gary said Fisher had a pinched nerve and the cold and rainy weather did not help his condition.

Next the Buckeyes men’s and women’s teams head to the 2003 Regional Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. In the regional race the top two teams get an automatic bid, while other teams hope to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Nationals.

“The good thing is we’ve had an interchangeable top five throughout the year, and I think our team is strong enough and good enough that taking one guy out doesn’t blow you up,” Gary said.

Fisher will not compete on Saturday so he can rest his injury in the event the team qualifies for nationals. Rob Myers said the team is going to run a more normal style of race and get out with the leaders and go until they can not go anymore.

“We’re going to take this race as hard as we can because if we don’t run our best at this meet then we might not have a chance at nationals,” he said.

For the women, Chelsea Poling stepped up and got 18th place at the Big Ten Championships.

“Chelsea had a very good race, I’m happy with her and the team overall for how they ran,” OSU women’s coach Chad Myers said.

Chad Myers said injuries played a factor in the eighth-place finish. The Buckeyes miss senior Lyndsi Gay who is still hampered by a bruised foot. Gay led the Buckeyes in four meets this season, posting four consecutive top 10 finishes.

“Overall we ran pretty well as a team,” Poling said. “We are definitely on our way up and looking to improve in the upcoming years.”

As for the regional meet, Chad Myers said that the women are going to the regional meet so they can gain valuable experience for the next year.