MADISON, Wis. – Douglas Buckeridge finished in 43rd-place at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday as Purdue cross country's lone representative.
Buckeridge finished 43rd in a field of 252 runners that completed the race. He was the third Big Ten runner to cross the finish line behind Wisconsin's Bob Liking (16th) and Oregon's Aiden Smith (29th).
Through the first 5K of the race, Buckeridge sat in 84th with a 14:43.7 split before he jumped 20 spots to 64th across the next 1K. Between the 6K and 7K marks on the course he jumped another 14 spots to 50th.
Buckeridge improved another three spots between the 7K and 9K marks and headed into the last 1K in 48th before he jumped another five spots to the finish line.
Since the NCAA Championship moved to a 10K format in 1976, Buckeridge is the first Boilermaker to run sub-30 minutes. William Shuey held the previous top mark in a championship with his 30:03.1 in 1981.
He is the ninth Purdue runner to finish in the top 50 of an NCAA Championship during the 10K format. He is the third in the last five seasons.
Buckeridge now owns the top two times in program history after he went 29:12.9 last Friday at the Great Lakes Regional in his runner-up performance.
The 2024 cross country season concluded on Saturday and the program will now turn its attention to the 2024-25 indoor track & field season that starts on Dec. 13 in Chicago.
Buckeridge finished 43rd in a field of 252 runners that completed the race. He was the third Big Ten runner to cross the finish line behind Wisconsin's Bob Liking (16th) and Oregon's Aiden Smith (29th).
Through the first 5K of the race, Buckeridge sat in 84th with a 14:43.7 split before he jumped 20 spots to 64th across the next 1K. Between the 6K and 7K marks on the course he jumped another 14 spots to 50th.
Buckeridge improved another three spots between the 7K and 9K marks and headed into the last 1K in 48th before he jumped another five spots to the finish line.
Since the NCAA Championship moved to a 10K format in 1976, Buckeridge is the first Boilermaker to run sub-30 minutes. William Shuey held the previous top mark in a championship with his 30:03.1 in 1981.
He is the ninth Purdue runner to finish in the top 50 of an NCAA Championship during the 10K format. He is the third in the last five seasons.
Buckeridge now owns the top two times in program history after he went 29:12.9 last Friday at the Great Lakes Regional in his runner-up performance.
The 2024 cross country season concluded on Saturday and the program will now turn its attention to the 2024-25 indoor track & field season that starts on Dec. 13 in Chicago.