Oregon’s Ayyildiz Named 2024 Big Ten Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Oregon senior Silan Ayyildiz was named the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year, as voted by the Big Ten head coaches, the conference announced Wednesday.

Ayyildiz earned the first honor of her career after helping Oregon place fifth overall at the 2024 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships, the program’s highest finish since 2018. She was the top finisher for the Big Ten, having completed the 6K race in 19:48.2 to place 13th.

Ayyildiz led Oregon to its first team championship as a member of the Big Ten Conference at the 2024 Big Ten Cross Country Championships. She finished the 6K race in a time of 19:13.6 to win the individual title and set a championships record, nearly 13 seconds ahead of the previous record-setting mark. For the season, Ayyildiz collected first team All-Big Ten honors, All-Region laurels and All-America recognition.