Badgers Gear Up for Jim Drews Invitational
October 11, 2006 | Men's Cross Country
The No.1-ranked Wisconsin men's cross country team travels to La Crosse, Wis., Saturday to compete in the Jim Drews Invitational. The meet is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Maple Grove Country Club.
The Badgers are looking for their fourth consecutive Jim Drews title. Last year, Wisconsin placed five finishers in the top 13 to tally 46 points, edging runner-up Minnesota by six points. Freshman Christian Wagner led to the way for the Badgers, covering the 8000-meter course in 24 minutes and 25.4 seconds to finish third overall. Seniors Ben Gregory and Simon Bairu finished only a step behind, notching times of 24:25.9 and 24:26.0, respectively, to finish fourth and fifth. Juniors Codie See and Teddy O'Reilly rounded out the scoring for Wisconsin, placing 13th and 26th, respectively.
This year, 521 runners are set to compete in the 31-team invitational. The Badgers will compete against Big Ten Conference rival, No. 12 Minnesota, as well as No. 8 Portland. Wisconsin will also face six other Division III state schools including No. 2 UW-La Crosse, the 2005 Division III National Champion, and No. 9 UW-Platteville.
The Badgers will field an extremely young squad Saturday, with seven of the nine runners being underclassmen. The Wisconsin harriers will be led by Wagner, a 2005 All-Big Ten selection, and Brandon Bethke, a 2006 Big Ten Runner of the Week honoree.
In the latest USTFCCCA men's cross country poll released Oct. 10, the Badgers retained their No. 1 ranking by claiming 14 out of 15 first-place votes, with Arkansas also picking up one first-place vote.
The Jim Drews Invitational is Wisconsin's last test before it heads to the Big Ten Championships on Oct. 29th in Bloomington, Ind.
