Solinsky Repeats as Notre Dame Invitational Champion
September 29, 2006 | Men's Cross Country
The No. 1 Wisconsin men's cross country team placed eighth out of 20 teams in the Blue Division of the 51st Notre Dame Invitational Friday afternoon in South Bend, Ind. The Badgers scored 188 points and were led by senior Chris Solinsky's (Stevens Point, Wis.) second consecutive individual meet title.
In his first action of the season, Solinsky bested 165 other runners, covering the 8,000 meter course in 23 minutes and 24 seconds to finish 14 seconds ahead of second place finisher Seth Pilkingon of Weber State. At last year's Notre Dame Invitational, Solinsky beat the 200 runner field for his first collegiate cross country individual title.
Redshirt freshman Brandon Bethke (Lake Forest, Calif.) placed next for the young Badgers squad, finishing 25th in a time of 24:23. He was followed by true freshmen Andrew Lacy (McFarland, Wis.) and Craig Miller (Lancaster, Pa.), who placed 42nd and 54th in 24:44 and 24:55, respectively.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Gasper (Fort Atkinson, Wis.) rounded out the scoring for the Badgers, placing 68th in 25:03. Junior Ben Porter (East Troy, Wis.) was the final Wisconsin harrier to cross the finish line, placing 119th in 25:43.
Unranked North Carolina State bested six top 30 teams to win the team title, scoring 86 points to finish 23 ahead of runner up No. 27 Providence College. No. 15 Michigan took third with 123 points and was followed by No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 26 Florida, who tied for fourth with 160.
The Badgers will not race again until Oct. 14th when they head to the Jim Drews Invitational in La Crosse, Wis. The meet is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m.
