Badgers sweep to start the 2008 season
September 13, 2008 | Men's Cross Country
What once started as a beautiful course in Northern Illinois ended as a muddy terrain on Saturday afternoon at the Huskie Open. With the rain pouring all afternoon, the men 's cross country team opened up their season in perfect fashion by sweeping the event and placing their top five runners. Head coach Mick Byrne's decision to throw the young runners in to the mix to start the season off worked well and he was more than pleased with the overall competition.
'Despite the poor weather, it was a great race today' Byrne said. 'Our older guys took control by running with the younger guys in order to lead the way and set a nice pace. It was really great to see the teammates run together and work so well so early in the season.'
The top four runners for UW crossed the finish line as a team with a time of 26:40. Sophomore Ryan Craven (Mount Prospect, Ill.), junior Ryan Gasper (Fort Atkinson, Wis.), freshman Elliot Krause (Appleton, Wis.) and senior Christian Wagner (Columbus, Ind.) crossed thirty seconds before junior Tim Pierie (Mokena, Ill.) who took the five spot. Blake Johnson (Marquette) placed in the fifth spot individually; however Marquette did not have five runners participate so Pierie took the spot by default. Redshirt freshmen Phil Thomas (Greendale, Wis.) and Sam Frederick (Oconomowoc, Wis.) took 13th and 18th respectively in their first outing as Badgers.
This race set the tone for the Badgers' 2008 campaign and was an exceptional way to start off Byrne's career as the Badgers' coach. In a race that featured three freshmen and left out some of the strongest runners on the team, there is a lot to be excited about with this Badger squad.
'We are right where we want to be right now' Byrne said. 'We have guys running well and no one overworked themselves because they were controlled and smart while running. From here we are going to take it on a week-by-week basis and I 'm excited for the rest of the season.'
In two weeks on September 27th, the Badgers will compete in the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago with the hopes of another great outing. The results for the Huskie Open are listed below and can also be found here .
