Freshmen compete in first race as Badgers
September 27, 2008 | Men's Cross Country
Sporting a roster of runners competing in their first meet for Wisconsin, a very young Badger squad placed ninth out of 61 colleges in the 36th annual Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Ill.
In preparation for an intense upcoming four weeks, Head Coach Mike Byrne decided to keep the older runners at home and give a handful of freshmen a taste of true competition. Facing 80-degree weather coupled with inevitable anxiety, the Badgers had quite a challenge. With the exception of junior athid=6159&deptid=195"> --> Steve Ludwig (Kenosha, Wis.), it was the first time these five runners have ever worn a Wisconsin uniform.
'I wanted the freshmen to get some experience and get their first race as Badgers under their belt. By running the younger guys today we were able to continue training our `A' squad right through this week so their training is consistent, ' Byrne said.
Ludwig led the Badgers and placed 42nd with a time of 26:03 while freshman athid=6757&deptid=195"> --> Phil Thomas (Greendale, Wis.) and sophomore athid=6106&deptid=195"> --> David Pede (Greenfield, Wis.) finished within three seconds of each other at 26:13, finishing 51st and 54th, respectively.
For complete team results click here . For individual race results click here .
With this race behind them, the Badgers are focused on preparing for the very competitive Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 3 in Bethlehem, Penn. They will face fierce competition which includes No. 4 Iona College as well as from Mid-Atlantic region powerhouses such as No. 10 Georgetown, No. 26 Villanova and Princeton.
'By this weekend, we'll definitely have most of our top nine guys that we'll be taking to the championship part of the season,' Byrne said. 'Keeping them healthy is the key for us. What we're doing right now is just taking it day by day and making sure we can keep everybody healthy.'
