Badgers seek 11th straight Big Ten title
October 29, 2009 | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 29, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- The No. 15 Wisconsin men's cross country team looks to defend their run of 10 consecutive Big Ten titles Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Penn State in University Park, Pa.
The last time the Big Ten Championships were hosted by Penn State back in 1999, Wisconsin began their current streak of 10 consecutive Big Ten titles. Overall, the UW has won the Big Ten Championships a total of 42 times. The next highest is Michigan State with 14.
The Badgers enter as the favorites to win the 8k race, but No. 18 Indiana and host Penn State look to knock Wisconsin off its pedestal.
Last year, the Badgers won the race by 17 points over Michigan. Returning to the Big Tens for the UW are seniors Craig Miller and Ryan Gasper, as well as juniors Landon Peacock and Jack Bolas.
Peacock finished second overall with a time of 24:35, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors. Bolas finished in seventh place in a time of 24:50, also earning first-team All-Big Ten honors, while second-team All-Big Ten honoree Miller placed 14th with a time of 25:01 and Gasper finished in 16th place in a time of 25:06.
After losing three of its top runners to graduation last year, head coach Mick Byrne hopes the upperclassmen will elevate their performances.
"I will be interested to see how the guys handle it, "Byrne said. "They can't piggyback off guys like Stuart Eagon, Matt Withrow and Christian Wagner. Now it's up to Landon, Craig, Ryan and Jack to step up. They've got to come out of the shadows of those other guys, which they are very capable of doing."
Along with the returners to the Big Tens, the Badgers feature a much younger team than in years past. Running for the UW this year are true freshmen Mohammed Ahmed and Reed Connor, redshirt freshman Maverick Darling, sophomore Elliot Krause and sophomore Phil Thomas.
Unlike the conventional cross country race featuring seven runners, the Big Ten Championship will include nine runners in the race, with the top five runners' counting towards the overall score.
Coach Byrne has been stressing the importance of this part of the cross country season as crucial to the success of a team down the road.
"As I've been saying for 25 years, we train for this part of the season; whatever happened prior does not matter now," he said.
The men's race will begin at 9:45 a.m., followed by the women's 6k race at 10:45.
There will be no live broadcast of the event, but the Big Ten Network will offer delayed coverage at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15.
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Justin Mozer
