Previewing the NCAA Championship
November 19, 2009 | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 19, 2009
MADISON, Wis.--The No. 10 men’s cross country team travels to Terre Haute, Ind. Monday, Nov. 23 for the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championship. Wisconsin has won the NCAA Championship four times and has been the runner up nine times. The last time the UW won was in 2005.
The University of Oregon won the 10k race last year with 93 points and were followed by Iona College with 147 points and Stanford with 227 team points. The Badgers finished in fourth place with 229 points at last year’s NCAA Championship and are optimistic that they will make the podium once again.
“I think that our kids are real confident,” Wisconsin head coach Mick Byrne said this week. “They are young, but they're very confident. They feel that they have a shot at getting on the podium. And I think, to be realistic, that's a great goal for us. That would be a tremendous achievement with the fact that we're going into the race with three freshmen.”
The UW will feature the same lineup from the Big Ten Championship, including four runners from last year’s fourth place team.
Junior Landon Peacock was the top runner for the Badgers at last year’s NCAAs, finishing 21st overall in a time of 30:00, earning All-America honors. Senior Craig Miller finished in 71st place in a time of 30:50, junior Jack Bolas finished in 77th place in a time of 30:53 and senior Ryan Gasper finished in 180th in a time of 32:04.
The rest of the Badgers’ lineup is comprised of sophomores Elliot Krause and Phil Thomas, redshirt freshman Maverick Darling as well as true freshmen Mohammed Ahmed and Reed Connor.
“With these young guys, they're fearless, which is exciting,” said Byrne. “They respect the 10k distance. For a lot of them, they're going twice what they were running this time last year, and that's huge. But they know they're coming off two great meets, the Big Ten and the regional meet.”
After a first place finish at the Big Ten Championship and Great Lakes Regional, the Badgers are ready to compete for the National title.
The race is set to start at 11:08 (central) and will be televised by Versus.
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Justin Mozer
Athletic Communications
