Badgers gear up for Iona Meet of Champions
September 18, 2009 | Men's Cross Country
The No. 4-ranked UW men's cross country team travels to the Bronx, N.Y., Saturday to compete in the 15th-annual Iona Meet of Champions at Van Cortland Park.
The 8K race will begin at 10:15 a.m. at the Van Cortlandt Park. The meet consists of 22 competing teams, including No. 7-ranked Iona.
The UW runners for the race have not been selected yet and it will be a 'race day decision based on how the guys run the course on Friday,' explained head coach Mick Byrne. UW will be taking many of its top performers from last year, including seniors Ryan Gasper and Craig Miller and juniors Jack Bolas and Landon Peacock. This meet also marks the first road meet for many freshmen, including Noel Bateman, Reed Connor, Maverick Darling, Rob Finnerty and Andrew Shields.
The course is gravel-based, which poses a new challenge for the Badgers, having recently grown accustomed to running on grass at the new Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
For Byrne and his runners, the Iona meet serves not only as a place to show what they can do on the course, but will also act as a bonding experience for the team. 'We 're taking everybody that we think will be vying for spots at the end of the season,' Byrne explained. 'It should be a good team experience. I think at this time of year it's good to not just look at the competitive part but look at it from a team perspective; that is how I'm treating this.'
'A lot of the kids on our roster have never been to New York City,' added Byrne. 'It's always exciting to take them to new places. Just to run in New York City is a great experience. We're going to take the guys on a tour of New York City. It gives the kids a great experience.'
Byrne, who spent 24 years as Iona's head coach has his own feelings about returning to New York, as well.
'It's going to be fun going back,' Byrne said of returning to the school where he won 16 consecutive MAAC titles. 'It's my first time going to Van Cortlandt Park since I came here. It's a meet that I started way back when. I'm excited about renewing friendships with some of my old colleagues from Iona and also my former alumni, who were very loyal to me. It's going to be great to see them again.'
Players Mentioned
