Final Stats
Team Results
| | 1. | Michigan State | 87 | | 2. | Arkansas | 191 | | 3. | Iowa State | 213 | | 4. | Wisconsin | 227 | | 5. | West Virginia | 245 | | |
| |
Oct. 17, 2014
MADISON, Wis. --Following a 17th-place team finish less than a year ago, the Wisconsin women’s cross country team continued its successful streak to turn up an extraordinary fourth-place team finish at Friday’s Wisconsin adidas Invitational at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course.
After a cool and windy 6-kilometer trek, the No. 15 Badgers came out to impress with a score of 227 points, enough to edge out West Virginia (245 points) and secure a top-four finish. UW’s Sarah Disanza was the first individual finisher for the Badgers, taking 12th place overall in a time of 20 minutes, 10 seconds.
| Fast Facts | | • Badgers collect their fourth top-five team finish of the season | | • Sarah Disanza led the Badgers for the second year in a row at the meet | | • The Badgers improve from 17th place to fourth place from last year's Wisconsin adidas Invitational | |
Molly Hanson placed 22nd in 20:24, while Emma-Lisa Murphy was 31st in 20:29. Gabi Anzalone was the fourth Badger to cross the line, finishing in 20:51 to place 69th. Rounding out the top-five for Wisconsin was Colette Richter, who crossed the line in 21:13 to finish 105th.
No. 2 Michigan State took home the team title with 87 points, with No. 5 Arkansas (191), No. 8 Iowa State (213), No. 15 Wisconsin (227), and No. 20 West Virginia (245) finishing out the top-five. Crystal Nelson of Iowa State won the individual title with a time of 19:35.
Disanza also lead the Badgers at the 2013 adidas Invitational, where she finished 42nd in a time of 20:34. Not far behind her a year ago were Emma-Lisa Murphy (20:47) and Molly Hanson (21:15), who also finished in the top-three for the Badgers. The trio were able to build on their times from last year, as each of the three registered improvements.
Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, Mick Byrne, was satisfied with the women’s performance.
“That was a great run out there by our women today,” Byrne said. “This is a national caliber field, probably a better field than you’ll see six weeks down the road here at the NCAA meet.
“A lot of major programs from around the country came into Madison for this meet, and to finish fourth is a great, great run.”
Disanza shed some light on the progress that the team has made this season.
“Yeah, our team has so much depth now, and it’s only been getting tighter and tighter as our workouts have been improving,” Disanza said. “We’re really emphasizing in each workout to find the energy within the team, so I think with that, we’ve been able to find each other during races really well, and that’s helped us get as far as we have.”
After today’s impressive performance, Disanza notes that the team goals are focused on the remaining championship meets, particularly the Big Ten Championship.
“Going into the Big Ten we’re hoping to have a place similar to what we got today. We’re aiming for top five,” Disanza said. “If we keep up what we’ve been doing with team energy and really focusing on bringing everyone together and closing that gap between each other, then I think we can definitely achieve that goal.
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence seeing how we can place against these sort of teams in such an intense field. I think once we get to regionals and nationals, we’re going to be able to have the same mentality that we have now.”
Byrne also seems confident that the Badgers will be ready for the upcoming championship meets.
“Going into the Big Ten, you got the number one and number two teams in the country,” Byrne said. “We put on a good show out there today. We’ve probably earned enough points now to go into Terre Haute. All we have to do is finish out the rest of the reason. It’s about recovering from this meet and then we’ll get to work on the Big Ten, but right now we’re going to enjoy this.”
And enjoy they will. Their performance today left Byrne pleased.
“The team did a great job today,” Byrne noted.
