Badgers determined to win back the Big Ten title
October 31, 2014 | Men's Cross Country
Oct. , 2014
MADISON, Wis. -- After winning 46 out of 99 Big Ten Championships, the No. 6 Wisconsin men’s cross country team is determined to win back the Big Ten trophy at the 100th championship meet.
“The team understands and recognizes the history of the Big Ten Championship,” Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Mick Byrne said. “They recognize the importance of this meet to the team and to the university. “
| Big Ten Championship | |
| Date | Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014, 10:45 a.m. (CT) |
| Location | Iowa City, Iowa | Ashton Cross Country Course |
| Course Info | Course Map  | Course Video  |
| Competitors | Entry List |
| Course Length | 8-kilometers |
| Performance List | Wisconsin |
Last year, despite Malachy Schrobilgen winning the Big Ten title, the Badgers fell short to Indiana who won with a team score of 51 points. Indiana’s win ended Wisconsin’s run of 14 straight Big Ten titles.
The Badgers are coming off of their third place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, which featured 18 other ranked teams. The men will compete on Sunday in an 8-kilometer race at 11:45 a.m. (CT) in Iowa City, Iowa for the Big Ten title.
“I guess they are saying that we are the favorites to win but you just never know,” Byrne said. “It’s not like Indiana is going to roll over and give us back what is ours and that’s the Big Ten trophy. It’s going to be a good battle between them and Michigan.”
Wisconsin will be face three fellow ranked teams in No. 14 Michigan, No. 20 Indiana and No. 22 Michigan State.
“For better for worse, we lost it last year and now it's the mentality of ‘let's go and win it back,’” Byrne said. “I did say it's ‘ours’ and if you look at the history of the meet and the number of trophies that we have won, that's the plan for this weekend, to go back in there and fight real hard.”
The team that ran at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational will be running at the Big Ten Championship with the exception of Alex Hatz, who was injured earlier in the season. The Badgers will have a young team run on Sunday as only three upperclassmen will race.
“We're going into the meet this weekend with four guys that have never run at a Big Ten Championships,” Byrne said. “Most kids would be scared of that but these guys, the two true freshmen, Joe Hardy and Morgan McDonald, they were just in my office saying, ‘Coach how many more days? What do we need to do?’ They are just excited and they are looking forward to it.”
Looking back on his previous Big Ten Championship meets, Byrne explained that he was spoiled the last four to five years.
“Guys like Reed, Mo and Maverick, I keep bringing up their names but I truly was spoiled because those guys got it,” Byrne admitted. “They understood the importance of the meet and they embraced it and loved it. They enjoyed getting out there and competing for that trophy.”
The Badgers goal this year is simple: to win back the Big Ten trophy.
“I think it’s very important for this program,” Byrne said. “We need to at least go in there and be very, very competitive on Sunday and give it our best shot.”
