Wisconsin Badgers
Greater Louisville Classic
Badgers head to the Bluegrass State looking for success
October 03, 2015 | Men's Cross Country
UW looks to defend its titles at the Greater Louisville Classic
Sept. 28 - Oct. 3
The Badgers take leave for the second time this season to compete at the Greater Louisville Classic which takes place on Saturday at Tom Sawyer Park. The men compete in a 8-kilometer race at 8:30 a.m. (CT) and the women compete in a 5-kilometer race which kicks off at 9:15 a.m. The women come into the race ranked No. 11 while the men are ranked No. 4.
| Greater Louisville Classic | |
| Date | Saturday, Oct. 3 | 8:30 a.m. (CT) |
| Location | Louisville, Ky. | Tom Sawyer Park |
| Admission | Free |
| Meet Schedule | Women (5K): 9:15 a.m. |
| Course Info | |
| Updates | @BadgerTrackXC on Twitter |
About the Badgers
ABOUT THE GREATER LOUISVILLE CLASSIC
• In its 14th year, the Greater Louisville Classic takes place on Saturday at Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. The men will run at 8:30 a.m. (CT) while the women follow at 9:15 a.m.
• 29 teams compete in the mens race including Iona and Michigan who are highly ranked in the USTFCCA National Coaches' Poll. 35 teams compete in the womens race including ranked teams Michigan and Iowa State.
DISANZA, SCHROIBLGEN IN FLOTRACK'S TOP-10 RANKINGS
• Juniors Malachy Schrobilgen and Sarah Disanza appeared in FloTrack's top-10 indvidual rankings for the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
• Schrobilgen moved up a spot to No. 6 in the individual rankings, while Disanza
• In addition, the Wisconsin men checked in at No. 4 in Flotrack's Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown, while the women moved up to No. 12.
THIS WEEK IN VARSITY MAGAZINE
• In this week's Varsity Magazine, learn more about the Badgers' goals this weekend at the Greater Louisville Classic.
LAST YEAR AT THE GREATER LOUISVILLE CLASSIC - MEN
• The No. 11-ranked Wisconsin men's cross country earned its second victory of the season on Saturday, running away with the competition at the Greater Louisville Classic behind a big team showing and stellar individual performances.
• UW topped the 28-team field with 56 points, with five Badgers finishing in the top 20 at the 8-kilomenter E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park course in Louisville, Kentucky. Mississippi tallied 111 points to finish runner-up, while Missouri capped off the top three with 125 points.
• Leading the way for UW was sophomore Malachy Schrobilgen, who in his season debut took second place among the 250-runner field with a time of 23 minutes, 48.36 seconds.
• Senior Michael Van Voorhis - also making his season debut - ran to a 10th-place finish with 24:05.28. Redshirt freshman Carl Hirsch crossed the finish line just after Van Voorhis in 12th place, setting a new career-best time of 24:18.88.
• Additionally, redshirt freshman Ryan Kromer finished 17th behind a career-best time of 24:30.60, while sophomore Joe McAsey rounded out the Badgers' scoring roster in 20th place with a personal-best time of 24:32.49.
LAST YEAR AT THE GREATER LOUISVILLE CLASSIC - WOMEN
• Led by three top-five finishers, the No. 16 Wisconsin women's cross country team came out strong to win the Greater Louisville Classic this morning at the E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville.
• The Badgers tallied a total of 37 points, 27 points ahead of second-place finisher West Virginia (64 points). Virginia Tech (194 points). Lipscomb (197 points) and Missouri (202 points) rounded out the top-five teams in the 35-team race.
• Leading the pack for UW was sophomore Sarah Disanza, who took home the individual title for the 5-kilometer race in a time of 16 minutes, 41.92 seconds. Not far behind were juniors Molly Hanson and Emma-Lisa Murphy, who finished third and fourth, respectively. Hanson finished in 16:57.13, while Murphy was just a second behind in 16:58.56.
• Senior Gabi Anzalone was 16th in 17:21.12 and redshirt freshman Colette Richter claimed 20th in 17:32.35 to propel UW to its second triumph of the year.
BADGERS IN THE RANKINGS
• In the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Coaches' Poll released on Tuesday, the Wisconsin men's cross country team checked in at No. 4, while the women's team is ranked No. 11.
• The men, previously ranked fourth along with Oklahoma State, are now alone in fourth place. Meanwhile the women's team moved up a spot and are one of two teams from the Big Ten ranked in the top-10.
• Wisconsin is one of four teams nationally to have both teams ranked in the top 10 of the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll along with Colorado, Stanford and Oregon.
AHMED BREAKS CANADIAN 5000 METERS RECORD
• Wisconsin alum Mohammed Ahmed capped off an incredible track and field season by setting the Canadian record in the 5000 meters this past Friday at the Diamond League meet in Brussels, Belgium.
• A native of St. Catharines, Ontario, Ahmed broke the 17-year-old Canadian record with a time of 13 minutes, 10 seconds en route to a 12th-place showing against the world's best in the final Diamond League meet of the 2015 season. Ahmed bested Jeff Sciebler's old Canadian record of 13:13.96 that was set in 1998.
• During the 2015 track and field season, Ahmed, who trains under former Wisconsin coach Jerry Schumacher with the Bowerman Track Club, won the 10,000 meters at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto in 28:49.96.
• Following his gold medal performance at the Pan Am Games, Ahmed finished 12th in the 5000 meters at the 2015 IAAF World Championships, the best finish ever by a Canadian in the event at the world meet.
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BADGERS EARN TOP-15 PRESEASON RANKINGS
• The Wisconsin men's cross country team tied for fourth in the preseason U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Coaches' Poll, its highest ranking since 2012, while the women checked in at No. 11 in the preseason ranks.
• The national rankings come on the heels of the USTFCCCA regional rankings, as the men's team were ranked No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, while the women were ranked No. 2 behind defending NCAA champion Michigan State. The men's program won the NCAA Great Lakes Region title at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in 2014, marking their 29th NCAA Great Lakes Region crown. The women finished runner-up at the meet thanks to a third-place showing by Sarah Disanza.
• The Badgers also fared well in the preseason Track and Field News rankings, as the men's squad was ranked fourth, while the women were ranked 10th. In addition, Sarah Disanza, last year's runner-up at the NCAA meet, along with Malachy Schrobilgen, a two-time All-American, were ranked sixth in the top-10 individuals.
THREE HOME MEETS HIGHLIGHT BADGERS SCHEDULE
• Three home meets at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, including the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, highlight the Wisconsin men's and women's cross country schedule for the 2015 season.
• The Badgers will host the seventh-annual Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16. Wisconsin welcomes 36 men's and women's teams for the prestigious meet. The invite features 25 of the 31 women's teams that competed at the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championship and 20 of the 31 men's teams that ran at last year's national meet.
• Wisconsin will host the 2015 NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday, Nov. 13, marking the fourth-straight year the Badgers have hosted the NCAA qualifying meet. The top-two teams from the regional championship earn automatic spots to the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 21.
• The Badgers open their season at home with the Thomas Zimmer Open on Friday, Sept. 4, at their home course.
• Following their season opener, Wisconsin heads east to the Iona College Meet of Champions in Bronx, New York, on Sept. 19. Prior to arriving at Wisconsin in 2008, Byrne coached cross country teams for 24 seasons at Iona, where the men's cross country team won an astonishing 17 consecutive MAAC titles and earned 12 trips to the NCAA championship.
• The Badgers head to Louisville, Kentucky to compete at the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 3, the site of 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championship. Both Wisconsin's men's and women's squads won team titles at the meet last year.
• Championship season begins for Wisconsin on Nov. 1 with the 2015 Big Ten Cross Country Championship in Chicago. The men's squad won its 47th Big Ten crown last season as sophomore Malachy Schrobilgen won his second-straight Big Ten individual title.Sarah Disanza finished second overall to lead UW to a runner-up finish on the women's side.
JORGENSEN QUALIFIES FOR 2016 OLYMPICS
• Former Wisconsin women's track & field standout and 2012 Olympian Gwen Jorgensen punched her ticket for the 2016 Olympic Games after winning the 2015 International Triathlon Union World Olympic Qualification Event on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro.
• Jorgensen, the reigning world champion, finished the 1500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike ride and 10,000-meter run in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 46 seconds. The United States offered two spots for the 2016 Summer Olympics for athletes that finished in the top eight at the qualifying event. Fellow American Sarah True finished fourth to also qualify for next summer's Games.
• Jorgensen finished 38th in her Olympics debut in 2012, when she was slowed by a flat tire.
• Jorgensen has been on a record-setting run during the past year, as she has won the last 13 events she has competed in. She has won 11-straight World Triathlon Series events and will wrap up her 2015 season with the WTS Grand Final on Sept. 18 in Chicago.
• A 2009 graduate of Wisconsin, Jorgensen started her career at Wisconsin on the swim team before switching to the track. Jorgensen's 5000 meters time of 15:52.19 ranks fifth in program history, while her 10,000 meters time of 33:338.38 ranks ninth on the school's all-time list.
Players Mentioned
