Wisconsin Badgers
Big Ten Championship
Badgers to take on BIg Ten at conference meet
October 30, 2015 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Wisconsin heads to the Windy City for the 2015 Big Ten Championship
Championship season for the Badgers begins on Sunday as Wisconsin heads to Chicago for the 2015 Big Ten Cross Country Championship at the Sydney Marovitz Golf Course along Lake Michigan..The men's championship, an 8-kilometer race, kicks off at 10:45 a.m. (CT) and the women's 6-kilometer race begins at 11:45 a.m.
| 2015 Big Ten Cross Country Championship | |
| Date | Sunday, Nov. 1 | 10:45 a.m. (CT) |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois | Sydney Marovitz Golf Course |
| Admission | Free |
| Meet Schedule | Championship Races Men (8K): 10:45 a.m. Women (6K): 11:45 a.m. |
| Course Info | Course Map  |
| Video | BTN (Tape Delay) Nov. 12, 2015 - 7 p.m. |
| Meet Info | Meet Info |
| Results | Live Results |
| Notes | Men's Notes Women's Notes |
| Updates | @BadgerTrackXC on Twitter |
ABOUT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP
• Five Big Ten women's cross country teams are nationally ranked heading into the Big Ten Championships, with Michigan leading the way at No. 2. Penn State is ranked No. 15, defending Big Ten and NCAA champion Michigan State checks in at No. 21, MInnesota is No. 22 and Purdue is No. 30.
• On the men's side, Michigan enters the championships with a conference-best No. 5 national ranking. Michigan State is No. 19, Wisconsin is No. 27 and Indiana is No .28.
• The Big Ten Cross Country Championships will carry on BTN via tape delay at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 12.
ABOUT THE BADGERS - MEN
• Wisconsin has won 15 of the past 16 Big Ten team titles and have either won the team title or had a runner take the individual crown at every conference meet since 1998.
• Wisconsin has won 47 of the previous 100 Big Ten cross country meets and has captured 30 individual titles.
Seven of the Badgers' Big Ten (1939, 1944-46, 1948-50) titles have been won in Chicago. This year marks the 27th time the conference meet will be held in the Windy City and the first time since 1976.
• This year's Wisconsin squad is one of the youngest in the country as the Badgers do not feature a senior on their roster. UW also has a trio of juniors in Joe McAsey, Russell Sandvold and Malachy Schrobilgen.
• The Badgers won their 47th Big Ten title last year in Iowa City, Iowa. Malachy Schrobilgen defended his conference titles while senior Michael Van Voorhis was second. Morgan McDonald was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Mick Byrne was named the conference's coach of the year while Schrobilgen was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Year.
• Schrobilgen looks to become the eighth runner in Big Ten history to win three Big Ten individual crowns. Craig Virgin (Illinois), Bob Kennedy (Indiana) and Kevin Sullivan (Michigan), each won four Big Ten meets while F.O. Watson (Minnesota), Garry Bjorklund (Minnesota), Tim Hacker (Wisconsin) and Simon Bairu (Wisconsin) each captured three individual crowns.
ABOUT THE BADGERS - WOMEN
• The Badgers finished second at last year's Big Ten meet, thanks to a runner-up finish by Sarah Disanza, who is redshirting this season for the Cardinal and White. UW will also be without the services this weekend of 2014 All-Big Ten First-Team performer Molly Hanson, who is also redshirting this cross country season.
• UW finished 25th at its premier home meet, the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, as redshirt freshman Shaelyn Sorsenen lead UW with a 37th-place showing. The meet featured 20 of the top-25 teams in the country at the time of the race.
• Sorensen has paced the Badgers during all four of their meets this year, and the Lake Elmo, Minnesota, native picked up wins at the Badger Opener and the Iona Meet of Champions.
• Sorensen took a redshirt last cross country and track seasons to compete at the USA Junior Cross Country Championships and the 2015 IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships.
• McFarland, Wisconsin native Jamie Shannon has been the second Badger across the line at the team's last three meets. The redshirt sophomore also picked up valuable experience last track season as she competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2015 NCAA West Preliminary Round.
• UW returns four runners from last year's Big Ten runner-up team in Emma-Lisa Murphy, Colette Richter, Sarah Heinemann and Grace Meuer.
LAST YEAR AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP - MEN
fter seeing its record streak of 14 straight Big Ten titles end last season, Wisconsin refocused itself on starting a new run. The Badgers took the first step toward building that streak Sunday by bringing the Big Ten trophy back to Madison in impressive fashion.
The No. 6-ranked Wisconsin men's cross country team ran away with the 100th Big Ten Championship on Iowa's Ashton Cross Country Course, winning the league title behind the 1-2 punch of sophomore Malachy Schrobilgen and senior Michel Van Voorhis.
"Just before the race today, we got in the huddle and told the guys to look down at the uniform," UW head coach Mick Byrne said. "We told them that they have to understand that the name on the uniform means a lot more than us, it represents all the years and traditions of the team."
"When you wear the Badger jersey, it means something more."
The Badgers finished with a team score of 47 points to earn their 47th Big Ten team title, and their 15th in the past 16 years. Since the conference meet moved to an 8-kilometer race in 1985, the Badgers have won 26 of the league's 30 championships.
Schrobilgen captured his second-consecutive individual crown by crossing the 8-kilometer course in 23 minutes, 34.96 seconds, with Van Voorhis taking second in 23:27.51.
"This is a dream come true," Schrobilgen said about helping the Badgers reclaim the team title. "To be able to work this hard for something that we waited so long for, to see everything materialize in front of you while you're running is awesome. It is hard to put into words how it feels.
"The way these guys showed up today and ran their hearts out, I can't ask for anything more. I'm super proud of these guys."
No. 14 Michigan finished second with 77 points, followed by Penn State (92 points) and No. 20 Indiana (95). No. 22 Michigan State rounded out the top five with 117 points.
"We knew coming into this meet that Indiana was not going to roll over and hand that title to us." Byrne said. "Michigan, we knew that they were going to be strong. Probably a lot of people counted out Penn State, and they got third. It was a great performance by those guys. But we knew we were going to be in a battle out there."
Wisconsin sophomore Russell Sandvold jumped out to an early lead to help pace the pack of 106 runners. A native of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, Sandvold held the lead until the 4-kilometer mark before dropping out of the race.
Schrobilgen was among the leaders for the majority of the race, but Van Voorhis did not join him until the 6-kilometer mark.
With under a kilometer to go, the lead pack of Schrobilgen, Van Voorhis, Purdue's Matt McClintock and Michigan's Mason Ferlic broke away. With the finish line in site, Schrobilgen and Van Voorhis outkicked the competition to earn their 1-2 finish.
It marked the second time in four years the Badgers have had the top-two finishers at the Big Ten meet, as Mohammed Ahmed and Maverick Darling went 1-2 at the 2011 championship.
"It was a hard-fought victory," Byrne said. "The guys came through over the last couple of kilometers. That was where we failed last year. We wanted to make sure that we were going to be able to close the race. "
Schrobilgen became the fifth Badger to win multiple Big Ten titles, joining Don Gehrmann (1947-48), Tim Hacker (1981, 84-85), Matt Downin (1998-99) Simon Bairu (2003-05).
"It is nice and a relief, too, in winning," Schrobilgen said. "There is a lot of pressure there. Knowing that it helps the team out, going after that title makes it easier. It is nice being at the top."
"To win a title like that you have got to have great poise and be able to believe in yourself," said Byrne. "Malachy and Michael both followed through the race plan that we laid out for them. They executed unbelievably."
"Coming up the last 100 meters, Mal passed me," said Van Voorhis, who began his career as a walk-on after competing for the Wisconsin Track Club. "At that point, it doesn't matter who wins, as long as it is Wisconsin. After our number five crossed, I knew we won. It is a great feeling to come back and win."
"He was a true walk-on and he took full advantage of that opportunity to be a Badger," Byrne said of Van Voorhis. "To see him come out today and finish second, that's amazing. It just shows that if you believe and you want it hard enough, as much as Michael did, anything can happen."
The two true freshmen, Morgan McDonald and Joe Hardy, were among the Badgers' scorers, along with redshirt freshman Carl Hirsch. McDonald finished 12th overall and third for UW with the time of 23:56.29. Hirsch finished eight seconds later at 24:04.75 placing 14th overall. Hardy rounded out the Badgers' top five in 18th place with the time of 24:09.24.
"It is an incredible job for both of the true freshmen," said Byrne. "Joe was hurting out there but he found out today what it means to be Badger Tough and what it really means to be a Badger."
Redshirt freshman Ryan Kromer finished 20th overall with the time of 24:13.96, followed by sophomore Joe McAsey at 24:26.40 in 36th place.
"This is the Wisconsin legacy," Schrobilgen said. "Every time we show up here, people know who we are. They know we are a team to beat, but we come out and we run faster. That's what we do. We are Wisconsin. We hold that tradition proudly."
LAST YEAR AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP - WOMEN
Despite chilly and windy weather, the No. 8 Wisconsin women's cross country team continued its season-long surge with an impressive runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championship, grabbing the Badgers' best conference finish since 2008.
UW covered Iowa's 6-kilometer Ashton Cross Country Course efficiently and claimed its second-place finish with a score of 55 points.
No. 1-ranked Michigan State claimed the title with 26 points, while No. 4 Michigan took third with a score of 93. No. 19 Ohio State (127 points) and No. 20 Minnesota (139 points) rounded out the top five.
"Great, great job by the women," UW director of cross country and track Mick Byrne said. "To take on the number one team in the country and battle with them until the end was incredible."
Sophomore Sarah Disanza led the Badgers, finishing second in a time of 19 minutes, 28.1 seconds. It marked UW's best Big Ten individual finish since Caitlin Comfort's runner-up showing in 2011. Michigan State's Leah O'Connor bested Disanza down the stretch to win the race in 19:26.3.
"It was really, really intense the whole time. From the get-go, it was just our tough group of Badgers with a couple of the Michigan State girls," Disanza said. "We were just pushing with them for quite some time actually, and then eventually it just kind of broke off to be (Rachele) Schulist, (Leah) O'Connor and me, and we were fighting to the bitter end."
Not far behind Disanza was junior Molly Hanson, who came in fifth, finishing in 20:02.9. Senior Gabi Anzalone was the third Badger to cross the line, running a time of 20:17.1, while Emma-Lisa Murphy was 12th in 20:20.9.
Rounding out the top five for UW was freshman Colette Richter, who finished 27th in 20:48.4.
"There's great leadership there. We brought in a new coach, Jill Miller, and she's done a fantastic job," UW director of cross country and track Mick Byrne said. "The girls bought into what Jill's telling them on the daily basis.
"There's great leadership in the older women, and Gabi Anzalone and I don't want to call Emma-Lisa (Murphy) old, but she's been around here as an All-American. A great improvement by Sarah Disanza, and the improvements that Molly Hanson has made in the past year are incredible."
Sophomore Sarah Heinemann finished sixth for the Badgers and 44th overall (21:15.4), while junior Grace Meurer finished seventh for UW and 49th overall (21:21.4). Sophomore Michelle Lee came in eighth for the Badgers and 53rd overall (21:22.6), and junior Madeline Timm placed 61st overall (21:29.9).
Despite cold and windy conditions, Anzalone, Disanza, Hanson and Murphy got off to great starts, as the quartet ran among the leaders early in the race. Hanson and Disanza then joined the lead group that broke away from the chase pack approximately halfway through the race.
Disanza, O'Conner and Schulist battled for the lead before Disanza and O'Conner dueled down the finish chute. O'Connor, the 2014 NCAA steeplechase champion, outkicked Disanza to help Michigan State win its third title in the past four years.
"I think we have such a stronger team dynamic this year," Disanza said. "Everyone is really big into working together and feeding off of each other's energy to make sure that everyone is really working at their optimum capacity."
Players Mentioned
