Badgers to host 2015 NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Badgers to host 2015 NCAA Great Lakes Regional

November 11, 2015 | Women's Cross Country

Wisconsin hosts regional championship on Friday

For the fourth-straight year, the Wisconsin cross country program will host the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course on Friday. The women's 6-kilometer race, which features 32 teams, starts at noon while the men compete in a 10-kilometer race at 1 p.m.

2015 NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Date	Friday, Nov. 13 \| Noon
Location	Madison, Wisconsin \| Zimmer Championship Course
Admission	Free
Meet Schedule	Championship Races Women (6K): Noon Men (10K): 1 p.m.
Course Info	Course Map
Meet Info	Meet Info
Results	Live Results
Notes	Men's Notes Women's Notes
Updates	@BadgerTrackXC on Twitter

ABOUT THE NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL
• Thirty-two women's teams and 30 men's teams will come to Madison looking to punch their tickets for the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.

• Last year, the UW men won the regional title, the program's 29th such crown, while Michigan State, the eventual NCAA champions, took home the women's titles.

• This year marks the fourth time UW has hosted the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, and the Badgers are slated to host the meet in 2016.

• Both powerhouse Michigan's men and women's teams will compete in the regional event. The men are currently rank fifth and the women are ranked seventh in the nation.

• The Michigan men have won two meets this season, including the 2015 Big Ten Cross Country Championship. The Wolverines also placed third at the loaded Wisconsin adidas Invitational where they beat 15 ranked teams including Stanford, Iona, and Virginia.The team includes stand-out Mason Ferlic who has been named Big Ten Athlete of the Week as well as USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week this season.

• The Michigan women have won three out of four meets after coming in second place at the Big Ten Championships. The team is led by junior Erin Finn who took home the individual title at the Big Ten meet. She has also won three other individual titles at meets this season and led Michigan to the 2013 NCAA Great Lakes Regional crown after finishing runner-up.

• The No. 18 Michigan State women's team, the reigning NCAA champs, will also compete at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. This season the team has garnered one second place finish and two third place finishes at meets this year. They also placed 14th at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational.

• Other individuals to watch for in the women's race include Notre Dame's senior Molly Seidel who claimed second place at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational behind Boise State's freshman phenom, Allie Ostrander. She was also the individual winner at the ACC Cross Country Championships this year by beating the second-place finisher, and fellow teammate Anna Roher, by 32 seconds.

• In addition, UW redshirt freshman Shaelyn Sorensen looks to shine on her home course after earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

• On the men's side, Wisconsin's own redshirt junior Malachy Schrobilgen looks to rebound after failing to defend his Big Ten individual title after an injury forced him to withdraw after leading the field. He also had a stellar fifth-place finish at the Wisconsin adidas meet.

• Indiana State's senior John Mascari has won three individual titles this year including his record-breaking fourth win at the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship. He also is a two-time NCAA Great Lakes Regional champion, winning titles in 2013 and 2014.

• Another individual to look for is Purdue's senior Matt McClintock who has consistently finished first for Purdue at the four meets he has ran in this season. He finished as runner-up in two of these meets as well as emerging as the Big Ten individual champion this year after breaking the all-time Big Ten Championship's 8-kilometer record.

HOW TO QUALIFY FOR THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (From the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association)
• The top-two teams from each of the nine regions automatically earn spots at the NCAA championship, while 13 teams will be selected on Saturday as at-large squads. The process for selection involves a review of regular-season competition and finish at the regional championships. Regional finish is the first criterion, for example, a fourth-place team may not be selected for an at-large berth ahead of a third-place team from the same region. But, a team with a fourth-place finish, for example, could "push" both the third- and fourth-place finishing team into the championships if the fourth-place team has enough "wins" to be the next at-large team. Wins from the regular-season are only counted if squads beat another's "A" team, defined by having competed four or more individuals in that regular-season meet that competed at the regional championships. Official designations of "A" and "B" teams can only be accomplished after the results of the NCAA regional meets have been completed. Also, only competitions starting September 26 through regional meet weekend are included in the analysis.

• After teams have been determined, 38 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the NCAA Championships. From those teams NOT selected in the above process, the top four finishers at each regional are automatically selected (but must have finished within the top 25 of the region).

ABOUT THE BADGERS - MEN
• Wisconsin has won 29 of the 43 previous NCAA Great Lakes Regional, including last year's title.

• Wisconsin has touted three of the largest winning margins at the Great Lakes Regionals, the most recent being in 2009 when they defeated runner-up Michigan State by 66 points. Wisconsin has also boasted three of the lowest-winning scores at the Great Lakes Regional meet with the most recent being in 2010 when they won the regional meet with a mere 32 points.

• The Badgers also hold the top-two NCAA Great Lakes Regional records for consecutive regional championships with 11 (2002-12) and 8 (1981-88)

• 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.

• Wisconsin began the 2015 season with a pair of wins in September at the Badger Opener and the Iona Meet of Champions before finishing seventh at the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 3 and 17th at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Oct. 16.

• Malachy Schrobilgen finished fifth at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational while Morgan McDonald was 10th to lead the Badgers at their prestigious home competition.

• Wisconsin returns four of its five scorers from last year's 10th-place team at the NCAA championship, including two-time All-American Malachy Schrobilgen. Schrobilgen, a two-time Big Ten champion, finished 10th at last year's national meet to lead UW to its 19th-straight top-10 finish at the NCAA championship.

• Wisconsin also won its 29th NCAA Great Lakes Regional title at the Zimmer Championship Course last Novemeber as UW had five runners in the top-17 and all seven of its runners finished in the top-22 to earn all-region accolades.

ABOUT THE BADGERS - WOMEN
• The Badgers finished second at last year's regional meet, thanks to a third place 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.

• This year's regional meet features 3 of the top 30 teams in the country, including No. 7 Michigan. The meet also features No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 18 Michigan State. UW is receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll.

• Wisconsin holds the record for most NCAA Great Lakes Regional titles with 13 and the most individual titles with 10.

• The team features redshirt freshman Shaelyn Sorensen who was recently named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after a seventh-place finish at the Big Ten Championship.

• Sorensen's finish at the Big Ten Championship also earned her first-team All-Big Ten honors, becoming the first UW freshman to do so since 2011.

• Sorensen has also finished first for the Badgers at every meet this year.

• UW finished 25th at its premier home meet, the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, as 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.

• McFarland, Wisconsin native Jamie Shannon has been the second Badger across the line as three of UW's meets this year.

• 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 GREAT LAKES REGIONAL - MEN
The Badgers took care of business earlier this month at the 2014 Big Ten Championships by winning their 47th Big Ten title, and made a statement at the Zimmer Championship Course on Friday with their victory at the 2014 NCAA Great Lakes Regional.

Wisconsin, winners of 12 of the past 13 regional titles, finished with 61 points, while Michigan State was second with 82 points. Last year's winner, Michigan, came in third with 94 points. Rounding out the top five teams was Indiana with 126 points and Eastern Michigan with 164 points.

Sophomore Malachy Schrobilgen led the Badgers with a runner-up finish, crossing the 10-kilometer course in 30 minutes, 10 seconds. John Mascari of Indiana State won his second-straight regional title, finishing in 30:07.

Following shortly behind for the Badgers was Michael Van Voorhis who placed 13th overall and second for the Badgers in 30:36.

Rounding out the top five were freshmen Joe Hardy, Morgan McDonald and Carl Hirsch, who crossed the line together at 30:38 to place 14th, 15th and 17th, respectively.

Ryan Kromer and Joe McAsey also crossed the line together at 30:41 and finished 21st and 22nd respectively.
With the Wisconsin win, the team extended its NCAA record for consecutive championship meet appearances to 43 straight. The Badgers have qualified for every championship meet since 1972 -- when the regional format was introduced.

LAST YEAR AT THE GREAT LAKES REGIONAL - WOMEN
The No. 6 Wisconsin women's cross country team continued its remarkable 2014 season, as the Badgers finished second at the 2014 NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday at the Zimmer Championships to earn an automatic spot at the 2014 NCAA Championships.

It marked the second-straight year the Badgers earned a trip to the NCAA meet, as UW earned an at-large bid after placing fifth at last year's NCAA Great Lakes Regional.

Disanza sat in ninth place heading into the final two kilometers, but surged past fourth-place finisher Molly Seidel of Notre Dame down the homestretch to take third.

Senior Gabi Anzalone right behind her taking ninth overall and third for UW with a time of 20:14, while junior Molly Hanson was 12th in 20:19. Junior Emma-Lisa Murphy was 18th overall and fourth for the Badgers in a time of 20:34, and freshman Colette Richter finished out the scoring for UW by finishing 40th overall and fifth for the Badgers in a time of 21:00.