No. 14 Badgers eye national berth at NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Friday, November 11

Madison, WI

12 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Men's Cross Country Big Ten Starting Line

Photo by: Walt Middleton

No. 14 Badgers eye national berth at NCAA Great Lakes Regional

November 10, 2016 | Men's Cross Country

Wisconsin hosts regional on Friday at Zimmer Championship Course

MADISON, Wis. – The redemption tour continues for the Badgers this weekend, as the No. 14 ranked team in the country looks to punch their ticket to the NCAA Cross Country Championship after winning the Big Ten title in dramatic fashion.

After missing out on the NCAA meet last season for the first time since the NCAA began its regional qualifying system in 1972, Wisconsin is aiming to make it back with another quality performance at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional competition in Madison.

For the fifth-straight year, the Badgers are hosting the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. Coming off a three-point victory over Michigan State at the 2016 Big Ten Cross Country Championship, UW is looking for a top-two finish at the regional race, which would automatically qualify the Badgers for the NCAA meet next weekend.

"We were able to go into Minneapolis and win that title," Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "We were a little lazy on Monday and Tuesday last week, and made sure that our kids enjoyed that performance, enjoy that championship. But we have to close the door on it and move forward to Friday."

The team has dominated this race in the past, winning 29 of the 44 all-time Great Lakes Regional meets, including 12 straight from 2002-2012. The latest victory came in 2014 with then-sophomore Malachy Schrobilgen leading the way for Wisconsin.

"I think it (winning the Big Ten's) was a bit of a relief," Byrne said. "And obviously I think a lot of it had to do with Malachy Schrobilgen, two-time Big Ten Champion and our team leader. Last year Malachy was injured and put himself out there on the line at the Big Ten Championships because he was at home in Chicago, and then came out in the regional meet and finished 30th.

"When we are in the locker room talking, I say Malachy ran the regional meet last year on one leg. I think the guys' kind of embraced what he did last year, they embraced what he is all about, and kind of ran with that all season."

Schrobilgen has been the heart of Wisconsin's squad this season, and turned in his best performance of the year in Minneapolis at the Big Ten Championship, guiding the Badgers to a team title with his fifth-place finish. But the biggest story of the 2016 season for UW has revolved around junior Morgan McDonald.

McDonald ran away from the competition at the Big Ten's, winning the individual crown by over eight seconds. This marked his second victory of the season, and McDonald was honored with the Big Ten Athlete of the Year award following his incredible performance.

"Post-race I talked about how I hadn't seen that type of dominance at the Big Ten in years," Byrne said. "He just took off and I think ultimately he was trying to keep something in the tank for this competition Friday and hopefully for the national championships, but I haven't seen that type of dominance, it was spectacular to see."

McDonald earned two individual victories at the Les Bolstad Course in Minneapolis this season, adding his Big Ten title to the Oz Memorial Invitational crown he won in September. He also placed third overall at the top cross country meet of the season at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. Both McDonald and Schrobilgen were awarded First-Team All-Big Ten honors after the Big Ten meet.

While the two upperclassmen have lead the way for UW, freshman Olin Hacker brought home a second-team All-Big Ten honor after finishing in 12th in Minneapolis. Hacker has scored four times for the Badgers over the course of his first collegiate cross country season, and will be one of the key performers for the team this Friday.

The top two teams from each regional meet will automatically advance to the NCAA Cross Country Championship meet on Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Another 13 at-large selections will fill out the 31-team field.

In terms of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional competition this Friday, the women will kick-off the event with their six-kilometer championship race at noon. Following that race, the men's side will embark in a 10-kilometer run at 1 p.m. This meet will mark the first time all season that teams will compete in a 10-kilometer race on the men's side.

"We've talked a lot about that," Byrne said. "That's a huge differential going from eight kilometers to 10 kilometers and hopefully they'll be able to handle that. I think it's more in the head than anything else."
The Badgers come into the regional as one of five ranked teams, including three other Big Ten squads that UW bested in Minneapolis.

"We are going to face a lot of the same teams that we ran against at the Big Ten's," Byrne said. "Michigan State, who we beat by three points. Michigan is going to be very good. We expect a big competition out of Indiana and also Eastern Michigan."

Wisconsin will enter as the highest-ranked team at the Great Lakes Regional, with No. 18 Michigan State and No. 21 Indiana directly behind UW. No. 25 Eastern Michigan and No. 29 Michigan will also provide stiff competition, giving the Badgers an elite test in their quest to advance to the NCAA meet next Saturday.

"It's all about going into the regional meet and believing that you have an opportunity to advance," Byrne said. "It's an opportunity and the ultimate goal is to move forward to the national championships."