Wisconsin cross country teams look for redemption at NCAAs
November 18, 2016 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Andy Baggot
Badgers’ men and women share mutual goal of strong comebacks
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — When you have a chip on your shoulder, sometimes it's nice to have someone help you carry it.
Members of the Wisconsin men's and women's cross country teams know that as well as anyone these days.
Both are coming off humbling experiences in 2015, the kind that stick deep in your craw and force you to wrestle with regret.
The men, winners of 13 consecutive Big Ten Conference titles from 1999 to 2012, finished eighth in that meet and failed to qualify for the NCAA championships for the first time since 1971.
The women, looking to build on a second-place finish in the Big Ten meet in 2014, instead had one runner in the top 25, took a step back to fifth and didn't qualify for the NCAA meet.
Top runners for both clubs — two-time All-American Malachy Schrobilgen for the men and 2014 NCAA runner-up Sarah Disanza for the women — saw their seasons ruined by injury.
Throw in some rotten luck here and there, sprinkle in a bit of underachievement, and you have the recipe for a letdown by both teams.
"Some people wrote us off," said Mick Byrne, the UW director of men's and women's cross country and track & field.
"Last year we both had a tough time, losing some seniors, having a few key people injured and out of the game," Disanza said.
Those shared experiences — the lessons within — have given way to a mutual goal.
Redemption.
"Collectively we have a chip on our shoulder," Schrobilgen said.
A measure of atonement has already been realized.
The 14th-ranked men reigned as Big Ten champions and followed it up with a victory in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Schrobilgen, a senior from Oak Park, Illinois, and junior Morgan McDonald, from Sydney, Australia, were the top two finishers in both races.
"I don't think I've ever gone into a national championship with this many guys hitting their stride at the same time," Schrobilgen said.
The women, meanwhile, regrouped after a sixth-place finish in the Big Ten meet with a third-place showing in the regional thanks to top-20 finishes from Disanza (Wantage, New Jersey), true freshman Alicia Monson of Amery, Wis., sophomore Amy Davis of Madison and fifth-year senior Michele Lee of Sun Prairie.
"A fantastic showing," Disanza said.
But while members of both teams feel good about their response to adversity so far, they all have more to say Saturday when the NCAA meet is staged at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The women's 6-kilometer race is scheduled to go off at 10 a.m. Madison time. The men's 10-kilometer race will follow at 11 a.m.
The UW men are seeking their sixth NCAA title and first since 2011.
"I honestly think anything's possible with this team," Schrobilgen said. "Everything's clicking on all cylinders.
"I'd like to think we have a shot. It's an outside shot, but if the stars align for us, I think we have a shot."
The UW women haven't won a national championship since 1984 and '85, but their goal is progress.
"If we can really grind it out, we're capable of being a top-10 team," Disanza said.
At the root of both projects is the desire for atonement.
"I think everyone individually has their own personal reason why they're so much more driven this year," Schrobilgen said.
"Redemption is really the name of the game for our teams right now," Disanza said.
Four men who ran for the Badgers in the 2014 NCAA meet were injured last season, including Schrobilgen, who had a stress fracture in his lower back that forced him to withdraw from the Big Ten meet and ultimately finish 33rd in the regional.
Disanza, meanwhile, missed the entire 2015 season with a series of stress fractures in her back, fibula and foot.
What bugged Schrobilgen most about last season?
"Just the fact that we were definitely on to something early on in the season and we got derailed by injuries and just bad luck," he said. "It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of time to put into just a couple races. To see all of that time and effort go to waste was the most frustrating part.
"It showed some things to us that maybe we were missing as a team, things you don't really realize or maybe you take it for granted. But we really needed each other to bounce back.
"We found that this year. We trusted each other a lot more. That's been a huge difference for us."
Disanza said her injuries gave way to a desire to make the most of what remained in her college career.
"To get back and try and contribute, to give whatever I have," she said.
Disanza still isn't back to her 2014 fitness level, "but I definitely feel the strength coming back as the weeks go by," she said.
Schrobilgen said the vibe within the current team is such that he doesn't want the season to end.
"It's such an easy-going group right now, where if this were a year ago we'd be more uptight," he said.
"Right now things are going well. We're reaping the benefits of our hard work. Just one more race."
When you have a chip on your shoulder, sometimes it's nice to have someone help you carry it.
"It's actually been bringing our teams together that we're kind of coming from the same place," Disanza said.
"It's definitely made our teams a lot more cohesive and we've been driven together to be working toward the same common goal: come back as strong as possible."
The chip on everyone's shoulder will be prominent Saturday.
"It's definitely driving us," Schrobilgen said.
"There's still a lot more gas in the tank," Disanza said.
Players Mentioned
