LINCOLN, Neb. – For the 17th time in the last 20 years, the Wisconsin men's cross country team captured the Big Ten conference title as UW won its 49th overall title on Sunday at the 2018 Big Ten Cross Country Championship.

The No. 3 Badgers were led by the one-two punch of senior Morgan McDonald and junior Olli Hoare as the Badgers notched just 38 points to walk away with the victory.

McDonald stayed with the lead pack from the very start of the race, sticking near teammates Hoare and Ben Eidenschink throughout the first 6K. At that point, freshman George Kusche of Nebraska fell back from the lead and the Badger duo charged through the last stretch, creating a gap of about 10 seconds between them and the rest of the runners.
 
On the last hill heading up to the finish line, McDonald and Hoare battled it out, with the 2016 Big Ten champion McDonald pulling ahead and breaking the tape with an 8K time of 23 minutes, 26.4 seconds to earn the second Big Ten cross country title of his career.

"Definitely I'm excited to cap off my Big Ten Cross country career with a win," said McDonald. "For us it's more about the team title, but for us to get both, like we did two years ago, it is extra special. I'm very happy with that."

The Sydney, Australia native joined teammate Alicia Monson as the 2018 Big Ten Cross Country individual champions. This is the second time this season that McDonald and Monson have both won individual titles at the same meet, as the pair also won the individual titles at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational in September.
 
Hoare, the defending Big Ten cross country champion, finished just seconds behind McDonald, coming in with a time of 23:29.3. This marks the second-straight year that the Badgers have had their runners take both the first place and runner-up spots at the Big Ten Championships.

"We wanted to make sure we had as many boys as we could up in the front pack and that stage was actually set until it started to wind down," said Hoare. "For me personally, I wanted to go out there and see if I could mix it up and see what I could do. If I was going to get outkicked by anyone, it was good to be a teammate. So I was glad to have Morgan to win it for us and for me to come up there as runner-up."

"At the end of the day, I think that team championship was so important for us and special to win that back," Hoare said. "I'm pretty excited and pretty happy with how that went."
 
Scoring next for the Badgers was Ben Eidenschink, who had a fantastic run on Sunday. Eidenschink also stuck to the quick pace set by the top group of runners throughout most of the race. During the last kilometer, the Nekoosa, Wisconsin, native began pushing the pace up the hill, flying past runners and finishing fourth overall in 23:43.1.

Tyson Miehe was UW's fourth runner to cross the line, finishing 12th overall in the 8K race with a time of 24:03.0 while Olin Hacker rounded out the scoring for UW with a 19th place showing, clocking in at 24:11.1.

Four more Badgers also competed at the Big Ten championships. True freshman Derick Peters finished alongside teammate Hacker and finished 20th overall with a time of 24:14.2. Next to finish was Omaha, Nebraska, native Seth Hirsch, who ran the 8K race in 24:26.0. Junior Andrew Schilling clocked in at 24:45.8 in his second career performance at the conference meet. Freshman Shuaib Aljabaly rounded out the group, crossing the finish line in 25:05.5.

"It's awesome that we have individuals going one and two but at the end of the day, this meet is not about an individual," Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "It's about the team. That's all it has ever been about, all season long and as we continue into the next two meets. That's all it will be about. We won as a team, and it is great to get the team title back home again. That's two in the last three years and eight in 11 years. I'm really proud of that record."

McDonald, Hoare and Eidenschink all earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors for their performances, while teammate Tyson Miehe earned Second-Team All-Big Ten accolades. In addition, Eidenschink, Miehe and Schilling all earned their best-ever finishes at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday.

The Badgers recorded 38 points to easily take the team title over Purdue, who finished second with 88 points, and Indiana, who finished third with 108 points. It marked UW's best score at the Big Ten meet since the Badgers scored 33 points en route to winning the 2012 Big Ten Cross Country Championships. The Badgers' 50 points margin of victory was also the conference's best mark since UW won the 2009 title by 65 points. 
 
This year's victory marks the Badgers 49th Big Ten Cross Country team title, and also marks the eighth Big Ten title won under Coach Byrne's direction. Byrne's eight Big Ten titles rank third in conference history behind Martin Smith (12) and Jerry Schumacher (11).

Up Next:
Next, the Badgers will compete at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 9. The race will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course and is slated to begin with the women's 6K race at 11:15 a.m. (ET) with the men's 10K race to follow at 12:15 p.m. The top two teams from the regional meet will automatically qualify for the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which will take place on home turf at the Zimmer Championship Course on November 17.

Team Scores:
1. Wisconsin - 38 points
2. Purdue - 88 points
3. Indiana - 108 points
4. Michigan - 109 points
5. Michigan State - 111 points

Wisconsin Scores:
1. Morgan McDonald - 23:26.4
2. Oliver Hoare - 23:29.3
4. Ben Eidenschink - 23:43.4
12. Tyson Miehe - 24:03.0
19. Olin Hacker - 24:11.1
20. Derick Peters - 24:14.2
29. Seth Hirsch - 24:26.0
43. Andrew Schilling - 24:45.8
61. Shuaib Aljabaly - 25:05.5