Catching up with the Champs: Tim Hacker

In the lead up to the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the University of Wisconsin will feature a Q&A with its past NCAA individual champions. Next in our series is Tim Hacker, who won the individual national title in 1985 and led the Badgers to the team title in Milwaukee. Since then, he has settled in Madison with his family, which features a pair of current Badgers in Olin and Vivian. Tim Hacker shares what its like watching his kids run for Wisconsin, his advice to this year's team and what being a Badger meant to him.

What is it like watching your kids run for the Badgers?
It is better than I would have ever imaged. Not only do I get to revel in their successes with a full understanding of the underlying work needed to get there, but it brings back such wonderful memories of my own running days. As a highly interested, but outside observer, it also gives me a greater appreciation for all those people who helped me along the way.

How special was it to win the 1985 NCAA title in Milwaukee?
One wants to shine on the big stage and the lights are brighter when the meet is your home course, so the nerves are higher, but the success is so much sweeter. Watching my teammates coming to finish, it was immediately clear to me, that everyone of them gave it everything they had and no matter the result, we all would revel in feeling of spent exhaustion and the knowledge we gave it our all. To have the both the men's and women's teams win cemented a smile on my face for weeks, heck, it is still there.

What did it mean to run for Wisconsin?
I love to look at the cross country media guide and see how the 49th Big Ten title fits in the dominate Badger Cross Country history. There is a basically a paragraph to just list the years of Badger wins, where every other team has a line. It means the world to me that I was a small part of that history and it continues with my own kids!

What have you been up to since being a Badger?
I'm still a Badger! I earned my PhD in Exercise Physiology in 1996 from Madison and have been working in Cardiovascular Research on campus since 2000. My lab is researching methods to treat heart disease with stem cells and other therapies.

What did being a Badger mean to you and how has it shaped who you are today?
Being a Badger meant that I needed to be a little tougher than the rest and the proof needed to show up on race day. Bring on the weather, rough conditions, hard course, Badgers will shake it off and fight a little harder. It has prepared me to be the same in my working life and as a father/husband. I'll work a little harder, I'll prepare a little more, do the extras to be ready for what life tosses at me, so I can be the best me possible.

What makes Madison such a great place to host NCAAs?
Incredible course, the finest in the country, beautiful city/campus, outstanding restaurants, rabid fans, cheese and you'll meet Wisconsin nice people, shoot if you ask nicely, I'll buy you a beer.

What advice do you have for this year's teams?
Don't take too long!

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Catching up with the Champs: Tim Hacker

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