BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — They are countrymen and teammates.
They are roommates and confidants.
They are buddies and mutual admirers.
So, yes, Morgan McDonald and Olli Hoare, the world-class pacesetters for the Wisconsin men's cross country team, have a lot in common.
They are at the top of the list of reasons why the third-ranked Badgers have a shot at winning the sixth national championship in program history when the NCAA meet is staged Saturday at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course.
They are contenders for the individual title, two of the primary forces behind the idea that, 33 years after Wisconsin won the NCAA crown on state soil, it could happen again.
They would like nothing better than to spearhead a championship performance that conjures fond memories of 1985 when the Badgers swept the men's and women's races at Dretzka Park in Milwaukee.
Fueling the effort is something else McDonald and Hoare admittedly have in common.
A personal rivalry.
Both say it's real.
"It's good to train with somebody who keeps you honest," McDonald said. "When you race against them there's a certain sense of pride on the line to not get beat. When you race against someone like that it's definitely fun."
Both say it's framed by friendship.
"We definitely feed off it and it's all good energy," Hoare said. "It's always exciting to race him. But at the end of the day, especially this year, we're so excited about the team and we're so excited about doing the best we can for the team."
Mick Byrne, the Wisconsin director of track and field and cross country, said the rivalry between McDonald and Hoare is healthy.
Byrne recounted a moment during the Big Ten Conference meet last month when Hoare, the defending champion, abruptly hit the accelerator at the 7,000-meter mark.
"He put a big hurt on Morgan," Byrne said. "He wanted to win. It was awesome to see."
McDonald, the Big Ten individual winner in 2016, answered to claim his second league cross country crown.
Going into the NCAA meet, McDonald, the school record-holder in the mile, is ranked second among individuals, while Hoare, the reigning NCAA outdoor champion in the 1,500, is No. 12.
"Do they respect each other? Absolutely," Byrne said of his top two runners. "But are they rivals? Yeah. They both want to win."
McDonald and Hoare are more than a decade into a relationship that began when the two were growing up a year apart in Sydney, Australia.
Hoare, a year younger than McDonald, said he was 10 when he joined a distance running program affiliated with New South Wales that included McDonald.
"He was definitely someone I looked up to because he was so talented and a bit of a legend," Hoare said of McDonald.
Hoare said the two eventually worked with the same coach and competed against one another at the high school level.
"We have a lot of common in terms of running and where we're from," McDonald said.
"I've kind of been following him and been taking in how successful he's been," Hoare said of McDonald. "He was a big aspect of me finding out about Wisconsin."
McDonald owns the school standard in the mile at 3 minutes, 55.79 seconds, but his strength is the 5,000 where he qualified for the World Championships last year.
What makes McDonald so formidable?
"There are three aspects you put into a race: Your head, your heart and your guts," Hoare explained. "You can be too gutsy; too much testosterone. You can be too passionate; get overwhelmed with emotion. You can think too much or think too little.
"Morgan, as an athlete, races so well. He's got great instincts, great tactical soundness. He definitely has all those attributes because he competes well and always competes to his strengths.
"When he's locked in, it's very, very hard to outsmart and outkick him."
Hoare also has run a sub-4-minute mile in addition to winning Big Ten titles in the 3,000 and 5,000. His career highlight was a brilliant finishing kick that earned him the NCAA outdoor championship in the 1,500.
What makes Hoare so formidable?
"I don't think he's missed a day of training," McDonald said. "Probably his biggest strength is his durability, his ability to be out there every day hammering and come back the next day and be fresh and ready to go again. You always know he's going to be there putting in a good effort."
Byrne said McDonald has a more serious demeanor compared to Hoare, who likes to joke around and is typically the first to turn on the tunes in the locker room or the team bus.
McDonald and Hoare are on the same competitive page, though. They both revel in the pressure of racing on their home course with a national championship on the line. They are vying to become the first Wisconsin runner to win the individual title since Simon Bairu claimed back-to-back crowns in 2004 and '05.
"There's all these people invested in what we're doing," McDonald said. "I see it more as an opportunity to give back and hopefully create a great experience for everyone.
"At the end of the day it's just running. I'm just so thankful that I've been given the opportunities to have these people around me and that they do care.
"So if we do get an opportunity like this to show that it's all been worth it and to make them happy, that's definitely going to inspire us to go out and compete to the best of our abilities."
Hoare said the legacy of Wisconsin men's cross country — five national championships and 10 runner-up finishes going back to 1939 — is what motivates him and his teammates.
"We want to leave our mark and this year especially, being at home, it's such a privilege and responsibility for us to be able to step up and show what we can do," he said. "We're excited about it.
"It is a bit of pressure, but we want that pressure, that sort of energy because I think we're all in a great place. That pressure is just going to add another layer of good nerves, good excitement."
The rivalry between McDonald and Hoare should help fuel the Badgers in their quest to outduel top-ranked and defending two-time national champion Northern Arizona, in addition to Brigham Young, Portland, Stanford and Colorado.
"It's a good thing as long as they can control their energy and focus on everybody else in the race and not just themselves," Byrne said.
McDonald laughed when asked if he and Hoare were rivals.
"Definitely," he said. "If he beats me, I'll hear about it the next day. I'm always on my A game. If I slip up, he's going to come in and take me down."
Hoare grinned at the notion of battling his countryman, friend, roommate and teammate with a national championship in the balance.
"We've had that good connection and it's been fun racing against him," he said. "It's exciting to see where this season will go."
