MADISON, Wis. – After winning their 30th regional team title in school history last weekend, the Wisconsin men's cross country team also earned an automatic qualification to compete against the top DI cross country teams in the nation at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The national championships will take place at home at the Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course this Saturday. The meet is scheduled to begin with the women's championship 6K race at 10:45 a.m. (CT) with the men's championship 10K race to follow at 11:45 a.m.

The 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be streamed live on FloTrack. In addition, fans can follow the action on Instagram and Twitter (@BadgerTrackXC) and catch a recap following the meet on UWBadgers.com.
 
1. CHECKING OUT THE FIELD: Wisconsin will face 31 teams and other qualifying individuals at this weekend's championships, including 24 of the top-25 teams featured on the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Coaches' Poll. In addition, all 25 athletes on FloTrack's FloXC Men's Individual Rankings list will compete at Saturday's championships. 

No. 1 Northern Arizona will look to earn their third-straight NCAA Cross Country Championship title this Saturday. NAU also boasts four ranked athletes on their powerhouse team. Other teams to watch out for include No. 2 BYU and No. 4 Portland. BYU is coming off of a runner-up finish at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships and finished third overall at last year's championships. Portland was the runner-up at last year's cross country championships with 127 points and is also coming off of an impressive performance at the NCAA West Regional, where they swept both the men's individual and team titles.
 
2. GREAT LAKES CHAMPS: Led by the 5-6-7 finishes from Olin Hacker, Olli Hoare and Morgan McDonald, the Badgers won their 30th NCAA Great Lakes Regional title last weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana. The next two athletes to round out the scoring for Wisconsin were Ben Eidenschink and Shuaib Aljabaly, who finished 15th and 16th, respectively. All five of Wisconsin's scorers earned NCAA Great Lakes All-Regional honors, which are awarded to the top-25 finishers at the regional competition. 

The Wisconsin men's cross country team also won the 2018 Big Ten Cross Country Championships team title, marking the second time in the last three years that Wisconsin has won both the conference and the regional team titles.
 
3. UW RETURNS TO NCAAS: This year marks the 44th time in the last 47 years that the Wisconsin men's cross country team has competed at the national championships. The last time that Wisconsin won the NCAA Cross Country Championships team title was in 2011 when all of UW's scorers finished within the top-35, including a fifth-place finish by Mohammed Ahmed, to record 97 points to take the win over runner-up Oklahoma State (139 points) and third-place Colorado (144 points). 

4. STRAIGHT FROM COACH BYRNE: "It's been a long four months, but here we are and we are excited to be competing at the NCAA Cross Country Championships at home," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne. "Our student-athletes are beyond excited to compete this weekend. On the men's side, we're certainly coming off of two really good meets, winning the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, and we feel that we're in a good spot going into the national meet." 

5. LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY: The Badgers will hope to impress this weekend at the last championships of the season and earn their sixth NCAA Cross Country Championships team title. The Wisconsin men's cross country team will also hope to make history and become the first men's program to win an NCAA Cross Country Championships team title on their home course since Michigan State accomplished the feat in 1959.