Five things to know: NCAA Great Lakes Regional

2018 NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Friday, Nov. 9 | 10:15 a.m. — Terre Haute, Ind.

MADISON, Wis. – Coming off of a strong showing at the 2018 Big Ten Cross Country Championships where the Badgers earned their 49^th team title, the No. 3 ranked Wisconsin men's cross country team will travel to Terre Haute, Indiana this weekend with the hopes of delivering another stellar performance at the regional meet. The meet will take place at the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course and is slated to begin with the women's championship 6K race at 10:15 a.m. CT with the men's championship 10K race to follow at 11:15 a.m.

The 2018 NCAA Great Lakes Regional will be streamed live on FloTrack. Fans can also follow along on Instagram and Twitter (@BadgerTrackXC) and catch a recap following the meet on UWBadgers.com.

1. BIG TEN CHAMPIONS: For the 17th time in the last 20 years, the Wisconsin men's cross country team captured the Big Ten conference title in Lincoln, Nebraska, last weekend. The Badgers placed all of its scorers within the top-19 finishers, recording just 38 points to easily take the team title over Purdue, who finished second with 88 points, and Indiana, who finished third with 108 points.

Last weekend's victory also marked the eighth Big Ten cross country title won under the direction of Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne. Byrne earned Big Ten Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year honors after leading the Badgers to their second Big Ten team title in the past three years.

2. ONE-TWO PUNCH: Morgan McDonald clinched his second Big Ten cross country title of his career after outkicking teammate Olli Hoare up the final stretch to the finish line. The 2016 Big Ten champion, McDonald finished the 8K race in 23 minutes, 26.4 seconds to take the crown for the second time. Hoare, the 2017 champion, finished just behind McDonald in 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.

3. LAST YEAR AT THE REGIONAL: Thanks to having three Badgers finish within the top-15 of the field, Wisconsin finished third overall at the 2017 NCAA Great Lakes Regional with 84 points. The Badgers finished behind Michigan State, who won the meet with 68 points, and runner-up Michigan, who scored 79 points. Olli Hoare was first to score for UW, placing third overall with a 10K time of 30:00.9 while teammate Joe Hardy finished sixth in 31:02.8. Ben Eidenschink earned his best-ever finish at last year's regional meet, finishing 14th overall in 31:21.6. Hoare, Hardy and Eidenschink all earned NCAA Great Lakes All-Regional honors for their finishes.

Tyson Miehe and Finn Gessner rounded out last year's scoring with top-35 finishes of their own. Miehe crossed the line at 29th overall in 31:47.3 while Gessner was not far behind in 32nd in his first appearance at the regional meet.

4. REGIONAL RANKINGS: No. 3 Wisconsin enters this weekend's meet as the highest-ranked team in the field as named by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Coaches' Poll. Four other schools from the Great Lakes region appear on the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll, including No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 15 Purdue, No. 23 Indiana and No. 27 Michigan.

In addition, the Badgers have also dominated the USTFCCCA regional rankings for the sixth-straight week. Notre Dame is ranked No. 2 in the region while Purdue checks in at No. 3.

5. NEXT IS NCAA'S: The Badgers will look to punch their ticket to the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships this weekend as the top two teams at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional will automatically qualify for the national meet. Featuring the top Division I teams from across the nation, the NCAA Championships will take place on home turf at the Zimmer Championship Course on November 17 and are 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. (CT).

Parking and admission information for the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships can be found here.

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Five things to know: NCAA Great Lakes Regional

2018 NCAA Great Lakes Regional

Players Mentioned

Finn Gessner

Joe Hardy

Morgan McDonald

Tyson Miehe

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