MADISON, Wis. - The ninth-ranked Wisconsin men's coss country team hosted the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday at the Zimmer Championship Course. The top-two teams automatically advanced to compete in the NCAA Championship race in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Senior
Olli Hoare led the way for the Badgers placing third overall with a time of 30 minutes, 14.2 seconds in the 10K race.
Olin Hacker, usually the second runner to cross the finish line for the Badgers, did not compete due to a calf injury. Coach Byrne confirms, "He's had a little calf issue and we just figured it's not worth taking a chance. Going into today, they were predicting five teams coming out of the region so we feel that we have enough points in this crazy system of ours. In case everything goes our way and we're in next week, we wanted to save him."
Sophomore
Shuaib Aljabaly came in second for the Badgers and 14th overall with a time of 30:42.9.
Seth Hirsch was also able to secure a top-25 finish placing 20th overall and third for the Badgers with a time of 30:47.8. Hoare, Aljabaly, and Hirsch earned All-Region honors with their top-25 finishes.
Also running for the Badgers were
Benjamin Eidenschink (26th in 30:56.6),
Jackson Sharp (33rd in 31:06.4),
Zack Snider (43rd in 31:29.7), and
Jack Meijer (74th in 32:13.1).
With three Badgers placing within the top-25, UW was able to secure a fifth-place finish with a score of 96 points. Purdue won the regional with 79 points while Notre Dame finished second with 85 points.
Wisconsin will find out on Saturday if it has qualified for the NCAA Championship. Thirteen at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee. Selections will be announced by 4 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Straight from the course
"We were fifth in a competitive field. Not exactly what we wanted, but I think we're safe. We have to wait now for a couple of hours to see what happens when all of the results are in. I think we have enough points. Made the decision this morning to go without
Olin Hacker who had a great run at the Big Ten and certainly that effected our team score. We just have to keep our fingers crossed. Some guys ran great out there, some were sloppy. We didn't commit early in the race and that kind of hurt us later on."
-Head Coach
Mick Byrne
"
Seth Hirsch and
Shuaib Aljabaly did very well, they stayed together and made sure that they came together as a good 2-3. Our goal was to make sure we were in that top-five to qualify and that's what you have to do. No one is going to remember this meet next week. The boys did a great job, those two in particular."
"I feel good. It's sad because this is my last race on my home course and I wish we could have nationals here, but we got that opportunity last year. I'm looking forward to it. Terre Haute is always an interesting course. I'm just looking forward to the experience. We're hoping to score well as a team and I'm hoping to do well individually and get close to getting up there, hopefully winning maybe."
-Senior
Olli Hoare
| Team Scores: |
| 1. |
Purdue |
79 |
| 2. |
Notre Dame |
85 |
| 3. |
Michigan |
86 |
| 4. |
Indiana |
87 |
| 5. |
Wisconsin |
96 |
| 6. |
Michigan State |
170 |
| 7. |
Butler |
197 |
| 8. |
Akron |
298 |
| 9. |
Ohio State |
326 |
| 10. |
Eastern Michigan |
347 |
| 11. |
Central Michigan |
350 |
| 12. |
Miami (Ohio) |
381 |
| 13. |
Marquette |
395 |
| 14. |
IUPUI |
419 |
| 15. |
Ohio |
450 |
| 16. |
Cincinnati |
478 |
| 17. |
Toledo |
493 |
| 18. |
Milwaukee |
506 |
| 19. |
Oakland |
537 |
| 20. |
Dayton |
559 |
| 21. |
Bowling Green |
560 |
| 22. |
Valparaiso |
577 |
| 23. |
Youngstown State |
589 |
| 24. |
Wright State |
667 |
| 25. |
Detroit Mercy |
693 |
| 26. |
Xavier (Ohio) |
719 |
| 27. |
Purdue Fort Wayne |
785 |
| 28. |
Wisconsin-Green Bay |
902 |
| 29. |
Evansville |
924 |
