TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The 14th-ranked men's cross country team traveled to Cross Country Town, USA, formally known as Terre Haute, Indiana, to compete in the NCAA Championships on Saturday morning. The men walked up to the starting line with the weather hitting a brisk 35 degrees and a heavy rainfall surrounding them.
Senior and 1500-meter specialist Oliver Hoare led the way for the Badgers placing 18th overall, covering the muddy and slippery course with a time of 31 minutes, 8.2 seconds. Through the 5K mark Hoare was heading towards the front of the pack, sitting in 12th place, but as 8K quickly approached the senior was not able to put any more gas in the tank. The Sydney, Australia, native still earned the honor of being an All-American for his phenomenal top-25 finish. The next to come in for the Badgers was senior
Olin Hacker at 93rd place with a time of 31:56.4. The No. 2 runner for the Badgers was unable to compete in the Great Lakes Regional race due to a calf injury, but returned to wrap up his cross country career at the national meet.
The No. 3 runner to cross the finish line for the Badgers was sophomore
Shuaib Aljabaly. Aljabaly had an amazing 14th-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional to aid in the Badgers advancement to the national championships. The sophomore was able to secure a 135th-place finish with a time of 32:15.1. The No.4 runner to cross the finish line for the Badgers was senior
Benjamin Eidenschink coming in at 149th-place with a time of 32:19.2.
Also running for the Badgers was senior
Seth Hirsch (167th) with a time of 32:31.8, freshman
Jackson Sharp (203rd) with a time of 33:03.0, and
Zack Snider (229th) with a time of 33:49.0.
The men placed 18th as a team with a score of 462 points. The BYU Cougars took home the national title with three runners placing in the top 25. The team finished with a score of 109 points, creating a 54-point deficit over defending national champion Northern Arizona.
Straight from the course
"First off, Olli's performance was outstanding. His range is incredible, he got a lot of press about that. You're not going to find many guys that can run 1500 meters or a mile like him and also run the 10K on the cross country course. A guy like him, tall and lean wiih a long stride, and those conditions out there today were probably not in his favor. Olli grinded the whole 10K out for his team and I'm thrilled with his performance. A lot of great athletes out there and Olli gave it his all.
"In terms of the team, I'm certainly disappointed. We talked about running like we were Big Ten champions and we didn't do that. You can sit down now and talk about what went wrong, but I think it is best to digest it first for a couple of days and then re-evaluate things.That is not the same team that showed up three weeks ago in Columbus, Ohio, (at the Big Ten meet) and that is definitely disappointing. You know, it is the national championships and we didn't run like we were Big Ten champions."
-Head Coach
Mick Byrne
| Team Scores: |
| 1. |
BYU |
109 |
| 2. |
NAU |
163 |
| 3. |
Colorado |
164 |
| 4. |
Iowa State |
211 |
| 5. |
Tulsa |
243 |
| 6. |
Stanford |
248 |
| 7. |
Michigan |
250 |
| 8. |
Notre Dame |
269 |
| 9. |
Oregon |
307 |
| 10. |
Portland |
314 |
| 11. |
Purdue |
338 |
| 12. |
Iona |
348 |
| 13. |
Indiana |
367 |
| 14. |
Furman |
379 |
| 15. |
Harvard |
384 |
| 16. |
Utah State |
428 |
| 17. |
Virginia Tech |
451 |
| 18. |
Wisconsin |
462 |
| 19. |
Washington |
466 |
| 20. |
Virginia |
468 |
| 21. |
Boise State |
525 |
| 22. |
Ole Miss |
535 |
| 23. |
Villanova |
556 |
| 24. |
Alabama |
582 |
| 25. |
Texas |
588 |
| 26. |
NC State |
605 |
| 27. |
Syracuse |
610 |
| 28. |
Georgetown |
676 |
| 29. |
Florida State |
694 |
| 30. |
Arkansas |
728 |
| 31. |
Mid. Tenn. State |
865 |
