Badgers finish sixth at NCAA championships

Saturday, November 19

Stillwater, OK

9 AM

Wisconsin Badgers

NCAA Championships

Photo by: Kevin Sippy

Badgers finish sixth at NCAA championships

November 19, 2022 | Men's Cross Country

Sharp and Liking earn All-America honors to lead UW to its best finish since 2012

By: Londyn Butler

STILLWATER, Okla. — The Wisconsin men's cross country collected its best team finish in a decade, placing sixth at the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championship on Saturday in at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

UW was led by a pair of All-Americans in Jackson Sharp and Bob Liking as the duo collected top-40 finishes at the championship meet. It marked both Sharp and Liking's first All-America honors in cross country and its the first time since 2018 that the Badgers had two All-Americans at the NCAA meet.

Sharp was the first for the Badgers and 16th overall, running a personal best at 29 minutes, 16.8 seconds. Liking was close behind, finishing 34th overall in 29:30.2

Other finishers who all ran personal bests were Badgers Rowen Ellenberg in 45th at 29:40.9, Charlie Wheeler in 54th at 29:49.1, Jack Meijer in 79th at 30:02.3, Evan Bishop in 83rd at 30:05.6, and Adam Spencer finishing up for the Badgers in 188th at 30:54.8.

It wrapped up a successful season for the Badgers as it was UW's best finish at the NCAA championships since finishing runner-up in 2012. It was also the program's 48th top-10 finish at the NCAA meet.

The Badgers finished a successful season with a top- ten finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational, winning their 53rd Big Ten title and winning the NCAA Great Lakes Regional with six all-region honorees. Spencer was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year while Mick Byrne was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. The Badgers also made their NCAA-best 60th NCAA appearance this year.

Straight from the Course
Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Mick Byrne
On the team's finish:
"Going between sixth and ninth in ranking this season, at the end of the day the rankings don't mean much. The last stretch was a challenge but overall great year. We defended our Big Ten Championship, had a good run at then regional meet last week.

"I'm very proud of these guys, they're still young. The future looks good, just got to get a little stronger but on we go. Take some time to rest and then we're back on it."

Jackson Sharp
"Everyone ran well, we got sixth. It's nothing bad, its pretty good especially coming after that last few nationals we had, it's definitely good to turn things around. Good season everything went well."

Team Scores
1. Northern Arizona	83
2. Oklahoma State	83
3. BYU	132
4. Stanford	195
5. Wake Forest	204
6. Wisconsin	212
7. Air Force	264
8. Colorado	281
9. Tulsa	304
10. North Carolina	323
11. NC State	334
12. Syracuse	340
13. Gonzaga	400
14. Washington	422
15. Notre Dame	450
16. Oregon	465
17. Harvard	474
18. Texas	506
19. Villanova	513
20. Tennessee	517
21. Butler	553
22. Virginia	557
23. Arkansas	584
24. Ole Miss	598
25. Montana State	599
26. Utah State	618
27. Alabama	683
28. Colorado State	704
29. Michigan	708
30. Princeton	712
31. Georgetown	752

Top 10 Finishers
1. Charles Hicks, Stanford	28:43.6
2. Nico Young, Northern Arizona	28:44.5
3. Drew Bosley, Northern Arizona	28:55.9
4. Dylan Jacobs, Tennessee	28:58.0
5. Alex Maier, Oklahoma State	28:58.2
6. Graham Blanks, Harvard	28:58.4
7. Casey Clinger, BYU	28:58.7
8. Isai Rodriguez, Oklahoma State	28:59.9
9. Parker Wolfe, North Carolina	29:00.4
10. Ky Robinson, Stanford	29:07.4
Wisconsin Finishers
16. Jackson Sharp	29:16.8
34. Bob Liking	29:30.2
45. Rowen Ellenberg	29:40.9
54. Charlie Wheeler	29:49.1
79. Jack Meijer	30:02.3
83. Evan Bishop	30:05.6
188. Adam Spencer	30:54.8