You would be hard-pressed to find someone who speaks the language of collegiate track, field and cross country with more eloquence than Mike Jay.

Name a high-profile event – U.S. Olympic Trials, U.S. national meets, NCAA championships, Drake Relays – and he’s been the public address announcer for it.

So, it was no surprise to find Jay hunkered down in a spartan trailer near the finish line of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet held Nov. 10 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Verona.

It was an hour before the women’s 6K race would begin. After that, the assembled men’s teams would attack their 10k layout. The top two finishers would qualify for the NCAA meet scheduled for Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

From his modest perch, Jay kept his audience up to date on the ebb and flow of the races. One of the many things he loves about the Zimmer facility, located adjacent to University Ridge Golf Course, is that he can see large chunks of the layout without stress.

More importantly, he said, fans stationed on the grassy berm that lines the final straightaway to the finish line, can see roughly 80 percent of the layout without having to move.

That was helpful to the estimated crowd of 1,300, many of whom came to cheer for the host Badgers. They saw senior Bob Liking win the men’s race and the UW men’s and women’s team finish second overall, earning them a crack at a national championship.

“I think it’s important that courses are fan-friendly,” Jay said, “so people that come to see somebody can actually see them as opposed to leaving, saying, ‘I came to see Johnny run and I saw him once.’”

The spectator experience is one of the reasons Jay believes the Zimmer course is the best layout for cross country in the U.S.

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” he said. “No doubt in my mind.”

Jay has been coming to cross country events in the Madison area for the last 15 years. He’s a fixture at the Nuttycombe, considered the most talent-rich cross country event outside of the NCAAs. He was here in 2018 when Wisconsin was the host school for the NCAA meet.

“There could be people that might argue this course or that course is equal,” Jay said, “but I don’t know that there’s any better than this one.”

Another chance to prove it will come a little more than a year from now when the NCAA meet will be staged on the Zimmer course on Nov. 23, 2024.

Outside of the 2018 national championships – the highlight was UW senior Morgan McDonald winning the men’s individual title – the only other time Wisconsin hosted the NCAA meet was in 1978 at Yahara Hills Golf Course in Madison.

The energy around the Zimmer layout for the regional meet last week matched that of the prestigious Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational presented by Under Armour, which was held Oct. 13 despite rainy conditions, and the Big Ten Conference meet, which was staged Oct. 27.

Joe Piane, who coached track and cross country at Notre Dame for 39 years, and Jay Arthur, whose resume includes working for athletic operations at Indiana, were on hand for the Great Lakes regional. They have seen all sorts of races, crowds and facilities.

“There are certain schools, with the way that they carry themselves – not just with cross country and track, but everything – that it’s going to be the most important (event) to them at that time,” Arthur said.

UW is one of those schools and Madison is one of those communities where running is embraced.

“All the high-level courses are unique, but I’ve always thought that when you come to Wisconsin you have a very cross country-educated fan base,” Arthur said. “They’re used to winning here. They know what good cross country is. They’re very appreciative of anybody that’s at that level.”

The latest addition is a display of plaques celebrating the team and individual cross country crowns won by the Badgers in Big Ten and NCAA meets going back decades. Wisconsin men have won five national titles (1982, ’85, ’88, 2005, ’11) and the women two (1984, ’85). Four UW men – Walter Mehl in 1939, Tim Hacker in 1985, Simon Bairu (2004, ’05) – and three women – Cathy Branta (1984), Kathy Butler (1995) and Eric Palmer (1999) – have claimed individual titles.

Piane, whose first competitive experience in Madison was in 1974, said the woodsy course benefits greatly from the care it gets from the University Ridge landscapers, but having a hands-on caretaker like Zimmer is huge.

“I don’t know if everyone appreciates what Tom did and has done and will do,” Piane said.

“The course is always groomed to perfection,” Jay said. “It’s a challenging, but fair course. I think they’ve done an amazing job laying it out.”

Jay ran track and cross country while growing up in Iowa and still provides his services to high schools in the state. He enjoys his assignments in Madison and is no doubt looking forward to the NCAA meet here in November of 2024.

“The administration does a great job of putting it on,” Jay said. “Every ‘T’ is crossed and ‘I’ is dotted. Never any surprises. That’s important.

“As part of the legacy of the meets here, the coaches and athletes know that when they come here it’s going to be a well-run competition.

“Just the time and effort the organization puts in to make the cross country meets here the best in the nation, it’s a big deal,” he said.