MADISON, Wis. – Redshirt freshman Nick Gilles earned a top-15 finish in the "B" race at the 2024 Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational Presented by Under Armour to highlight action for the Badgers on Friday at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.

A native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, Gilles crossed the 8K course in 24 minutes, 55.7 seconds. 

True freshman Zach Temple was 32nd in 26:19.4 while junior Oliver Paleen was five spots behind in 26:41.6. 

Straight from the Course
UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne
"I made the decision over a week ago just based on what I saw in practice. We're pretty young and I think we're pretty good. But I wanted to see a few more sessions before we go deep into, you know, a hard race like this. Though we didn't need it right now. It's my decision. I would do it all over again. I understand that. You know, we put on this great show. There are a lot of great teams here, especially the number of teams we had from 11th ranked all the way back to 25. I think there were 13 teams. The opportunity was there for a lot of schools to drop points. And it looks like some school did just that. Some got a lot of points out of it, there were some surprises. But we put on a great meet. Whether we run or not is, that's my decision will be. We'll be back there in three weeks time for Pre-Nationals, that's for sure. It's a part of business and it was always a part of our plan. Like in 2018, we didn't run. But we're preparing right now to run two 10K races in November. That's a decision I've made and I live with it. Some people, some coaches won't be too happy with it. But that's not their business. What we do, that's for our team. We're looking forward to next month. September is almost over. I always say that September is for training."

Up Next: UW will turn its attention to Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational next Friday in Chicago. Racing at the Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course will begin at 10 a.m. CT.

Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational Presented by Under Armour
Friday, Sept. 27, 2024
Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, Madison Wisconsin
8-Kilometer race

"B" Race
12. Nick Gilles - 24:55.7
32. Zach Temple - 26:19.4
37. Oliver Paleen - 26:41.6