Last year, the UW women's cross country team had a successful season, finishing first in the Big Ten and eighth in the NCAA despite having a young team.
One part of the successful season was the performance of senior Erica Palmer, who finished third at the NCAA Championships and earned All-American honors.
This year, however, Wisconsin will have to do without its star runner. Palmer will be taking a medical redshirt this season due to a knee injury she sustained in June.
'It will be tough this year since Erica Palmer is redshirting,' women's cross country Coach Peter Tegen said.
Brewster, running for the Badgers for her fourth and final year, won the 2000 Big Ten Indoor Championship in the mile and 3,000 meters. Brewster also earned a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 1999 and earned All-American honors that same year. In 1998, she was All-Region in cross country.
Tegen is confident that Brewster will do well this season.
'Bethany was All-American last season,' Tegen said. 'She is very competitive and has a lot of courage.'
However, it will take a lot for Brewster to fill in for Palmer.
Palmer was named UW Female Athlete of the year for 1999-2000 and was the 1999 NCAA cross country champion. Last year, she was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Year.
Due to Palmer's absence, Brewster needs help from the youngsters to help the team.
The Badgers have plenty of experienced young runners to help Brewster out. Sophomores Hilary Edmondson and Michelle Lilienthal, who were the team's fourth and fifth finishers last season, could be key runners this year.
Brewster is pleased with the efforts of last year's freshmen and is hopeful they can do the same this season.
'Everyone is going to have to step up this year, since Erica is not going to be here,' Brewster said. 'It is exciting to see the freshmen from last year already stepping up.'
Part of the reason younger runners have been doing so well is because of the talented seniors like Palmer, Brewster and Brianna Stott-Messick they have to look up to.
'Those who were freshmen last year come in with an advantage because they have had a good year of training,' Tegen said.
UW's season will be challenging without its No. 1 runner, but the team is still optimistic.
'We hope to have another top-10 finish again this year,' Tegen said.
