The University of Wisconsin is known for having one of the best athletic departments in the nation, and the men's cross country team only added to that prestige as they received the No. 1 ranking in the first U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll released yesterday.
Last year's champion, Colorado, received a second-place rank, and also received four first place votes. Iona College, Oregon and Arkansas finish out the top five spots.
This season Wisconsin bolsters a roster that has five of their seven top runners from a year ago, with head coach Jerry Schumacher only having to replace graduates Tim Nelson and Chris Solinsky.
However, both Nelson and Solinsky were All-Americans, which will leave some huge shoes for the Badgers to fill.
The Badgers will need some of their younger runners to step up if they want to avoid the second place finish they had a year ago. That list includes junior All-Americans Stu Eagon, Matt Withrow and fellow junior Christian Wagner, along with sophomores Craig Miller and Brandon Bethke.
Wisconsin has won a record-tying eight consecutive Big Ten Conference championships and is the only Big Ten team ranked in the Top 15. Minnesota is ranked 18th, closely followed by Michigan State at 21st and Michigan at 26th.
Wisconsin begins its season this weekend as they head to the Carroll College Pioneer Invitational at Minooka Park in Waukesha, Wis.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this article
