The Wisconsin men's cross country team dominated the competition Saturday with a perfect score at the Pioneer Invite hosted by Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis.
The No. 1 ranked Badgers captured the top nine spots in their season opener and earned their second consecutive victory at the invite. The team stuck together and ran it more like a workout than an all-out race. UW defeated Ripon College, Illinois Tech and Carroll College.
Sophomore Andrew Lacy, a McFarland, Wis. native, won his first collegiate race, completing the 8,000 meter course in 25 minutes, 56.8 seconds. Lacy led the six-man Badger pack that crossed the line within two seconds of each other.
Redshirt freshman Landon Peacock took second, finishing three-tenths of a second behind Lacy at 25:57.1. Sophomore Ryan Gasper, and redshirt freshmen Ryan Craven and Jack Bolas finished 3-4-5 to complete Wisconsin's perfect 15 by running 25:57.4, 25:57.6 and 25:57.9, respectively. Junior Christian Wagner was only a step behind the scorers and ran 25:58.2.
Also competing for the Badgers were redshirt freshmen David Pede and Noah Shannon, sophomore Tim Pierie and senior Ben Porter who placed seventh, eight, ninth and 12th in 26:07, 26:14, 26:27 and 27:00, respectively.
The Badgers will put their No. 1 ranking on the line Sept. 29 when they face seven other nationally-ranked teams including No. 4 Oregon and No. 7 UTEP at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Ore.
Women perfect in opener
The No. 5 Wisconsin women's cross country team thrashed the eight-team field and matched the men's team Saturday by scoring a perfect 15 points at the Pioneer Invite in Waukesha, Wis.
The Badgers took home their second victory of the season and won the invite for the third straight year.
The competition resembled a time trial more than a competitive meet, as UW boasted the top eight finishers as well as 15 of the top-16. The closest team, Carroll College, finished 51 points behind the Badgers.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this article.
