The Wisconsin men's cross country team goes into the Big Ten Championships this weekend with an impressive resume: nine straight Big Ten titles. This Sunday in Ann Arbor, the team will look to make it an even ten titles behind top senior runners Stu Eagon and Matt Withrow.
The pair will make their first appearances of the season at the event and hope to reciprocate, if not improve upon, their finishes from last year. Withrow won the event in under 24 minutes, while Eagon finished fifth overall.
First year head coach Mick Byrne has high hopes for the team, and believes in the leadership of both Eagon and Withrow.
They're 100 percent ready,"" Byrne said. ""They're seniors. They certainly do not want to hand off this title to Michigan. And both Matt Withrow and Stuart Eagon want to win the 10th-straight title.""
Withrow and Eagon certainly know what it takes to win a Big Ten championship. After their strong finishes in helping the team win the title last year, both were named to the All Big Ten cross country team. Junior Craig Miller and sophomore Landon Peacock will also join the team. According to Byrne, the buzz about this weekend has certainly grown considerably over the last few days.
""The kids are real excited about it, and I'm picking up on that excitement,"" Byrne said. ""They're talking about it in the locker room. They're talking about it out on runs and I'm kind of not used to that, at least, you know, a week to 10 days out from the meet they're really pumped about it.""
The rivalry with Michigan will certainly intensify this weekend, as the Badgers have a No. 1 ranking in the Great Lakes poll, and the Wolverines have home course advantage and a No. 2 ranking in the poll.
""These guys have been through the mill,"" Byrne said. ""They know what it's all about. There's no real big game plan here. It's just get out and try to run Michigan into the ground.""
Women's
The No. 6 Wisconsin women's team has also had success this season and plans to stay competitive in the Big Ten Championships this weekend. The team certainly comes in with some momentum after finishing sixth of 41 in the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Oct. 18. The team is led by senior Gwen Jorgensen, who set a personal career best during the Invitational and finished seventh of 250 runners.
""I think she's starting to believe in herself as sort of an elite runner,"" head coach Jim Stintzi said of Jorgensen. ""So I think that she'll be in the mix in the Big Ten Championships. I don't know that she's a guarantee to be first or second, but I think she'll be in the hunt for that championship.""
The team is also complemented by a group of younger runners that have helped create a positive balance on the team. Jorgensen believes in them, and sees the combination of veteran and younger runners as the key to success this weekend.
""I'm really excited for this weekend because I think our team is really coming together,"" Jorgensen said. We have such a great mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen and I just think it's going to be really exciting especially because the Big Ten is so competitive. It's totally up in the air with who can win it, and we are definitely in the mix.""
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
