The Wisconsin men's cross country team has officially dominated the Big Ten for a decade.
The No. 6 Badgers edged out No. 9 Michigan by 17 points on the Wolverines' home course in Ann Arbor for their tenth straight Big Ten title Sunday. Michigan scored 57 points while Wisconsin put up 40 points with three runners in the top ten. First year head coach Mick Byrne showed he can continue UW's elite distance-running tradition after succeeding Jerry Schumacher, whose teams won the Big Ten title every year beside his first season in 1998.
Sophomore Landon Peacock was the Big Ten runner-up, finishing nine seconds behind Minnesota sophomore Hassan Mead, who won the individual crown. Peacock, who took ninth last year, finished the hilly 8,000-meter course in 24 minutes, 35 seconds, averaging 4:57 per mile.
Peacock really helped with breaking the race open"" head coach Mick Byrne said. ""We gave Landon the green light to break it open at the end of the race. It was remarkable to see him take the bull by the horns and step up in such an important race.""
Byrne touted the return of seniors Stu Eagon and Matt Withrow at a press conference last Monday, but the duo of former NCAA All-Americans underperformed. Withrow and Eagon made their season debuts after struggling with injuries early on in the season.
Eagon, who earned fifth place last year, took 13th in 25:00. Withrow, last year's Big Ten individual champion, ran 25:10 to be UW's seventh man in 23rd place.
""Eagon was hesitant in his running style, but it was still good to see him battle hard,"" Byrne said. ""Hopefully [Eagon and Withrow] burnt off the rust so that they can be a threat in the next few weeks.""
Senior Christian Wagner took fourth overall 24:46 behind Minnesota senior Chris Rombough. Sophomore Jack Bolas also broke into the top 10, running 24:50 for a seventh place finish.
Right behind Eagon was junior Craig Miller, UW's fifth man who covered the course in 25:01. Junior Ryan Gasper ran 25:06 for 19th place.
Women
The Wisconsin women's cross country team upset three of the NCAA's top ten squads to finish second as a team behind Minnesota.
The Badgers were ranked No. 16 in the nation going into Sunday's race, but defeated No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 10 Illinois. Wisconsin was just four points shy of winning the Big Ten title with 67 points to Illinois' 63, but head coach Jim Stintzi had the best performance of his five years coaching at UW.
""When the scores were announced we were a little down but we were still proud of the fact that we raced well,"" Stintzi said. ""Because there are so many top-ranked teams in our field, it was really an exciting and electrifying race that was a tight battle the whole way.""
After emerging as Wisconsin's top runner with a seventh-pace finish at the elite Pre-Nationals meet, senior Gwen Jorgensen was the Big Ten runner-up in just her second season running cross country. Jorgensen completed the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 27 seconds, averaging 5:29 a mile and finishing a good distance behind Michigan State senior Nicole Bush, the individual champion who ran 20:15.
Junior Hanna Grinaker, UW's former top runner who finished fifth overall last year, was the second Badger finisher in 21:14, which was good for 11th place.
Two freshmen scored for Wisconsin Sunday. Caitlin Comfort was right behind Grinaker in 12th place, running 21:18 while, Ashley Beutler crossed the line in 21:24 for 15th place.
Sophomore Leah Coyle was UW's final scorer, running 21:42 for 27th place. Senior Sarah Hurley took 52nd in 22:21 and sophomore Alexa Renstrom was UW's seventh finisher, placing 54th in 22:30.
""The girls ran smart races from top to bottom,"" Stintzi said. ""They knew where they had to be and they competed really well.""
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
