The Wisconsin men and women’s cross country teams tested their legs against top Division I competition at the John McNichols Invite in Terre Haute, Indiana on Sep. 19. This served as a potential preview for what the nationals meet may look like at the same course on Nov. 21.
Ahead of the 6k race, the Badger women began their season unranked, but put together a solid performance and finished 16th in a field of 28 teams.
Freshman Emmerson Drobac (21:29.6) crossed the finish line first for the team in 69th place, followed by junior Mikaela Helling (21:34.6) in 81st and junior Olivia Phillips (21:37.6) in 87th.
Sophomores Sara Mlodik (21:57.4) and Eva Kuehn (22:00.3) rounded out the rest of Wisconsin’s scorers, finishing 102nd and 105th, respectively, out of 233 total runners.
Eastern Kentucky freshman Brighter Jepchumba won the women’s race with an impressive time of 19:14, just under two seconds over Indiana freshman Katy Zang, who posted a time of 19:15.
Northern Arizona took home the team victory, beating second-place Utah by nearly 50 points.
The Badger men entered the meet ranked No. 10, facing a number of top-ranked teams like Brigham Young University and Northern Arizona. After resting most of their top varsity runners at the Badger Classic earlier this month, it was the first time some “A” team runners tested their fitness against steep competition.
Sophomore Manny Putz raced at the Badger Classic, but was rested for the invite, along with expected varsity runners Micah Wilson, who is in his fifth and final year, and senior Matan Ivri.
In the men’s 8k race, Wisconsin was led by senior Johnny Livingstone, who crossed the finish line 11th with an impressive time of 23:59.4.
The rest of the Badger scorers were separated by less than 30 seconds, but with the deep field, they were more spread out. Junior Christian de Vaal (24:25), freshman Grady Lenn (24:26) and juniors Liam Newhart (24:43) and Nick Gilles (24:54.5) finished in 42nd, 45th, 78th and 92nd place, respectively.
Florida sophomore Kelvin Cheruiyot took home the individual men’s title with a strong time of 23:20, edging out Louisville sophomore Elsingi Kipruto, who ran 23:22. Cheruiyot’s win was not enough for the team victory, as Florida came in second behind a dominant BYU side that placed all five of their scorers inside the top 20.
With Putz, Ivri and Wilson likely to return in the coming races as championship competition inches closer, the men’s team should expect to compete at a higher level as the season progresses.
Contrary to the men, the Badger women are still projected to be on the outside looking in at nationals. This meet was the type of race they should anticipate for the rest of the season, giving them the chance to compete against teams they will need to beat later this fall.
Wisconsin will travel to Chicago on Sept. 25 for the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational for one more test before the 2026 Nuttycombe Invitational on their home course in October.
