Wisconsin men's cross country coach Mick Byrne generously described his musical tastes with the confession that "I'm all over the place.''
Byrne has downloaded everything from Real Estate to Bon Iver, from The Cure to Coldplay, from Bruce Springsteen to Eric Hutchinson, from Adele to Mumford & Sons.
Byrne is likely to add to his list after hearing "The Big Shady Trees'' (pictured above) perform Monday night during the fourth annual Buckinghams at the Overture Center.
Elliot Krause was on drums, Zach Mellon was on guitar and Will Ottow was the vocalist for a cover version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy.''
What was the genesis for the group's name, The Big Shady Trees?
"We're all tall and slim,'' Krause reasoned.
Krause, Mellon and Ottow all run for Byrne and the Badgers. How crazy is that?
"We do have a lot of musical talent on the team,'' Byrne volunteered. "When we go on trips, the guys will sometimes bring guitars and they're singing all the time. It's hilarious.''
Funny thing is, they know when it's time to get down to work -- on the track and in the classroom.
Last November, the Badgers won a national championship in men's cross country, the fifth in school history and first since 2005.
Monday night at the Buckinghams, the highest cumulative GPA team awards went to men's and women's cross country.
"We sit down before the season and as a team determine what goals we would like to set,'' said Caitlin Comfort, a senior from Peoria. "Highest GPA is one of them, and we take a lot of pride in it.''
Elliot Krause, a senior from Appleton, pointed out that athletes are frequently stereotyped -- stigmas are unfairly but routinely attached -- and this type of academic recognition helps dispel myths.
It definitely starts, too, at the top with Byrne.
"Mick's general philosophy is that the whole college experience isn't just about running,'' said Krause, a two-time Academic All-American. "But he doesn't baby us through the process.
"You have to take the initiative and do things yourself.''
Byrne's approach promotes the development of study habits and discipline, Krause said. "He's developing you as a person so when you leave college you can be successful,'' he added.
In February, Byrne's Badgers were cited as the Scholar Team of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
"When I came here four years ago,'' Byrne said, "one of the challenges that I threw out to the guys was, 'Look, we have to work harder in the classroom.'
"I felt like they weren't putting their best foot forward and I chose to keep on their case about it. We encouraged them and we kicked them in the butt when they needed to be kicked in the butt.
"The end result has been that they've gotten a little bit better every semester.''
The Badgers finished the cross country season with a team grade-point average of 3.08.
"It's not acceptable for them to be below 3.00,'' Byrne said. "That's the least we can ask from them. It's a high standard (academically), but our athletes compete at a high standard.
"If they can do that on the track -- or in cross country -- why can't they do that in the classroom? It certainly starts with me and what my expectations are. But it also comes from the older kids.''
Krause acknowledged the necessity for that kind of accountability and leadership.
"The younger guys, especially the freshmen are always looking up to the older guys,'' he said, "and when they see them taking care of business, on and off the track, that sets a good example.
"It's like, 'These guys are getting it done in the classroom. That's what is expected of me.'''
Comfort was one of the Performance Award winners Monday night. These student-athletes are nominated by their advisors or learning specialists for their academic work and improvement.
"When you come in as a freshman everything is totally new to you,'' Comfort said. "So it's really about getting your feet on the ground and realizing what you're here for.
"Ultimately, you're here to get a degree and obviously athletics comes after that. But it's also about making sacrifices; staying in on the weekends to get homework done.
"It's about coming back to your dorm or your apartment right after practice is over and working on homework. It's about waking up an hour or two early to study some more before a test.
"It's about time management and balancing (academics and athletics).''
But you have to know what your priorities are, she emphasized.
"You'll hear everyone say, 'It's all about balancing your time' and there's a reason everyone says it, and that's because it really is the most important thing,'' Krause said.
"But you also have to give yourself a little bit of time to breath and relax every once in awhile. Mick has this thing about overcooked turkey and how it doesn't taste very good.''
That would be a Byrne metaphor on life whereby he's suggesting that the student-athlete can fall prey to the stress or pressure of expectations within the classroom and on the playing field or track.
"Eventually you're going to overcook yourself,'' Krause said.
In this context, the Buckinghams are a breath of fresh air since they represent a celebration of academic excellence and achievement through community service and other vehicles.
Moreover, there is a special bonding component to the event -- rallying all sports on campus.
"Last year, I got the invite and Mick told me that I should go to the Buckinghams,'' Krause said, "and I was real reluctant. I thought it was another formal event that would be real dry and boring.''
Once exposed to what the Buckinghams are all about, he was hooked.
"I love it,'' Comfort said. "You rarely find all the athletes in one venue at one time. So it's kind of nice to see everybody together -- all the different athletes from all the different sports.
"You get to mingle and you get to catch up.
"It's nice to see everyone dressed up and not in athletic gear.''
Byrne has become a big proponent of the Buckinghams.
"I love this, I absolutely love it,'' he said. "It's a got a great feel about it to the point where I've encouraged all of our kids to go.
"It's good to see that there's a reward for doing well in the classroom; a reward for getting involved in the community; a reward for getting involved in leadership programs.
"That's all good and there's a trickle down affect to all of our athletes.''
There are some unique twists to the Buckinghams, like the red carpet leading into the theater.
There's also the innocence and freshness of the performers.
Whether it's women's hockey player Katy Josephs playing the piano and singing "Only Hope'' by Mandy Moore ...
Whether it's women's rower Kendall Schmidt performing an original tap dance routine to "Turn up the Music'' by Chris Brown.
Whether it's quarterback Joel Stave playing the piano and singing "Drops of Jupiter'' by Train...
Whether it's women's cross country's Lavinia Jurkiewicz ballroom dancing with her partner to "Rabiosa'' by Shakira ...
Whether it's linebacker A.J. Fenton playing the guitar and softball player Kendall Grimm singing "Firework'' by Katy Perry ...
Whether it's The Big Shady Trees ...
It all works.
"Any opportunity we get as administrators or coaches,'' Byrne said, "to recognize our student-athletes for their achievements is great, and this is a fun way of doing that."
Just two days after proving themselves the class of the Big Ten for the 13th-consecutive season, the Badgers now find themselves atop the list of the nation's top teams, as well.
For the first time since 2007, the Wisconsin men's cross country team is ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll.
UW received seven of the possible 12 first-place votes to vault Oklahoma State for the top position in the latest poll, which was released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Cowboys picked up the remaining five first-place votes and come in at No. 2.
BYU, Colorado and Oklahoma round out the top five.
"Of course it's an honor to be ranked No. 1 in the country, and I'm very happy for our athletes," said fourth-year UW head coach Mick Byrne. "But that does nothing to change the challenges ahead of us."
The move to No. 1 comes on the heels of the Badgers' dominant win Sunday at the 2011 Big Ten Championship, where UW used a team score of 17 points to claim its 13th-straight conference crown. Indiana, which finished runner-up to the Badgers at the Big Ten meet, follows No. 6 Stanford and checks in at No. 7 in the national poll.
Behind the Hoosiers, No. 8 Portland and a tie for No. 9 between Iona and Princeton round out the national top 10.
Byrne is pleased voters took notice of his team's performance at the conference meet, but he says the role of favorite for the upcoming NCAA championship hasn't changed.
"Oklahoma State is the two-time defending champion, returns everyone from last year and is the clear favorite for the NCAA meet," Byrne said. "They have looked fantastic this season and Girma Mecheso hasn't even competed yet. That's a guy that was seventh at the national meet last year.
"They are the team to beat."
Byrne was cautious to put much stock in rankings heading into the heart of championship season.
"Coach (Martin) Smith's teams often fly under the radar, but what Oklahoma did to compete with Oklahoma State at the Big 12 meet has them on my radar," Byrne said. "The same thing goes for Coach (Mark) Wetmore, because Colorado is always a team that shows up and performs on the day. You can count on it.
"Plus, we know that BYU and Stanford both have very talented teams and will be a factor when we get to Terre Haute."
For Wisconsin, the return to No. 1 marks UW's 22nd week as the nation's top-ranked team since 1998. Only Stanford, at 31, has been atop the USTFCCCA rankings more often than the Badgers.
Wisconsin, Stanford, Colorado and Arkansas are the only programs to be ranked in each of the 99 polls released since the start of the 1998 season.
By Mike Lucas on October 28, 2011 1:50 PM
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UW men's cross country coach Mick Byrne was paying Ryan Collins a compliment when he put the Virginia transfer in context with one of his former distance runners, Landon Peacock.
A year ago, Peacock won his first individual Big Ten championship while sparking the Badgers to their 12th-consecutive league crown -- which they will be defending Sunday at the University of Illinois Arboretum in Champaign.
"He's not an artist like Landon,'' Byrne said of Collins. "He's not as far out there as Landon was.''
Byrne later clarified his use of the word "artist.''
"I wasn't referring to him being an artist in the sport,'' he said, "as much as I was referring to him in general terms. Landon was a little eccentric. He was a dreamer. He'd get into his own little world.
"He wouldn't mean to. He was trying to focus on the race and he'd be off drawing some landscape in his mind. Maybe that's why he was such a good athlete. It didn't faze him.''
Meanwhile, Byrne said Collins brings a "certain amount of calmness to the team'' in addition to bringing "this amazing passion for what he does'' which has led to a seamless transition as a teammate.
"Ryan is very much in tune with what's going on,'' Byrne said, "and in a very positive way he also has a great perspective on what we do. He kind of has that sense about him.
"Like, 'This is cross country, this is what we do' but we're playing a football game Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, and what they're doing is a huge deal.
"So let's go watch the game and let's not talk about cross country.''
Byrne endorses that attitude in his athletes.
"From a coach's perspective, they have a great team and school spirit,'' he said. "They're not going to spend Saturday night in a hotel room worrying about what they have to do on Sunday.
"They know what they have to do. They know what Indiana is going to throw at them. They're excited about it. At the same time, for two or three hours Saturday night they're going to be Badgers.''
So they'll be watching Wisconsin-Ohio State from their team hotel, he said.
You can tell Bryne likes this team a lot -- his No. 2-ranked cross country team. Mostly, he likes how his runners compete and take care of their business and "get after it'' every day.
"They do the work, and they're real serious about it,'' he said. "They're real motivated, real determined and real focused on not just this Sunday but what's coming down the pipeline.''
That would be the NCAA championship on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. Byrne said Collins has "kind of meshed'' with that vision and his new teammates and "they're all on the same page.''
The Badgers are returning four scorers from last season's Big Ten meet: Mohammed Ahmed (fourth), Elliot Krause (fifth), Maverick Darling (sixth) and Reed Connor (12th). Collins replaces Peacock.
"I believe we've got five guys who have a really good shot at winning the individual title,'' Byrne said. "They're all leaders. Every one of those guys knows what's at stake here and down the road.
"Over the last two meets the most important thing was that we came out of them not banged up. We came out of these meets able to continue with our training plan.
"It's a process as you head from that early part of the season into the championship part.''
Wisconsin has won each of its last three meetings: the Orange and Blue Preview (Champaign, Ill.), the Bill Dellinger Invitational (Springfield, Ore.) and its own Wisconsin adidas Invitational (Zimmer Championship Course).
While the Badgers were competing in Oregon on Oct. 1, there was mini-reunion with a handful of former UW distance greats like Chris Solinsky, Matt Tegenkamp, Simon Bairu and Evan Jager, who joined Byrne's current athletes to take in the football Badgers' win over Nebraska.
"They came down from Portland where they're training,'' Byrne said. "And it's always a positive when our young guys get to see those guys and be around them.''
By Other Contributors on September 13, 2011 2:39 PM
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BY BRANDON HARRISON UW Athletic Communications
Following its first week of competition in the 2011 season, the Wisconsin men's cross country team continues its rise in the national rankings.
UW moves up to No. 2 in this week's national coaches poll, which was released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Badgers -- who received one first-place vote -- jump Stanford in the newest rankings, moving up one spot from their previous No. 3 ranking.
Last week, the team had its first taste of competition, competing in the Badger Opener. Falling just short of Marquette, UW earned a second-place team finish with a score of 29.
Sophomore Drew Shields led the way, finishing with a time of 18 minutes, 20 seconds and earning the individual win. Freshman Alex Hatz gave the Badgers another top-five finisher, coming in at 18:28.5 for fourth place.
In addition to their new national ranking, Wisconsin remains rated No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, according to the USTFCCCA.
The Badgers prepare this week for their first road trip of the season with the Orange and Blue Preview taking place on Friday. The 6-kilometer race will be held in Champaign, Ill., and is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m.
USTFCCCA Men's Cross Country Rankings - National Coaches Poll
Rank
School (1st-Place Votes)
Points
Region
Last Week
1
Oklahoma State (10)
357
Midwest
1
2
Wisconsin (1)
344
Great Lakes
3
3
Stanford (1)
341
West
2
4
Iona
300
Northeast
5
5
Oregon
298
West
4
6
Oklahoma
296
Midwest
6
7
Indiana
284
Great Lakes
8
8
Colorado
283
Mountain
7
9
Florida State
266
South
8
10
Portland
253
West
10
11
Northern Arizona
224
Mountain
12
12
Princeton
222
Mid-Atlantic
11
13
NC State
217
Southeast
13
14
Syracuse
216
Northeast
14
15
Arkansas
192
South Central
15
16
BYU
191
Mountain
16
17
Providence
158
Northeast
18
18
Villanova
150
Mid-Atlantic
17
19
Louisville
135
Southeast
20
20
Virginia
127
Southeast
19
21
New Mexico
121
Mountain
21
22
Georgetown
92
Mid-Atlantic
22
23
Notre Dame
88
Great Lakes
23
24
Minnesota
85
Midwest
27
25
Texas
72
South Central
24
26
Ohio State
68
Great Lakes
25
27
Florida
48
South
26
28
Eastern Kentucky
41
Southeast
28
29
Dartmouth
29
Northeast
30
30
North Carolina
22
Southeast
RV
Others Receiving Votes: Penn State 20, Arizona State 16, Lamar 6, Washington 5, Michigan 3, Alabama 3, Texas A&M 2, William and Mary 2, Michigan State 1, Columbia 1.
Sunday will mark 10 years since the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Many will have flashbacks, including UW men's cross country coach Mick Byrne, who headed up his own program at Iona College in New York for 19 seasons before joining the Badgers in 2008.
Mick Byrne remembered stopping at a neighborhood deli for his morning coffee and hard roll when he heard the news: a plane had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Byrne immediately returned to his home in City Island, N.Y.; which sits on the western end of Long Island Sound, south of Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and east of Eastchester Bay.
"From my front porch I can see the whole skyline of lower Manhattan, and I saw the smoke,'' Byrne said. "At that stage, I don't think it hit home exactly what was going on.''
So he didn't alter his plans. He drove his oldest son, Aidan, to school and headed for work at Iona College, which is about 40 minutes north of Manhattan in Westchester County.
"By the time I got there the second plane had hit the South Tower,'' Byrne said.
"Then we all knew what was going on.''
Byrne picked up his son and they returned home.
"It was very sobering,'' said Byrne, knowing that many of the workers in lower Manhattan lived in Westchester County. "There were a lot of people from that area in the towers.''
Byrne's wife, Mary Jo -- a physician's assistant in cardiology -- was called into help.
"My next memory was that night on City Island,'' he said, "and everybody getting together in restaurants and bars and kind of watching all the reports on television about what was going on.''
Two firefighters who lived on City Island lost their lives, Byrne added.
"As the days and weeks went on,'' he said, "you'd hear more and more from people who knew somebody that was killed. Everyone knew someone who knew someone ...''
Byrne recognized the name of a former runner who had been out for cross country at Iona for only six to eight weeks before leaving the team. He really didn't know him beyond that point.
But he was one of the 341 New York City firefighters who died.
"I remember my wife waking me up one night because she thought there was a fire in our house,'' Byrne recounted. "I jumped out of bed and ran into the kid's rooms.
"After checking all the rooms upstairs, I ran downstairs and even checked out the furnace. And there was nothing. I ran outside and couldn't see anything on the street.''
Finally it dawned on him.
"It was the smoke from the Twin Towers that had blown in our direction,'' he said. "My recollection was that it was a number of days afterward; it could have been a week or two weeks.
"I'll never forget that feeling.''
Two years ago, the Badgers competed at the Iona Meet of Champions in the Bronx and Byrne took the team to Ground Zero. He's a frequent visitor whenever he's back in New York City.
"If I'm downtown, I always stop there,'' he said. "It's important. We should never forget.''
By Other Contributors on September 6, 2011 3:25 PM
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By Cristin Fitzpatrick UW Athletic Communications
This year's Wisconsin adidas Invitational promises to be one for the record books. The University of Wisconsin men's and women's cross country teams play host to the third-annual Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Friday, Oct. 14.
The meet will feature competition from some of the country's top teams. Both men's and women's groups will see two of the top three ranked teams in the country.
Out of the 40 teams competing, the men's section features 19 teams from U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's national top 30 preseason rankings, including No. 2 Stanford and the host Badgers at No. 3.
The 41-team women's race features 18 of the nation's top 30 teams, including No. 2 New Mexico and No. 3 Providence.
The Badger men took second in last year's competition with a final score of 75 points, led by then-junior Elliot Krause's fourth-place finish. Indiana claimed the team win in the 8-kilometer race with 43 points.
The women pulled out a 15th-place team finish among the 20 teams that competed, including six ranked in the USTFCCCA national poll. Then-junior pacesetter Caitlin Comfort finished strong for the Badgers as the lead finisher among UW runners returning for the 2011 season.
The Zimmer Championship Course looks to some steep competition, with a combined 37 of the country's top men's and women's teams prepared for the gun. That field includes defending men's meet champion Indiana (No. 8) and defending women's champion Syracuse (No. 15). 2011 Wisconsin adidas Invitational Competing Teams Ranked by USTFCCCA - Men 2. Stanford 3. Wisconsin 4. Oregon 8. Indiana 11. Princeton 12. Northern Arizona 13. NC State 14. Syracuse 16. BYU 17. Villanova 18. Providence 21. New Mexico 22. Georgetown 23. Notre Dame 24. Texas 25. Ohio State 26. Florida 27. Minnesota 29. Arizona State
2011 Wisconsin adidas Invitational Competing Teams Ranked by USTFCCCA - Women 2. New Mexico 3. Providence 5. Villanova 7. Stanford 8. Arizona 10. Iowa State 11. Washington 12. North Carolina 15. Syracuse 16. Oregon 18. Boston College 21. NC State 22. Princeton 22. Florida 27. Toledo 28. Iowa 29. Michigan State 30. Minnesota
From left, Maverick Darling, Elliot Krause, Mohammed Ahmed and Reed Connor will anchor the Badgers' efforts in 2011.
Winners of nine-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional championships, the Wisconsin men's cross country team opens the 2011 season as the region's No. 1-ranked team.
The Badgers top the regional rankings, which were released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. UW also finished the 2010 season ranked atop the Great Lakes Region.
In all, UW has taken the crown at 15 of the last 20 runnings of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and seeks its 10th-straight title when the event moves to Toledo, Ohio, on Nov. 12. The following year, the Badgers are scheduled to host the 2012 NCAA Great Lakes Regional at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison.
Big Ten Conference teams hold down six of the top nine spots in the USTFCCCA preseason rankings, with five of the top six squads hailing from the Big Ten. UW leads the way, followed by No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Michigan State. Purdue checks in at No. 9.
The USTFCCCA will release the preseason edition of its national rankings Tuesday. USTFCCCA Men's Cross Country Rankings Great Lakes Region - 2011 Preseason 1. Wisconsin 2. Indiana 3. Ohio State 4. Notre Dame 5. Michigan 6. Michigan State 7. Butler 8. Cincinnati 9. Purdue 10. Indiana State 11. Eastern Michigan 12. Marquette 13. Kent State 14. Xavier 15. Dayton
After a week of voting, Badgers fans have spoken with their pick for the top play of the 2010-11 season. In reality, the contest was probably over before it started.
The play that got the football Badgers' thrilling 31-18 win over No. 1-ranked Ohio State "underway with ... a ... bang" ran away with nearly half the votes.
Runner-up honors -- with 27.2 percent of the fan vote -- went to women's hockey's Kelly Nash, who tallied the game-winner in overtime to secure the WCHA Final Face-off crown over Minnesota.
Josh Gasser's buzzer-beating 3-pointer garnered 9.5 percent of the vote to finish third, and Landon Peacock's last-gasp pass for the Big Ten cross country title was fourth with 5.3 percent. Justin Schultz's overtime game-winner for the Badger men rounded out the top five with 4.3 percent.
Here's a look at the complete poll results: 48.7% David Gilreath - Football - Opening kickoff return for TD vs. Ohio State (Oct. 16) 27.2% Kelly Nash - Women's Hockey- OT game-winner in WCHA Final Face-Off (March 5) 9.5% Josh Gasser - Men's Basketball - Buzzer-beating 3-pointer at Michigan (Feb. 23) 5.3% Landon Peacock - Men's Cross Country - Late pass to win Big Ten title (Oct. 31) 4.3% Justin Schultz - Men's Hockey - OT game-winning goal vs. Canisius (Jan. 8) 3.5% Brad Nortman - Football - Fake punt to keep drive alive vs. Iowa (Oct. 23) 1.4% Lin Zastrow - Women's Basketball - Game-tying tip-in at buzzer vs. Wyoming (Dec. 15)
And, in case you want to see it again, the top play in UW sports for 2010-11:
Each year, Wisconsin Athletics submits its top men's and women's athletes for the prestigious Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year and Suzy Favor Female Athlete of the Year awards, presented annually by the Big Ten Conference.
The Badgers' nominees are considered to be the UW Male Athlete of the Year and UW Female Athlete of the Year award winners.
With UW teams experiencing success across the board during the 2010-11 season, it's as difficult a job as ever to narrow the field to just one deserving student-athlete on both the men's and women's sides of competition.
The winner of UW's awards will be announced Friday, but you can read profiles on each of the nominees who were not selected today. Then, make your own decision and vote in our polls on Facebook to determine the fans' choice for the Badgers' top athletes in 2010-11.
(Yes, it's pretty easy to figure out who will be announced as winners Friday...)
The 29th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, Gabe Carimi started 49 games throughout his Badger career. A 2010 consensus first-team All-American, Carimi became the second Badger to win the Outland Trophy, given annually to the nation's top interior lineman. He is just the eighth Badger to earn unanimous, consensus first-team All-America honors.
Last season Carimi was a key cog in an offense that led the Big Ten and averaged a school-record 41.5 points per game (fifth in the country), including 45.2 points per game in Big Ten play, second-best in conference history. UW also led the Big Ten and ranked 12th in the country in rushing offense, nearly becoming the first FBS team in history to have three running backs go over 1,000 yards in the same season.
At left tackle, Carimi lined up against some of the best defensive linemen in the country, including All-Americans Ryan Kerrigan of Purdue, Cameron Heyward of Ohio State and Adrian Clayborn of Iowa. He was just the third player in Badger history to earn Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year honors.
Earlier this month, Carimi was named Wisconsin's male Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient. He graduated in May with 3.13 grade-point average in civil and environmental engineering and was a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Landon Peacock capped off his senior season for the Badgers in style with a come-from-behind performance that gave him the win in a dramatic men's race at the 2010 Big Ten Cross Country Championship.
The Morley, Mich., native claimed his first individual Big Ten title by a half-second, out-leaning Indiana's Andrew Bayer at the finish line for the win. Peacock clocked in at 23 minutes, 40.8 seconds, while Bayer was second in 23:41.3.
The victory made Peacock UW's 27th individual conference champion and led the way for the Badgers to secure their 12th-consecutive team crown in the first-ever Big Ten championship held at their own Zimmer Championship Course.
Sitting fifth heading into the course's finishing chute, Peacock charged past teammate Mohammed Ahmed and Minnesota's Ben Blankenship and trailed only Bayer with 30 meters to go. He finally hunted the Hoosier down at the line to become UW's first individual titlist since Matt Withrow in 2007.
He went on to earn first-team all-region honors with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional -- as UW won its eighth-straight team title -- and then scored All-America laurels for the second time in his career with a 20th-place showing at the 2010 NCAA Championship.
In track, Peacock was unable to defend his 2010 Big Ten title in the 5,000 meters as an injury sidelined him for the duration of the indoor season. However, he came back outdoors to finish fifth at the Big Ten meet in the 5,000 and then posted a personal-best time of 13:42.90 in the event at the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round.
Despite the outstanding time, which would have won the other preliminary-round heat in Eugene, Ore., as well as both sections of the event at the NCAA East Preliminary Round site, Peacock did not advance to the NCAA championships due to regional qualifying procedures.
Anchoring the blue line for the Badgers in the 2010-11 season, Justin Schultz completed his sophomore campaign as the nation's top-scoring defenseman with 18 goals and 47 points. His 18 goals were the most by a blueliner in the nation since 2002-03 and was just one shy of the UW single-season record for a defenseman.
Schultz had a remarkable sophomore season and did not go more than two games without a point. He scored the opening goal of a game five times and led the Badgers with 14 multi-point games.
The All-American was also named Defenseman of the Year by Inside College Hockey, WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-WCHA, was one of the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and earned a spot on College Hockey News' national first team.
On Nov. 27 against Michigan State, Schultz became the sixth Badger defenseman in program history -- and the first since 1991-92 -- to record a hat trick. He was also the sixth Wisconsin defenseman to lead the team in points.
Schultz was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week after scoring the overtime game-winner in a 6-5 victory over Canisius on Jan. 8, snapping UW's 26-game overtime winless drought. He tallied three assists against Alabama Huntsville on Oct. 17 and had a total of three multi-goal games on the year.
In part to Schultz's efforts, Wisconsin ranked No. 8 nationally in goals-against average at 2.39. The Badgers also had the nation's top-scoring defensive corps, with a combined 120 points from the blue line.
Dorcas Akinniyi continues to haul in hardware every time she heads to a championship meet. The Carrollton, Texas, native added to her collection in 2011 with All-America honors both indoors and outdoors.
Akinniyi has qualified for the NCAA championships in all five seasons -- indoor and outdoor combined -- in which she's been eligible. After this season, she has also collected an All-America award four times.
She posted her best-ever NCAA finish with an outstanding fourth-place showing in the pentathlon at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships, racking up a school-record total of 4,254 points to earn her first All-America laurel of the year.
That performance came on the heels of her second-consecutive conference title in the pentathlon at the 2011 Big Ten Indoor Championships, where she scored 3,929 points.
Moving outdoors, Akinniyi earned a berth directly to the NCAA championships by virtue of her heptathlon score of 5,352 points at the Mt. SAC Relays Multi-Events in April. She also qualified for the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round in the open high jump for the second-straight season.
At the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Akinniyi piled up 5,554 points -- just 30 markers shy of her lifetime-best score -- to finish sixth in the heptathlon and secure the fourth All-America honor of her career. A career-best 3,469 points on the opening day of the two-day, seven-event competition propelled Akinniyi to another top-eight finish.
After taking a year off to compete with the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2010 Winter Games, Hilary Knight returned to Wisconsin for her junior season, leading the nation with 47 goals and helping the Badgers to their fourth NCAA championship.
Third in the nation in points with 81 on the season, the alternate captain now sits in third place on the UW all-time career-scoring list with 202 points.
Knight tallied a career-best 20-game point streak that spanned from Dec. 10 to Feb. 26, tying for the second-longest steak in UW history. In 41 games, she recorded 25 multi-point games, including three five-point efforts and four hat tricks. With her 47 goals, Knight scored more goals than four NCAA Division I teams did all year.
Knight was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week twice, once after tallying five points against RPI on Oct. 2 and lastly on Jan. 5 after having back-to-back four-point games against Northeastern and Mercyhurst at the Easton Holiday Showcase.
Scoring just 47 seconds into the Fill the Bowl contest at the Kohl Center, Knight tallied the first of three goals as the Badgers downed Minnesota, 3-1, in front of 10,668 fans on Jan. 29. Her game-winning goal against Bemidji State on Feb. 4 marked her 100th career tally.
She led UW with two points, including the game-tying goal and an assist on the game-winner, against Minnesota Duluth in an NCAA regional game on March 12. She went on to record three assists at the Frozen Four, including two in a 3-2 win over Boston College on March 18 in the national semifinal game.
On the national stage, Knight represented the United States as a member of the Women's Under-22 Select Team at the 2010 USA Hockey Women's National Festival and a three-game series against Canada.
Knight tallied three points for the U.S. Women's Select Team in the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup in St. John's, Canada, where Team USA placed second.
After winning the national title with Wisconsin, Knight scored the game-winner in overtime against Canada as the U.S. Women's National Team claimed gold in April's 2011 IIHF World Women's Championship in Zurich and Winterthur, Switzerland.
Maggie Meyer capped off a brilliant career at Wisconsin by becoming the first national champion in program history when she won the 200-yard backstroke at the 2011 NCAA Championships in March. Meyer finished the NCAAs as a six-time All-American and was an 11-time All-American for her career.
With seven honorable mention All-America honors in career as well, Meyer tied for the second-most All-America accolades in school history with 18.
The 2011 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, Meyer won five of the six events she entered at the 2011 Big Ten Championships, bumping her career total to 10 conference titles. The White Bear Lake, Minn., native swept the 100 and 200 backstroke events, then recorded relay wins in the 400 free, 200 medley and 400 medley.
She set four school records as a senior, bringing her career total to six. Meyer also set a Big Ten record in the 200 medley relay.
In addition to setting the school record in the 200 back, Meyer also lowered the mark individually in the 100 back (51.66). In the relays, Meyer was a part of record-setting teams in the 200 medley relay (1:35.71) and 400 medley relay (3:31.73).
Meyer dominated the backstroke events in 2010-11, going undefeated in the 200 backstroke and winning 10 of 11 races in the 100 back. All told, Meyer won 38 out of possible 57 races she entered during the season either as an individual or as a member of a relay unit.
The buildup to Sunday's New York City Marathon focused on the debuts of rookies -- and former University of Wisconsin All-Americans -- Simon Bairu and Tim Nelson.
In the end, it was Nelson and the much-less publicized Matt Downin that proudly carried the flag for the Badgers. Nelson was 13th overall in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 6 seconds -- a time that placed him an impressive fourth among U.S. finishers.
The 33-year-old Downin wasn't far back in 18th, finishing the 26.2-mile course in 2:20:41 to place seventh among Americans. During his time at UW, Downin was a four-time All-American and two-time Big Ten cross country champion.
Bairu won a pair of NCAA cross country titles for the Badgers, but did not find as much success in his marathon debut. The Canadian national record-holder at 10,000 meters dropped out of the race after 23 miles.
Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia won the race in 2:08.14.
Chris Solinsky, a training partner of fellow former Badger teammates Bairu and Nelson, is expected to eventually make the transition to marathons but was driven around the route of this year's NYC event by organizers in a truck.
Considered the "future" of the event by the race's director, Solinsky's experience was chronicled by George Vecsey of the New York Times.
Bairu and Nelson, meanwhile, had plenty of coverage of their preparation for the marathon. Follow the links below for the 'Rookies vs. the World' video series on the duo and training partner Shalane Flanagan, as well as Bairu's blog for the New York Times and both athletes' take on Twitter.
