 |
| Mohammed Ahmed |
Junior |
| Neal Berman |
Sophomore |
| Michael Brice |
Sophomore |
| Alex Brill |
Sophomore |
| Daniel Buechel |
Junior |
| Ryan Collins |
Senior |
| Reed Connor |
Junior |
| Maverick Darling |
Junior |
| Jacob Erschen |
RS Freshman |
| Rob Finnerty |
Junior |
| Sam Hacker |
Freshman |
| Alexander Hatz |
RS Freshman |
| Connor Kaddatz |
Freshman |
| Elliot Krause |
Senior |
| Matthew McKenna |
RS Freshman |
| Austin Mudd |
Freshman |
| Donald Schwaderer |
Sophomore |
| Drew Shields |
Sophomore |
| Jack Stapleton |
Freshman |
| Mike Wallace |
Freshman |
| Complete Roster |
|
|
November 14-21
With its five top runners crossing the finish line shoulder-to-shoulder in a time of 30 minutes, 28 seconds, Wisconsin laid claim to its 10th-consecutive NCAA Great Lakes Regional team title Saturday in Toledo, Ohio. The win earned UW an automatic NCAA championships berth.
The No. 1-ranked Wisconsin men’s cross country team now prepares to head to Terre Haute, Ind., in search of a fifth national title — and first since 2005 — at the 2011 NCAA Championship.
About the Badgers
• Wisconsin enters the 2011 NCAA Championship ranked No. 1 in the national coaches poll by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
• Wisconsin returns four of its top five runners from last year’s third-place NCAA team, a group led by senior Elliot Krause and juniors Mohammed Ahmed, Reed Connor and Maverick Darling. Both Ahmed (12th place) and Darling (13th) earned All-America honors last season.
• Ahmed and Darling each seek All-America honors for the third-consecutive year, a feat that would allow them to join a very exclusive list at UW. A total of 11 Badgers finished their careers with at least three All-America awards. By earning All-America accolades again Monday, the duo would join two-time NCAA champion Simon Bairu (2003-05), James Menon (1993-95), Jay Schoenfelder (1997-99), Chris Solinsky (2003-05) and Matt Tegenkamp (2001-04) as three-time All-Americans.
• Senior Ryan Collins — who finished 32nd to earn All-America honors last year while competing at Virginia — joined the Badgers for 2011 and will factor into UW’s top five on Monday. Collins was UW’s top finisher at both the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
• Wisconsin has won each of its last five meets after opening the season with a second-place finish while competing a limited squad at the Badger Opener on Sept. 9. That run includes the team’s 13th-consecutive Big Ten championship, 10th-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional championship and wins in a pair of major events, the Bill Dellinger Invitational and Wisconsin adidas Invitational.
• Junior Reed Connor and sophomore Michael Brice have both earned Big Ten Runner of the Week honors for their respective performances. Brice for his 24:24 winning finish in the Orange and Blue Preview on Sept. 16, and Connor for his 23:18 second-place finish at the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Oct. 1.
Last Time: Great Lakes Regional | Recap
• The Badgers' top five runners came across the finish line in unison, led by senior Ryan Collins, and finished in first place with 50 points.
• Collins finished eigth overall for the Badgers in 30 minutes, 28 seconds, with his teammates right behind him, as junior Mohammed Ahmed, junior Reed Connor and senior Elliot Krause all tied for ninth place and junior Maverick Darling finished 12th.
• Rounding out the top five was No. 7 Indiana in second with 70 points, No. 19 Michigan in third with 104 points, Notre Dame in fourth with 119 points and No. 28 Ohio State fifth with 126.
• Sophomore Callum Hawkins of Butler earned the individual victory, finishing in a time of 30:01.
• Sophomore Michael Brice finished in 24th place with a time of 30:52, and sophomore Drew Shields was 49th in 31:30.
This Week: NCAA Championship
• Indiana State will host the men’s 10-kilometer race, which is set for 11:08 a.m. (CT) at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
• Of the championship's 31 teams, 25 rank in the national coaches poll by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
• Top contenders in the field include: No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 BYU, No. 4 Colorado, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 Indiana, No. 8 Portland and Iona and Princeton, which are tied at No. 9.
• No. 2 Oklahoma State is two-time defending champion coming into this year's national meet. The Cowboys, led by seniors German Fernandez and Colby Lowe, swept their season schedule by winning all five of their meets. Most recently, Oklahoma State won the NCAA Midwest Regional title and received an automatic bid for the NCAA championship.
• No. 3 BYU comes into the national meet as winner of both the West Coast Conference and NCAA Mountain Regional championship. The Cougars are led by senior Miles Batty.
• No. 4 Oklahoma recently finished second in the NCAA Midwest Regional to automatically qualify for the national meet. All seven of Oklahoma's runners finished in the top 25 of the regional meet, earning each of them All-Midwest Region honors, a nation-best count of all-region honorees.
• No. 8 Portland enters the meet having taken second place at the NCAA West Regional. The Pilots were runner-up to No. 6 Stanford, losing by just five team points. Four of Portland's runners, senior Alfred Kipchumba, junior Trevor Dunbar, freshman Joash Osoro and junior Lars Erik Malde all earned all-region honors.
• In one of their most successful seasons in recent history, No. 9 Texas heads into nationals ranked in the nation's top 10 for the first time since 2007. The Longhorns recently won the South Central Regional title this past weekend.
• No. 10 NC State recently won its 12th ACC championship in the past 17 years, placing five runners in the top 20 of the field. The Wolfpack are led by Ryan Hill -- a senior two-time All-American -- who won the individual title in both the NCAA Southeast Regional and the ACC championship.
Championship History
• Wisconsin extended its record streak of national meet appearances with a 40th-consecutive berth to the NCAA championship by virtue of the automatic bid earned by winning last weekend's NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Colorado has the second-longest active streak with 20-straight NCAA appearances.
• The Badgers are the only team in history to qualify for every national championship since the process began in 1972. Previously, teams were not required to qualify and only elected to attend and compete or not.
• UW seeks a fifth national championship and its first since winning the crown in 2005 at the LaVern Gibson Course in Terre Haute.
• Wisconsin has won four national titles — along with seven runner-up finishes — since 1982. Only Arkansas (13) has more combined first- and second-place finishes than the Badgers’ 11 over that span.
Coach of the Quarter Century?
• Head coach Mick Byrne looks for a third podium finish in four years as the Badgers’ head coach. He led UW to a fourth-place finish in his first season (2008) and returned to the podium with a third-place showing in 2010.
• This year, Byrne won his fourth Big Ten championship in as many seasons at the helm of the Badgers’ program, as well as his fourth-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional crown.
• Including his time at Iona College prior to coming to UW, Byrne has won 21 consecutive conference championships. Under Byrne’s direction, Iona claimed 17 straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crowns from 1991 to 2007. In fact, Byrne’s teams have claimed conference titles in 21 of his 23 years as a head coach.
• Byrne also has earned 21 consecutive league coach-of-the-year awards — 17 straight MAAC honors at Iona from 1991 to 2007 and four consecutive Big Ten awards at UW from 2008 to 2011.
2010 Wisconsin Season Recap
• In his third season as UW cross country head coach, Mick Byrne earned his third-straight Big Ten Coach of the Year award in 2010. Byrne has won 20 consecutive coach of the year awards -- dating back to his days as head coach at Iona -- and 2010 marked the 10th-consecutive year Wisconsin has been awarded coach of the year honors.
• Playing host to the Big Ten championship for the first time since 2000, Wisconsin won the event for a conference record 12th-consecutive season.
• Returning Badger Mohammed Ahmed finished fourth in 23:42.7, earning him first-team All-Big Ten honors.
• Elliot Krause (Appleton, Wis./North) and Maverick Darling (Ovid, Mich./Elsie) also earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Krause finished in a time of 23:43, with Darling close behind at 23:50.8.
• Earning a team score of 223, Wisconsin took third place at the 2010 NCAA Championship.
• Ahmed finished in 12th place with a time of 30:03.4, and also earned All-America honors for the second-consecutive year. Darling finished shortly behind at 13th place, also earning All-America accolades.
• Wisconsin won its eight-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship 10-kilometer race. Behind their 32-point effort, UW also tied its own record for consecutive Great Lakes Regional titles with 26.
• Reed Connor (Houston, Texas/The Woodlands) led the way for the Badgers, finishing second overall and clocking in at 30:28.7.
• With their top-25 performances, six Badgers earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors. UW’s six All-Region honorees were the most for a Badgers team since 2005.
