byRBR AdminOn the Blue River Cross Country Course, in Shelbyville, Indiana, the Men’s team at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, aka the Badgers, used the last kilometer to brilliantly take their 10th Big Ten XC title in the last 13 years!
Taking 40 points, the Badgers put 11 points on Illinois (51), with Michigan and Purdue tieing at 97 points.
Badgers went 3,4, with Rowen Ellenbeg leading at stat, putting 5 Badgers in the 50 man field. In the last kilometer, Ellenbeg moved up six places to take 3d, in 24:11.1, with teammate Jackson Sharp in 4th in 24:11.7!
Badger Mania! photo by Kevin Sippy
Badgers Charlie Wheeler took sixth in 24:13.2, with Wheeler moving up 5 places in the last kilometer!
Badger frosh scored well, with Bob Liking was 12th in 24:22.3 and Evan Bishop was 15th in 24:25.8!
Oh, Big Ten individual men’s winner was Nebaska’s George Kusche, in 24:01.8.
Amazing job by Badger men in Big Ten XC Champs!
In the last kilometer, Wisconsin’s Men’s team, missing several top stars, took control and won the title! Coach Mick Byrne, who @runblogrun met at the Madison airport years ago on way back om a World Championships, was quotable at always, telling the media:
“It was an incredible performance today. Going into this championships, we had our backs up against the wall. When you look at the results, it’s easy to see that we were without three of our top guys. We felt going into the meet that we had a depleted squad but this shows the resilience and the incredible spirit of this team, knowing they were going in there to compete for a Big Ten title. It was a very rewarding performance from a particularly young squad.
“How these guys were able to withstand the incredible pressure they were under especially with our history in this meet. This speaks volumes to the character of this team. They were not going to surrender that title easily. I think a lot of teams got very excited when the rosters were announced last night. That gave a lot of teams hope but never underestimate the heart of a Badger. These guys understand what it means to be a Big Ten champ. We’re very proud of our record at this championship. When you look at how young this team is, I’m kind of excited about the future.
“We knew the big players were going to be Indiana, Purdue, and Michigan State and that’s how it played out. We talked about not getting involved in any big (individual) moves and stay focused on the team, lock in on the team. We kind of matched up against Indiana. The big thing was that we were running as a team and not as individuals, we emphasized that. We emphasized patience.
“They knew that they were going to battle today. They knew they had to be very patient and execute. We knew this race was going to happen after the last 2K and that’s exactly what happened.”
This was Mick Byrne’s 10th Big Ten victory in 13 years at the Wisconsn helm. A thoughtul man, Mick is well loved and respected by his athletes. He is a class act and Wisconsin is most fortunate to have brought him to Badgerland!
To check out the complete story, please check out the piece via Badger site:
https://uwbadgers.com/news/2021/1/30/mens-cross-country-big-ten-champions-again-no-51.aspx
At my desk in fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, I am thinking that Mick Byrne has a plan to assist the Badgers in taking the 2020 NCAA Div I Coss County Championships. Stay tuned!
ynes 10th title in Big Ten XC in 13 yeas at the Wisconsin helm.
To check out the complete story, please check out the piece via Badger site. We used content in this piece to develop our piece:
https://uwbadgers.com/news/2021/1/30/mens-cross-country-big-ten-champions-again-no-51.aspx
