Men's Cross Country
On Nov. 25 last year, the University of Wisconsin's men's cross country team showed it was a force to be reckoned with.??This year, it is looking like the same old story.
Claiming second place in last year's NCAA championships in Terre Haute, Ind., to Stanford University and first in the Big Ten, the galloping Badgers raced off to a similar start this year.
The team triumphed in the Iowa Invitational Aug. 29, picking up a first place finish over runner-up Iowa. Wisconsin's four top runners finished within one second of each other.?? Junior John Spikey and sophomore Ben Gregory came in fifth and sixth, respectively, while junior Collin Steele finished seventh and freshman Codie See eighth. The victory allowed the Badgers to retain second place behind Stanford in the polls.
As illustrated by their record, the swift men from Madison have strong leadership. Coach Jerry Schumacher, a UW graduate, pulled in his second consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year honor last season.??In the four years that Schumacher has held the reins of the men's cross-country team, the squad has yet to finish below sixth place at the NCAA Championship.?? Thirteen All-Americans and fourteen all-Big Ten selections have come out of Schumacher's system, one of whom is senior Matt Tegenkamp, who was named the men's cross country Big Ten Athlete of the Year last season.??
The Badgers have lost Isaiah Festa, an important cog in their successful program who was named to the first-team all-Big Ten last season. However, last year the Badgers gained new leaders.??Sophomores Bobby Lockhart and Simon Bairu were selected for the second-team all-Big Ten, as well as Senior Tim Keller. Senior Adam Wallace also returns after receiving first-team all-Big Ten honors.
The Badgers' next meet is at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis this Saturday. If the Badgers can keep this up, they might one-up their second place season finish from a year ago.
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Women's Golf
The women's golf team will hit the road again this weekend, this time to Columbus, Ohio to take part in the Lady Northern Invitational.
Head Coach Todd Oehrlein's group has been playing fairly well as they come off a top five finish at the Mary Fossum Invitational at East Lansing, Mich. Leading the way for the Badgers, as she has all year, is senior Malinda Johnson, who finished in a tie for fifth in the individual standings. Her final round score of two-over-par 74, helped UW finish fifth in the tournament.
Johnson is the senior leader of a very young Badgers team this season. In fact, the Eau Claire, Wis. native is the lone senior on a roster that boasts four freshman and five sophomores.
Football
The Wisconsin football team suffered a major injury to their secondary as junior defensive back Brett Bell was announced out for the season this past week by Head Coach Barry Alvarez.
Bell had started at cornerback in each of UW's four games this year. Although he totalled only 12 tackles for the year thus far, it is his speed and toughness that will be most missed by Wisconsin.
Most likely replacing Bell will be sophomore Levonne Rowan. Rowan has been competing with junior Scott Starks for the other starting corner back position this year. The Erie, Penn. native earned his first letter playing special teams last season.
-Compiled from staff reports
