The men's cross country team fell just shy of a national title Monday afternoon at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. The leadership of junior Simon Bairu was a shining highlight, as he attained the first individual NCAA 10k Championship UW has seen since 1985.
\I'm extremely proud of the way Simon ran,"" UW Head Coach Jerry Schumacher said. ""He showed a lot of heart, desire and drive to get to the finish line and he did a great job. It is probably a little bittersweet for him.""
Bairu ran in the front of the pack at the 8,000-meter mark and stayed there all the way until the end. His packmates consisted of Matt Gonzales of New Mexico and Josaphat Boit of Arkansas through much of the race. When the runners approached the 800-meter straightaway finish, Bairu broke from his trailer and sealed a victory.
""Coming down the stretch, I was too scared to look back to see who was behind me or how close they were,"" Bairu said. ""I'm just so happy with the way I ran and still can't believe I won today.""
The team dominated throughout much of their season earning their sixth consecutive Big Ten title and 20th Great Lakes Regional title. The men's team was also able to hold the firstplace ranking up until Nov. 16, according to the Mondo Men's Cross Country Poll.
UW finished the NCAA Championship race just four points behind Colorado to give them their third consecutive runner-up finish. Although a victory would have been desirable, Schumacher was not displeased with the team's performance.
""I think the guys did a good job,"" Schumacher said. ""Looking at the scores, it seems to me there was quite a bit of 'unpredictableness' in the race today. I feel like Colorado ran an awesome race. They put it together at the end, when it mattered most.""
It was the last cross country race for senior leaders Matt Tegenkamp and Tim Keller who finished 11th and 47th, respectively.
-www.uwbadgers.com contributed to this report
