The University of Wisconsin-Madison cross country team were back on their home course for the fourth and final time of the season, hosting the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time since 2018 when Badgers’ alumni Morgan McDonald took home the individual title.
Though race conditions were far from perfect — soft ground and a slight wind exacerbated the chilly morning air — the extremely talented fields from both the men’s and women’s races assured that fast times were in order.
The women’s 6k race went first, and the Badgers women placed 22nd out of 31 teams for the second year in a row. Despite being ranked 14th in the nation, the women were buried early in the race with their frontrunner all the way back in 99th place through the halfway point. Though they still could have salvaged the race, the women failed to move up when they needed to.
Senior Lindsay Cunningham was the first to cross the line for the Badgers, placing 111th with a time of 20:36.6. Sophomore Annika Cutforth (20:46.4), senior Shae Ruhly (20:47.2), sophomore Bella Jacobsen (20:48.0), senior Carolyn Shult (20:51.8) and freshman Nora Gremban (20:52.7) finished soon after. None of the Badgers improved from their times at Pre-Nationals just one month ago.
Sophomore Doris Lemngole from Alabama won the race as an individual with a time of 19:21.0, beating out New Mexico freshman Pamela Kosgei, owner of the current course record with her win at Pre Nationals in October. No. 1 Brigham Young University won the team title by 17 points over No. 4 West Virginia.
The Badger men’s 10k race started off in the same fashion as the women’s. The men were all the way back in 27th place through the 1k of the race, with their frontrunner in 123rd. But this was their worst positioning in the race, as each scorer climbed over 100 places before the last kilometer.
Graduate student Bob Liking had an excellent race to end his career as a Badger, climbing over 150 places by the end of the race to finish 16th in the nation (29:09.2). He was just one second off breaking the previous course record (29:08.3), which was taken down by 14 separate runners.
Behind Liking, the Badgers had a powerful pack of four runners split by just 10 seconds. Though starting off conservatively, they each moved up 1k throughout the race, eventually dropping Wisconsin’s team score from 27th to fourth.
Senior Adam Spencer (29:30.1) led the way for the pack, with sophomore Micah Wilson (29:34.4), freshman Matan Ivri (29:36.2) and freshman Christian de Vaal (29:40.5) not far behind. The No. 7 Badgers exceeded their expectations by placing fourth overall, upsetting powerhouses like No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 5 New Mexico along the way.
Harvard senior and 2024 Olympian Graham Blanks completed his repeat title after winning individually in last year’s meet. Blanks came through with a time of 28:37.2, beating the previous course record by a jaw-dropping 31.1 seconds. No. 1 ranked Brigham Young University also won the men's team title with a score of 124. This marked the first time a university won both team titles since Colorado pulled it off in 2002.
The Badger’s impressive fourth-place finish was a big improvement from the previous year’s 10th. In front of a hometown crowd at Thomas Zimmer, the men finished off a very satisfying season with a huge victory.
