The Wisconsin men’s cross country team won its fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship Sunday at the conference meet held in West Lafayette, Ind. The UW women’s team placed fifth at the event.
The men totaled a score of 25 in the 8,000-meter race, the fifth-lowest score in the history of the event. The Badgers won by 54 points, the second-largest margin of victory, ranking behind only the 1910 Wisconsin squad’s 55-point victory. The 2002 conference championship marks the 37th conference title for the men’s cross country team.
All?American Matt Tegenkamp won the men’s race in a time of 24:01.9, marking the 22nd time a Badger has won the men’s individual title. Tegenkamp was one of five Badgers to finish in the top 10. Isaiah Festa finished second in 24:04.5, and Adam Wallace ran a time of 24:10.7 to take fifth place. Tegenkamp, Festa and Wallace earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.
The final two scorers for Wisconsin were freshmen Bobby Lockhart and Simon Bairu. Lockhart completed the race in 24:22.8 for eighth place, and Bairu was right behind him, ending ninth in 24:24.2. Although he did not score for the Badgers, Tim Keller placed 12th in 24:33.5. Lockhart, Bairu and Keller were named second-team all-conference.
Tegenkamp named Big Ten Cross Country Athlete of the Year; Schumacher selected Coach of the Year
Wisconsin sophomore Matt Tegenkamp was named the Men’s Big Ten Cross Country Athlete of the Year, and Jerry Schumacher was selected as Coach of the Year, conference officials announced Wednesday. The award is determined by a vote of the league’s cross country head coaches.
Tegenkamp, who hails from Lee’s Summit, Mo., dominated the Big Ten Championships from start to finish and led the Badger team to its fourth-consecutive Big Ten Championship.
In just his fourth year as the Wisconsin head coach, Jerry Schumacher has now earned the Big Ten Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year award three times. His Badgers overwhelmed the field at this year’s league meet, at one point occupying the race’s first five positions. Wisconsin finished with five runners in the top 10 and had six student-athletes named to the All-Conference First and Second Teams. The 2002 conference championship marks the 37th conference title for the men’s cross country team.
–compiled from staff reports
