For those of you who thought the Wisconsin women’s cross country team couldn’t match last year’s success, you may want to think again. In what will be head coach Peter Tegen’s final year at the cross country helm, the team started off the season with a steady performance at the Tennessee Adidas Invitational in Maryville, Tennessee. At the Invitational, UW ran beside one of the best cross country teams in the nation — No.15 North Carolina State.
“The way we ran against N.C. State (a top 15 team) really gave us something to gauge off of,” senior Hillary Edmondson said.
Wisconsin achieved both individual and team success at the meet, as four Badgers finished in the top ten and the team finished second behind N.C. State. Senior Michelle Lilienthal finished third (17:40), followed by senior Edmondson (17:42), fifth-year senior transfer Maggine Guiney (17:56) and sophomore Heidi Lane (18:00).
Edmondson said of the competition between teammates, “The team has healthy competition, but it always is a team effort. In cross country, you are only as good as your team. But it is good to have teammates that can push each other.”
The Badgers must push each other this year in order to survive the difficult Big Ten season. Five teams in the conference — Michigan, Michigan St., Indiana, Penn St. and Wisconsin — are all currently ranked in the top 25. With Wisconsin’s senior leadership, the Badgers have a definite opportunity to do damage within the conference and to contend beyond the Big Ten.
UW’s solid start this year is yet another accomplishment of Coach Tegen’s tenure. In 30 years at Wisconsin, Tegen has coached more All-Americans (71) than any coach in UW history. He has been named Big Ten women’s cross country coach of the year nine times, and won back to back national coach of the year honors in 1984 and 1985. Despite all of the accolades that Tegen has collected during his tenure at Wisconsin, Edmondson argues that it is Tegen’s enthusiasm that will be missed the most. “Peter is so passionate each year for his athletes. He wants us to just go for it.”
While Edmondson knows that Wisconsin’s cross country program will be secure for a long time to come, coach Tegen will be tough to replace.
“No one will be able to replace Peter … he is the best coach in the nation,” Edmondson said.
Wisconsin’s next meet is set for September 27th in Palo Alto, California, where they will continue their non-conference schedule.