Following their first-place finish in Saturday’s Roy Griak Invitational, the UW men’s cross-country team held onto its No. 2 position in the Mondo Men’s cross-country poll, issued on Sept. 30. Wisconsin is the only team to receive two first-place votes against Stanford, who still holds the poll’s No. 1 ranking with 14 first-place votes.
The Roy Griak Invitational, held in Minneapolis, Minn., was the second meet of the Badgers’ season. The team finished the 30-team race with a combined total of 89 points, while the next closest challenger, Brigham Young, came in 24 points behind Wisconsin with a total of 113 points.
Sophomore Simon Bairu came in first for Wisconsin, finishing third overall with a time of 24:01. Freshman Chris Solinksy made his first appearance running for UW with a solid sixth-place finish and was the Badgers’ second runner with a time of 24:28. The Badgers’ next runner and 2002 Big Ten Athlete of the Year, junior Matt Tegenkamp, finished 19th overall in 24:43. Finishing out the top five for Wisconsin were juniors Josh Spiker and Tim Keller. Spiker and Keller completed the race in 27th and 34th place, respectively, with times of 24:49 and 24:58.
The Badgers will be competing in their third race of the season at the Jim Drews Invitational on Oct. 18 in LaCrosse, Wis.
-compiled from staff reports