[media-credit name=’UW Athletic Communications’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]University of Wisconsin junior and Big Ten Athlete of the Year Simon Bairu took home the individual national title at the NCAA cross country finals Monday in Terre Haute, Ind. Finishing the 10K course in 30:38, Bairu separated from his two closest challengers, Josaphat Boit of Arkansas and Matt Gonzalez of New Mexico, over the final 2,000 meters, becoming the first individual champion from UW since Tim Hacker in 1985.

“My plan prior to the race was if I was up in front, I was going to make a move with about 1,500 meters to go,” Bairu said. “Coming down the stretch, I was too scared to look back to see who was behind me or how close they were. I’m just so happy with the way I ran and still can’t believe I won today.”

Bairu finished seventh at the national meet in 2003 and is a two-time defending Big Ten Champion. University of Colorado’s Dathan Ritzenhein took the title last year, breaking the NCAA record in the 10K.

“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.”

Despite Bairu’s efforts, the UW men’s cross country team finished second in the national championships for a third consecutive year. In one of the closest finals in NCAA history, Colorado edged Wisconsin by just four points — 94-90. UW had been ranked No. 1 overall throughout the entire 2004 season.

UW senior Matt Tegenkamp finished 11th overall with a time of 31:30. Sophomore Chris Solinsky finished 16th at 31:23. Both Badger harriers took home All-American honors for their efforts. Tegenkamp and Bairu each took the honors for a third straight year, while Solinsky raked in his second consecutive All-American selection.

“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.”

Wisconsin’s closest competitor entering the race, the previously No. 2-ranked Arkansas, finished third in the field with 202 points behind the strength of Boit’s top-three finish. No. 3 Stanford fell to sixth overall, while Butler and Brigham Young climbed to finish in the four and five spots respectively.

Both Colorado and Wisconsin landed three runners in the top 25, with CU-Boulder’s Brent Vaughn and Bret Schoolmeester finishing fourth and fifth individually. The Buffalos’ Jon Severy took 15th place. Colorado’s fourth qualifier, Stephen Pifer, snuck out a No. 31 finish, while the Badgers’ fourth qualifier, senior Tim Keller, finished 34th overall.

UW junior Bobby Lockhart rounded out the Badgers’ top five with a 54th-place finish. Wisconsin’s Josh Spiker and Tim Nelson finished 88th and 101st in the field respectively.

On the women’s side, sophomore Katrina Rundhaug competed as an individual and finished 59th out of 248 runners in the 6,000-meter race.

–compiled from staff reports