Five things to know: Badgers look to qualify for national championships

Live Results

The ninth-ranked Wisconsin men’s cross country team travels to Evansville, Indiana, this Friday for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The Badgers are looking to qualify for the NCAA championships on Nov. 20 in Tallahassee, Florida. The men’s 10K race takes off at 11 a.m. CT while the women’s 6K race starts the day at 10 a.m. CT. 

1. READY TO QUALIFY: The Badgers are looking to qualify for their 58th NCAA Championship on Friday. The top-two teams in each of nine regionals receive an automatic bid to the NCAA championship. Regular-season performance and how teams perform within their regional will be the main factors of consideration for the remaining 13 teams to receive at-large bids. Wisconsin is ranked No. 2 in the region behind Notre Dame. Michigan, Butler and Indiana, respectively, round out the top-five teams.

2. SHINING SEASON: The Badgers are having an extremely competitive 2021 season. Less than two weeks ago, Wisconsin won its 52nd overall and fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship, in addition to winning two regular season races, the Badger Classic and Live in Lou Classic, Wisconsin also placed fourth at the extremely competitive Nuttycombe Invitational.

3. LIKING LEADS THE WAY: Sophomore Bob Liking has emerged as a leader during the second half of the season. Liking led Wisconsin to the Big Ten championship, winning the individual title in 24 minutes, 38.7 seconds. Graduate student Olin Hacker also plays an integral part in the team, finishing second at the Big Ten meet. Wisconsin landed seven athletes on the All-Big Ten tea with four first-team All-Big Ten honorees and three second-team runners. .

4. BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR, AGAIN: Wisconsin’s Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Mick Byrne received his 11th Big Ten Coach of the Year award on Monday, leading the Badgers to their 52nd Big Ten Championship.

5. FOLLOW THE REGIONAL MEET: Live results will be available via PTTiming. Fans can follow the action on Twitter and Instagram @BadgerTrackXC and a full recap of the race will be available on UWBadgers.com.