MADISON, Wis. – The No. 5 Wisconsin men’s cross country team punched its ticket to the NCAA championships on Friday as seniors Bob Liking and Jackson Sharp finished 1-2 at the 2023 NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday at the Thomas ZImmer Championship Cross Country Course.
The Badgers finished in second as a team, scoring 70 points, while Butler were the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Champions with 43 points.
Liking, a three-time Big Ten individual champion, crossed the 10K course in 29 minutes, 40.9 seconds. He became the ninth Badger to win the Great Lakes Regional and the first since Malachy Schrobilgen took home the crown on home soil in 2016. For Liking, it is his third victory in as many appearances this season.
Sharp trailed Liking by less than a second, coming in at 29:41.2 for his third runner-up finish this season and fourth top-10 placement.
Sophomore Adam Spencer was the third and final top-10 finisher for the Badgers, finishing sixth overall in 29 minutes, 47.8 seconds. Junior Josh Truchon finished 25th overall at 30:21.3.
Liking, Sharp, Spencer and Truchon each earned All-Region honors for their top-25 finishes.
Rounding out the UW lineup, Big Ten Freshman of the Year Micah Wilson finished 36th at 30:33.0 and redshirt freshman Logan Measner finished 82nd at 31:27.2 in his first collegiate cross country race.
Notes to Know
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Wisconsin earned its sixth-straight NCAA championship bid
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Liking becomes the ninth Badger to win the NCAA Great Region and first since Malachy Schrobilgen in 2016
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Liking and Sharp claim All-Region honors for the third year in a row
Straight from the Course
UW Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Mick Byrne
“When you look at the results, some might say that we held kids out. That wasn’t the case, we had two guys that were sick. We will have them back next week, but today was a battle. We had some young guys really step up and get the job done. Obviously Bob and Jackson did great and another great run by Adam Spencer. Micah Wilson and Josh Truchon really put it down out there today. The team needed them and they did a great job. We can enjoy this.”
Bob Liking
“For some of our younger guys to step up like they did, we needed that today and I can’t thank them enough. I think today’s performance shows that we’re pretty strong,…
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