Willemse leads Badgers with top-20 finish in Chicago

CHICAGO, Ill. – Leane Willemse paced the No. 10 Wisconsin women’s cross country team at Friday’s Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational on the shores of Lake Michigan, as the senior placed 18th with a time of 20 minutes, 11.2 seconds. The Badgers finished in 13th place as a unit. 

Willemse earned her PR at this event last season, maintaining her momentum in the process by slicing off over a minute of her 6K time in comparison to last weekend. Doris Lemngole of No. 15 Alabama finished as the individual champion with a time of 18:48.2, leading the Crimson Tide to a team championship as well. 

Kylie Finger paced with Willemse early on, finishing her 6K race in 20:39.8 as the second Badger to cross the finish line. 

Leading in the next group was Liv Phillips, who moved up throughout the race to place 68th for Wisconsin with a time of 21:05.7. Mikaela Helling trailed closely behind, separated by a couple of seconds to finish in 77th place. 

Zaira Malloy-Salgado competed in her second meet in as many weeks, placing in 111th—covering the 6K course in 21:32.8. 

Annika Elliott and Myra Stray each raced for the Badgers, too. Both runners put together quality performances to round out a solid day at Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course. 

Straight from the Course

UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne

“Obviously we raced a different squad today the team who finished fifth last week at Nutty. This was a good opportunity to give some of our women race experience in a quality field. Right now it’s all about setting up our lineup for the championship portion of the season.”

Up Next: After a week off from competition, Wisconsin is back to host the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Saturday, Oct. 19. The first race is set to get started at 10:00 a.m. CT. 

Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational

Oct. 4, 2024

Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course

6K Race

Team Results

1. Alabama – 57 points

2. NC State – 71 points

3. Minnesota – 116 points

4. Louisville – 121 points

5. Toledo – 131 points

6. Texas – 169 points

7. Tulane – 177 points

8. Loyola-Chicago – 251 points

9. Indiana – 254 points

10. Ohio State – 281 points

11. Cal Poly – 282 points

12. UC Davis – 300 points

13. Wisconsin – 301 points

14. Duke – 346 points

15. Butler – 404 points

Badger Scorers

18. Leane Willemse – 20:11.2

43.