Quality team effort leads to eighth-place finish for Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – Led by Shea Ruhly, Leane Willemse and a late push from multiple Badgers, the No. 13 Wisconsin women’s cross country program finished in eighth place at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals to wrap up its regular season campaign. 

No. 2 BYU finished in first with all of its scoring runners placing within the top-40, led by a ninth-place performance by Lexy-Halladay-Low. 

As for the individual champion, Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico shattered 2023 NCAA Champion Parker Valby’s (Florida) Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course record with a 6K time of 18 minutes, 59.1 seconds. 

For the Badgers, Ruhly led the way for the second time this year, finishing in 52nd with a 6K time of 20:15.6. Willemse was not far behind, pacing with the senior for the entirety of the race. The Mequon native slotted in at 60th place, completing the 6K in 20:18.6. 

UW got big contributions from Annika Cutforth, Lindsay Cunningham and Bella Jacobsen to propel the team to eighth among the nation’s best. 

Cutforth and Cunnigham remained close throughout the entirety of the race, placing 72nd and 77th respectively. 

Jacobsen moved up a total of 24 spots during the latter half of the event, finishing in 87th to round out the scoring for the Badgers and push them into the top-10. 

Nora Gremban and Mya Bunke each put together competitive races as well—completing a successful meet for the Badgers.

In the women’s Open Race, Liv Phillips paced the Badgers throughout the third race of the day in Madison, as the freshman completed her 6K in 21:22.6. Mikaela Helling, Annika Elliott and Zaira Malloy-Salgado rounded out the four finishers. 

Straight from the course: 

UW Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne

“Overall, I’m really happy with today. The women came on over that last 2K. Annika Cutforth was awesome over that last 2K, and that’s great to see. We talked before the race about keeping it within perspective and not take it too seriously, which is important to do in a race like this. There were so many awesome teams, but at the end of the day, we still have the conference championship coming up in two weeks, then regionals and nationals. But, this performance today from both teams has put us in a good position.”

Up Next: The Badgers take on the Big Ten Championships on Friday, Nov. 1 to kick off their postseason…