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BY AJ HARRISON • ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
ormer Wisconsin cross country standout
Elliot Krause remembers the first Wisconsin adidas Invitational very well.
"To be honest, we were a little bit disappointed with how we ran at that first meet," Krause, a
2011 All-American, said. "We were excited that
the meet went well, and the people were blown
away with the course. People weren't expecting
that level of course, and they thought we were
exaggerating when we talked about it before the
race.
"But the race turned out to be a learning lesson, as we rallied back a few weeks later to win
our 11th-straight Big Ten title. Having a competitive meet at home got us ready to roll the rest of
the season."
In five short years, the Wisconsin adidas Invitational has gone from a competitive, but
small, 13-team meet to one of the premier cross
country races in America. Twenty ranked men's
teams, including six of the top 10 teams, will
compete in the men's 8-kilometer race at 11 a.m.
on Saturday, while 17 ranked women's squads,
including seven of the top 10 teams, will run in
the women's 6-kilometer race at noon.
"I'm very excited about the cross country
world coming to Madison this weekend," UW
director of track & field and cross country Mick
Byrne said. "I always look on the adidas meet as
the turning point of the season getting ready for
a championship season.
"It's a great opportunity, I believe, for our
fans, and everybody knows that Wisconsin cross
country fans are awesome. They're very knowledgeable and very opinionated. We're excited to
run at home this weekend in such a great, highcaliber meet."
The race has been held the same weekend as
the Pre-Nationals Invitational, a meet designed
to annually give the nation's top teams a chance
to preview on which the NCAA meet will be held.
Byrne believes the adidas invite gave teams a
chance to try something new, which was part of
its appeal.
"It seems like the national meet has been in
Terre Haute every year, therefore Pre-Nats has
been in Terre Haute almost every year," Byrne
said. "I think people heard that we have an awesome course, they wanted to get out of Terre
Haute and try something different. At Pre-Nationals, they have the two races, and then they
compare the two races. Teams wanted to go
