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"They've taken a ton of confidence from that meet," Byrne said. "It's interesting and exciting to me because a lot of them have been in the passenger seat for the past couple of years and now they're in the driver's seat." interesting and exciting to me because a lot of them have been in the passenger seat for the past couple of years and now they're in the driver's seat." Van Voorhis is one of the more interesting storylines. "He just got possessed," Byrne raved of his performance two weeks ago on UW's home course. "He was on some type of mission to prove to the world that, 'I'm not a track club athlete. I can run with these guys.'" There was a reason why he has flown under the radar, according to Byrne, and why he was labeled as track club athlete. Why? Because he was a member of the Wisconsin Track Club on campus before joining the Badgers in 2012? "He simply wasn't good enough and he reminds me of that every day, now it's a joke between us," Byrne said. "For awhile, it was almost a negative. lege in late September ― Byrne said, "We didn't run poorly, we just didn't run smart. It was good for us, it kind of woke us up a little. Coming into adidas, it was like, 'We've got to show these people.'" Prior to the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, which drew many of the nation's heavyweights to Madison on Oct. 19, Byrne got an office visit from Malachy Schrobilgen, a redshirt freshman from Oak Park, Ill. As a high school senior, he was the state champion in the 3200 meters. "He walked in here on a Monday morning and said, 'You've got to do something about this team,'" Byrne related. "He felt like the team had let him down in Boston ― that the guys didn't step up to the plate. As a coach, you love to hear that. "Malachy will tell you straight to your face that he came here to win championships, he didn't come here to lose. This is a redshirt freshman and he wants to take on the responsibility of leading this team, which is absolutely awesome." Schrobilgen led Wisconsin with a 20th-place finish in the adidas Invitational. Finishing right behind him in 21st place was Van Voorhis. Both broke their personal-best times by more than 40 seconds. The Badgers, then ranked No. 20, finshed ahead of 16 ranked teams and wound up fourth behind only No. 3 Northern Arizona, Schrobilgen (left) led Wisconsin with No. 5 BYU and No. 7 Portland. a 20th-place finish in the adidas Invi"That just gave these guys a total tational. Finishing right behind him new outlook and perspective on evin 21st place was Van Voorhis (right). erything," Byrne said. "They've taken a ton of confidence from that meet. It's 39