BY DIANE NORDSTROM
DAVID STLUKA
UW ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
Badgers' youth movement trending upward
Women's cross country team looks to improve on fifth-place Big Ten finish
isconsin women's cross country coach
Jim Stintzi saw some encouraging signs
during a recent practice that were reassuring to Mick Byrne because it bodes well for the
future of the program.
"Coach Stintzi came in after a long, hard aerobic
workout and he got really excited about it," said
Byrne, who is in his sixth year as the Badgers'
men's coach but his first overseeing the women's
program as UW's director of cross country and
track and field.
"You've got to look for things like that leading
up to a race like the Big Tens. You jump on those
things as a positive and let them know. They're
just in a different spot than the men right now."
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VARSITY October 31, 2013
While Wisconsin's men's team is shooting for
its 15th-consecutive Big Ten championship, the
women's team is seeking to improve on its fifthplace finish in last season's meet.
"They're going to be good," Byrne said. "They're
young, but they're going to be good down the
road. They just have to believe. That's our job as
coaches ― getting them to believe in themselves."
That reinforcement was especially applicable
after the Badgers placed 17th in the 37-team Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Oct. 19.
"We had a tough time and a lot of that had to do
with inexperience," Byrne said. "It was a huge field,
just shy of 300, and I think some of our younger
runners weren't used to getting out there.
