INSIDE
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
BY AJ HARRISON
@BADGER_TRACK
SCHEDULE
COMING UP
Nov. 15
Great Lakes 1:15 p.m.
Regional
Nov. 23
NCAA
12:15 p.m.
Championship
UW looks to punch ticket
for NCAA meet at home
Badgers host NCAA Great Lakes Regional Friday
fter tying for sixth at
the Big Ten championship earlier this month,
the Badgers have something
to prove heading into Friday's
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
at the Zimmer Championship
Course.
Wisconsin enters the weekend looking to grab one of
the top two spots that automatically qualify for the NCAA
A
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VARSITY November 14, 2013
championship on Nov. 23 in
Terre Haute, Ind.
If UW finishes in the top
five, the Badgers have a shot
of earning a coveted at-large
berth for the national championship. UW Director of Track
& Field and Cross Country
Mick Byrne believes the squad
can earn a spot in Terre Haute.
"It is important for our women to seize the moment, Byrne
said. "For us, this is going to mean running smart enough, running well enough
to get to the national championships. We
have some points accumulated for the atlarge consideration, however we are going to have to be in the top four or five."
UW has been balanced this year, as six
different runners have led the Badgers in
their eight meets. Byrne believes now is
the time for a leader to emerge.
"They are young, they are inexperienced, and trying to find a real leader is
an issue. But I think over the next couple
of races that is going to take care of itself," he said. "You have to have a leader
on the team. You have to have something
that is going to step up that the rest of
the team can look at and say 'that is our
go-to person.' Once you have that leader,
everybody else understands their role."
Freshman Sarah Disanza, sophomore
Emma-Lisa Murphy and junior Gabi
Anzalone are likely candidates to lead
the Wisconsin contingent. Disanza paced
UW at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational
while Murphy was UW's top finisher at
the Big Ten meet en route to earning AllBig Ten honors. Anzalone, who led UW at
the Badger Opener, is one of UW's most
experience runners after competing at
the NCAA meet the past two years. Bryne
believes it will take a total team effort to
make NCAA meet.
"We are going to have to have five
women running smart and running well
and they all have to do it on the same
day," Byrne said.
