STATE OF THE PROGRAM: MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
From left, Reed Connor, Mohammed Ahmed, the now-departed Landon Peacock, Maverick Darling and Elliot Krause helped Byrne win his third Big Ten title in as many seasons in 2010.
Whereas Wilson transferred
from NC State, Collins has trans- ferred from Virginia, where he earned All-America honors last season by finishing 32nd at the 2010 NCAA Championship. Collins was also an All-Amer- ican, an ACC indoor champion and school record-holder in the 5,000 meters. He has been an NCAA qualifier in both the 5K (indoors) and 10K (outdoors) That put Collins in select com-
pany in 2009-10 as one of only 12 athletes to compete in three NCAA championship meets in the same calendar season: cross country and indoor and outdoor track.
Byrne is no stranger to Col-
lins — who hails from Mansfield, Mass. — or his pedigree. "I ran with his dad (Walter)
way back when and we have remained very good friends through the years,'' Byrne said. "His mom (Julia) is a very suc-
cessful coach in Massachusetts. "I recruited Ryan when I was at Iona College and he chose to go to Virginia. Once he made it known that he was looking to go somewhere else for his fifth year,
"They've been there before," Byrne said of his top three run- ners. "They've kind of been around the
block, and you have to be around the block a couple of times at the NCAA meet to be successful at that meet.''
he was highly recruited.'' Cross country is a sport that qualifies for a one-time transfer exemption from the NCAA. That
makes transfers like Collins far more commonplace than trans- fers like Wilson. Collins arrived on the Madi- son campus less than two weeks ago.
Yet another distinction should be made between Wilson and Collins: the former is a play- maker; the latter is cast as a role player.
Collins is being asked to as-
sume a role among Byrne's top five competitors.
Addressing the graduation
loss of Landon Peacock, the 2010 Big Ten Athlete of the Year who finished 20th in the NCAA meet, Byrne said, "He (Collins) definitely helps fill that void.'' Despite Peacock's loss — he's
also the reigning the Big Ten cross country champion — the Badgers still return six of their top seven runners from last sea- son's team, which was third at the NCAA championship.
