INSIDE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY BY BRIAN MASON
@Badger_Track SCHEDULE
Last Week Sept. 7 Badger Opener 1st/19 Pts.
This Week Sept. 15 Wolfie Invitational 9:15 a.m.
Coming Up Sept. 29 Sean Earl
Oct. 12 Wisconsin
Lakefront Invitational adidas Invitational
12:15 p.m. 12:45 p.m.
then named Big Ten Athlete of the Week for his efforts.
The picture should clarify a bit this weekend when the Badgers head east to the Wolfie Invitational, where they'll face host Stony Brook, Man- hattan, Marist and Providence. Michael Brice, Alex Hatz and trans-
Badgers off and running
in defense of NCAA title Top-ranked Wisconsin travels to Stony Brook
T
he work has just begun for the Wisconsin men's cross country team.
The Badgers had to do absolutely nothing in order to secure a No. 1 preseason ranking — they can thank winning the 2011 NCAA title for that. Now, however, they have plenty of work to do in order to live up to the billing.
52 » VARSITY SEPTEMBER 13, 2012
Wisconsin's title defense began last Friday with a win in their own Badger Opener, an event that saw UW's top returners watch from the sideline as junior Alex Brill stated his case for a spot in the Badgers' top five. Brill claimed the individ- ual title in the 6.3-kilometer event and, on Tuesday, was
fer Jacob Naylor will make their sea- son debuts for the Badgers on Long Island, with Neal Berman, Jake Er- schen and Rob Finnerty rounding out the team's likely entries. "It's another chance for us to get some experience for some of those guys," head coach Mick Byrne said. "We're in the middle of trying to fig- ure out who can help us the most down the road, and that's something that keeps changing every day." The Badgers are looking to fill out
their top five behind returning All- Americans Mohammed Ahmed and Reed Connor and senior captain Mav- erick Darling.
"This will be a great opportunity for us to see where we're at as a team," Byrne said. "We're looking forward to seeing what we've got."