Wisconsin women win Badger Classic

Friday, September 23

Madison, Wis.

5 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Badger Classic

Wisconsin women win Badger Classic

September 23, 2016 | Women's Cross Country

Michele Lee and Amy Davis lead the Badgers to victory

Team Results
1.	Wisconsin	20
2.	Northern Iowa	41
3.	Illinois State	69

Individual Results
1.	Michele Lee	Wisconsin	21:45.4
2.	Amy Davis	Wisconsin	21:45.6
3.	Sarah Heinemann	Wisconsin	21:58.3
4.	Ashley Norem	Northern Iowa	21:59.6
5.	Alicia Monson	Wisconsin	22:01.2
9.	Colette Richter	Wisconsin	22:22.0

MADISON, Wis. – Thanks to a 1-2-3 finish at the Badger Classic, the Wisconsin women's cross country team won its first home meet of the season at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course Friday night.

The Badgers scored 20 points on their way to bringing home the team title. Northern Iowa came in second with 41 points, and Illinois State scored 69 points to finish third.

Senior Michele Lee and redshirt freshman Amy Davis led the way for the Badgers, crossing the finish line of the women's six-kilometer race together to place first and second. Lee won the race in 21 minutes, 45.4 seconds and Davis followed, finishing in 21:45.6.

"Today was all about trying to run as a team and keep the pack together," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "We've had a lot of rain, leaving the course a bit soft, so we were just trying to get a good, hard tempo run in out there today."

Rounding out the top three was redshirt senior Sarah Heinemann, who placed third with a time of 21:58.3.

In her first race as a Badger, freshman Alicia Monson crossed the line in 22:01.2 to finish fifth. Junior Colette Richter capped off the scoring by finishing ninth in 22:22.0.

Teamwork was the theme of the night, as the Badger's top five ran in a pack for most of the race.

"For the most part the girls stayed together," Byrne explained. "It was about holding yourself back a little bit and learning how to do that. Learning how to read a race, the men and women did a really good job with that. When you get into a bigger field in a much tougher competition, you have to be able to do that, have a good read for the heartbeat of the race and how you are doing personally. They did a really good job with that today."

The Badgers return to action next week in South Bend, Indiana at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 30. The women will run a five-kilometer race at 1 p.m, followed by the men's five-mile race at 1:45 p.m.