Liking leads Badgers to podium finish at NCAA Championships

Bob Liking running at NCAA Championships

Liking leads Badgers to podium finish at NCAA Championships

November 23, 2024 | Men's Cross Country

Senior earns All-America honors to lead UW to fourth-place finish

By: Dani Savin

MADISON, Wis. – Thanks to a top-20 finish from senior Bob Liking, the Wisconsin men's cross country team secured a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships on Saturday at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course.

The Badgers finished with 212 points to claim their 38th top-10 finish at NCAAs. Saturday marked Wisconsin's 62nd appearance at NCAA Championships, the most of any program all-time.
In his final collegiate cross country race, Liking carried the load up front for Wisconsin, finishing 16th overall and crossing the 10K course in 29 minutes, 9.2 seconds. With this race, Liking earned All-American honors and it marks the first time he was the top finisher for UW at the NCAA meet.

Sophomore Adam Spencer capped off his year by placing 45th, finishing at 29:30.1. The Melbourne, Australia, native claimed All-Region honors earlier this season.
Last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Micah Wilson was the third Badger across the line placing 53rd with a time of 29:36.2.

Freshman Matan Ivri and Christian de Vaal rounded out the top-70 for the Badgers, finishing strong campaigns of their own. de Vaal earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as well as being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, while Ivri collected Big Ten All-Freshman Team and All-Big Ten honors earlier this season.

Straight from the Course
UW Director of Track and Field And Cross Country Mick Byrne:
On the overall performance:
"We told the guys to be courageous out there today. You have to have courage, you have to be brave, you gotta trust the plan, you gotta trust your training. And for the most part, they did that. They took advantage of running at home."

On Bob's 16th place finish:
"I mean it's kind of icing on the cake for Bob. He's wanted this for a long time. He's had difficulties at this meet. He put himself in a hole early in the race, he gave himself a lot to do. I think we was way back in the hundreds at the 2K. That's too far. If you want to be in top-10, you have to run with the guys up front. He kind of crawled out of it as best he could and we needed that. He's our team leader and he got it done at the end. "

On the crowd and the fans:
"Our fans, they came out to support us today. That was nuts. I've never seen a crowd at a cross country meet like this. It shows you how important our program is to our fans, to the city of Madison, to our university, to the state of Wisconsin. And we're really proud that we did well for all of our fans today."

Senior Bob Liking
On the team's performance: "The team finish I'm so happy with; fourth place for us is a huge result. I think we were seventh coming in. We've been slowly moving up in the rankings, and I think on our home course, we knew we could do something special. I'm just so proud of that. We executed our race well."

On his individual race: "Individually speaking, it was really hard, but compared to my last results, I'm pretty happy with today. I stuck in there—I was there at 5K, but when they started going, I couldn't hold on. Congrats to all the guys who placed in the top 15; that's very impressive. Overall, I'm pretty happy with my performance."

Notes to Know
- Bob Liking earned his second All-American Cross Country honors.
- UW was the top-finishing team team from the Big Ten and the Great Lakes Region.
- Wisconsin has finished in the top-10 12 times under Big Ten Coach of the Year Mick Byrne.

2024 NCAA Championships
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024
Thomas Zimmer Championship Course
Madison, Wisconsin
10K Course

Race Results:
Wisconsin Finishers
16. Bob Liking, 29:09.2
45. Adam Spencer, 29:30.1
53. Micah Wilson, 29:34.4
58. Matan Ivri, 29:36.2
69. Christian de Vaal, 29:40.5
83. Johnny Livingstone, 29:48.4
154. Rowen Ellenberg, 30:16.9

Top 10 Teams:
1. BYU, 124
2. Iowa State, 137
3. Arkansas, 202
4. Wisconsin, 212
5. Northern Arizona, 237
6. North Carolina, 246
7. Wake Forest, 256
8. Oklahoma State, 256
9. New Mexico, 272
10. Notre Dame, 337

Top 10 Individuals
1. Graham Blanks, Harvard, 28:37.2
2. Habtom Samuel, New Mexico, 28:38.9
3. Dylan Schubert, Furman, 28:38.9
4. Yaseen Abdalla, Arkansas, 28:41.5
5. Brian Musau, Oklahoma State, 28:44.9
6. Casey Clinger, BYU, 28:45.1
7. Parker Wolfe, UNC, 28:50.2
8. Ethan Strand, UNC, 28:53.0
9. Liam Murphy, Villanova, 28:55.7
10. Said Mechaal, Iowa State, 28:59.8