After a solid time off, Ohio returns to action. It will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday to compete in the Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Championships.
The men’s and women’s teams will be running the Zimmer Championship Course located on the University of Wisconsin campus. The temperature will be in the 30s, and there will likely be snow on the ground for the race.
The conditions will not be too different from the last time the teams ran on Nov. 3, in the Mid American Conference Championships. They did not perform at the level they wanted in that race, but they do have experience running in below-freezing temperatures which should benefit them this weekend.
It will not be easy for the Bobcats. There will be several nationally ranked teams competing in the race including: Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Butler, Indiana and Purdue.
The top two finishing teams and the next four individuals who are not on the top two teams will advance to the National Cross Country Championships.
In order for the Bobcats to be competitive this weekend, they are going to need strong performances from their key contributors throughout the season.
For the men, they are looking for strong races from juniors Josh Park and Griffin Butler. The two were the best two runners for Ohio last weekend at the MAC Championships where they snagged third and eighth place respectively.
For the women, redshirt senior Madison Sury and junior Hailey Bowes have been the most consistent runners for Ohio and look to have another strong race, especially for Sury. This weekend could potentially be her final race as a Bobcat.
The women will be running a 6k at 12:30 p.m. EST and the men will follow at 1:30 p.m. EST with a 10k on Friday.
