UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational Features 1,200 Runners

The UW-Oshkosh Brooks Cross Country Invitational, scheduled for Saturday (Oct. 19) at the Lake Breeze Golf Club (6333 Ball Prairie Road) in Winneconne, will showcase 17 nationally ranked teams including the two-time defending men’s national champion.

A total of 1,200 runners from 40 teams will compete. The women’s 6,000-meter race begins at 10:30 a.m., while the men’s 8,000-meter event starts at 11:15 a.m. Admission is $5 per vehicle, and spectators are encouraged to arrive early.

North Central College (Ill.) has won three of the past four NCAA Division III men’s titles, with its only blemish being a runner-up finish in 2010. Along with top-ranked North Central College, the men’s division features top-15 teams in third-ranked Washington University (Mo.), seventh-ranked UW-Oshkosh, 13th-ranked Wabash College (Ind.) and 14th-ranked UW-Eau Claire.

Other nationally ranked teams in the men’s division are 17th-ranked University of Chicago (Ill.), 24th-ranked and defending Brooks Invitational champion Calvin College (Mich.) and 29th-ranked Augustana College (Ill.). Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.), the 12th-ranked team in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), is also in the field.

The men’s division returns 25 of last season’s top 50 finishers. Among them are Washington University’s Kevin Sparks, who earned ninth place at the 2012 Brooks Invitational and fourth at the NCAA Division III Championship, and last year’s 10th-place finisher Timothy Hird of North Central College. John Crain of North Central College is also expected to contend for the individual title after placing sixth in the nation a year ago.

There are eight ranked teams on the women’s side, including sixth-ranked University of Chicago, eighth-ranked Calvin College and ninth-ranked Trinity University (Texas). Calvin College won the 2012 women’s Brooks Invitational title in addition to the men’s crown.

Other competing women's teams mentioned in the NCAA Division III poll are 20th-ranked Hope College (Mich.), 25th-ranked Willamette (Ore.), 26th-ranked Washington University and 29th-ranked DePauw University (Ind.). Olivet Nazarene University is ranked sixth in the NAIA.

For the women, 23 of the top 50 finishers from a year ago return, including Washington University’s Lucy Cheadle, who finished third at the Brooks Invitational and 21st at the NCAA Championship.

Teams from 10 different states are competing at Lake Breeze Golf Club, the site of the 1999, 2007 and 2011 NCAA Division III championships.