WISCONSIN YEAR IN REVIEW: 2007-2008

	BADGERS: YEAR IN REVIEW

Men's cross country
The Wisconsin men's cross country team had five runners finish in the the top 10 to score 33 points and win its ninth consecutive Big Ten title. With the win, the Badgers set a new Big Ten record for consecutive conference championships.

Wisconsin was led by Matt Withrow, who took home the individual title by completing the
8,000-meter course in a time of 23:44.37.

The Badgers continued their strong performance by capturing their 23rd NCAA Great Lakes Regional title and qualified for the team's 36th consecutive NCAA championships. The team concluded the season by placing fifth.

Women's cross country
The Wisconsin women's cross country team scored 112 points to finish sixth at the 2007 Big Ten Championships. The Badgers were led by sophomore Hanna Grinaker, who finished fifth in a time of 20:11.81 and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.

After placing third at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, the team made its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships by earning an at-large bid.

It was Grinaker who led the team at the National Championship meet with a 25th-place finish in a time of 20:51. With her finish, Grinaker earned All-American Honors for the second consecutive year. The team as a whole placed 20th.

Men's soccer
The Badgers entered the Big Ten Men's Soccer Tournament as the sixth seed against No. 3-seed Northwestern with hopes of getting their first win against a conference foe.

Junior Andy Miller scored his first career goal, but it was not enough as the Badgers fell to Northwestern, 3-1, ultimately bringing their season to an end.

Of note, junior forward Victor Diaz was named a first-team All-Big Ten selection and defender Aaron Nichols also earned a spot on the all-freshman team.

Women's soccer
The Wisconsin women's soccer team fell to Northwestern 3-0 to bring its 2007 campaign to an end. The Badgers finished the season 6-11-1 overall and 2-8-0 in the Big Ten Conference.

The Badgers graduate six seniors in Ann Eshun, Katy Meuer, Lynn Murray, Lauren Rudzinski, Marissa Sarkesian and Shannon Terry. First-year head coach Paula Wilkins wrapped up the season on the road, bringing her overall coaching record to 125-30-12.

Football
Bret Bielema's second season at Wisconsin started much like the first. The Badgers opened 2007 with five wins to run their streak of consecutive victories to 14, dating back to 2006.

Wisconsin, however, followed up that impressive run of success by losing four of its final eight games, including a 21-17 defeat to Tennessee in the Outback Bowl.

Along the way, Bielema racked up his 21st career victory to become just the third coach in Big Ten history to win at least 21 games in his first two seasons. The other two? Michigan's Fielding Yost (22) and Ohio State's Jim Tressel (21). Pretty good company, we must say.

Wisconsin's shaky second half coincided with a tough stretch of games (at Illinois, at Penn State, at Ohio State) and nagging injuries to star receivers Luke Swan and Paul Hubbard and running back P.J. Hill.

Despite the schedule and injuries, Wisconsin managed to tally its most impressive win of the year in a 37-21 victory over Michigan on Nov. 10. That win, ultimately, helped the Badgers advance to the Outback Bowl, their second consecutive New Year's Day game under Bielema.

Even with the bowl loss and the inconsistent second half of the season, Wisconsin managed to finish the season ranked in both of the major polls (No. 21 Coaches, No. 24 AP) for the fourth consecutive time.

Volleyball
The Badgers won more in Big Ten play than it had since 2001, ending the conference season with a 17-3 clip, good enough for second place.

For the fourth straight year, the Badgers hosted first- and second-round matches of the NCAA tournament. The Badgers received an at-large bid to their 16th overall and 12th consecutive NCAA tournament.

After a round one win over Northern Iowa, the Badgers advanced to face Iowa State. The unranked Cyclones stunned the Badgers with an upset to advance in the tournament, bringing the Wisconsin season to an end.

Men's swimming & diving
At the Big Ten Championships, the Badgers compiled 363 points to place seventh in the conference, an improvement from last year's eighth-place finish.

Following several solid performances at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships, Wisconsin finished off its season at the NCAA Championships. Highlighted by a 15th-place finish in the 800-freestyle relay, the Badgers finished in 39th place with four team points.

Women's swimming & diving
On the women's side, the Badgers finished the Big Ten Championships in sixth place with 377 points.
The team concluded the 2008 NCAA championships with a third relay team earning All-America honors. The Badgers finished in 22nd place with 44 points. It was the team's best finish since 2006 when it was ninth with 146 points.

"We had higher hopes than what we finished," head coach Eric Hansen said. "But we did finish two spots higher than last year."

Men's indoor track and field
For a record eighth consecutive time, the Wisconsin men's track and field team won the Big Ten Conference Indoor Championships. Sophomore Brandon Bethke added the 5,000-meter title to his 3,000-meter title to key the Badger win. Bethke used a strong kick to win in 14:23.84.

At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Bethke finished ninth in 8:06.63 in the men's 3,000 meters. Despite not scoring, Bethke earned his first All-America honor.

Women's indoor track and field
The Wisconsin women's track team finished fourth at the 2008 Big Ten Conference Indoor Championships. Wisconsin scored 69 ½ points to capture its best team finish since 2000. Senior Katrina Rundhaug won the 5,000 meters, setting a new personal best with her 15:57.93.

Wisconsin tied for 39th in the team standings with five points, the second straight year in the top 40.

At the NCAA Indoor Championships, senior Ann Detmer placed eighth in the mile run to earn her first All-America honor.

Wrestling
The Wisconsin wrestling team placed sixth at the 2008 Big Ten Championships. The Badgers scored 85.5 team points and were led by a third-place finish from junior Dallas Herbst at 197 lbs. Wisconsin qualified eight grapplers for the 2008 NCAA Championships with the third-place finish, two fourth-place finishes, two fifths, two sevenths and one sixth-place finish.

On the final day of competition at the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Wisconsin had two grapplers compete. Both finished in the top eight of their respective weight classes. Junior Dallas Herbst placed sixth at 197 lbs., while junior Kyle Massey finished eighth at heavyweight.

Wisconsin scored 31 team points and finished 17th in the team standings.

Men's basketball
If it wasn't for a certain team from West Lafayette, Ind., Wisconsin would have finished the Big Ten slate undefeated. It was that kind of season for the Badgers.

Wisconsin breezed through Big Ten play, with its only two losses coming against Purdue, on its way to claiming the regular-season title. And as the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, the Badgers followed up their regular-season success with the postseason conference title.

Wisconsin, which knocked off Michigan and Michigan State to advance to the tournament title, won the postseason crown by beating No. 10-seed Illinois, 61-48, to seal the program's first sweep of the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles.

The Badgers parlayed their pair of titles into a lower-than-expected No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. There, the Badgers disposed of Cal State Fullerton and Kansas State, led by Michael Beasley, rather easily in the first two rounds. But then the Badgers drew upstart Davidson in the Sweet 16, and that was a completely different story.

Wisconsin ran into a buzzsaw in Stephon Curry, who dominated the Badgers in a 73-56 victory at Ford Field.

Two wins from the Final Four, it was a highly successful season for Wisconsin. After all, this was supposed to be a team that was destined for a rebuilding year following the departures of stars Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor. Bo Ryan and company, however, obviously had other ideas.

Women's basketball
The No. 8 seeded Badgers were knocked out in the first round of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament by No. 9 Illinois. Senior Jolene Anderson recorded her 26th career double-double in the game, finishing with 24 points and 11 rebounds, in the 73-58 loss.

Wisconsin appeared in its fourth Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), receiving a first-round bye. Facing Villanova, the team fell short of advancing to Round 3, after falling 60-54 to the Wildcats.

Following the season, Anderson, who became the school's all-time leading scorer as a senior, was selected by the Connecticut Sun with the 23rd overall pick in the second round of the WNBA Draft. Anderson is just the third Badger ever to be drafted into the WNBA.

Ice hockey
The Badgers had a successful regular season finishing in fourth place of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

To open the WCHA playoffs, the Badgers faced St. Cloud State. After being shutout in Game 1, the Badgers pushed Game 2 to overtime, before dropping the game 4-3. St. Cloud State advanced after winning the best-of-three series in two straight games.

Following the WCHA playoffs, the team earned the No. 3 seed in the 2008 NCAA Midwest Regional and took on second-seeded and WCHA playoff champion Denver. Topping Denver 6-2, Wisconsin advanced to meet No. 1 seeded North Dakota.

The Badgers fell short in the game that went to overtime. North Dakota defeated Wisconsin 3-2, ending the Badgers' season.

Men's golf
The UW men's golf team finished the 2008 Big Ten Championships in eighth place after shooting a 296, eight-over par, on the final day to end the event a with a score of 1,199, 47-over.

Following the championships, the team qualified for its second consecutive NCAA appearance and fifth regional bid in program history as the 20th-seeded team in the West Regional.

The team finished in 14th place with a three-round score of 894 (304-290-300) at the NCAA West Regional, and junior Dan Woltman won a three-way playoff to qualify for his second consecutive NCAA Championships. Woltman fired a three-round total 230 (82-71-77) to finish tied for 63rd but missed the cut to qualify for the fourth and final round at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

Women's golf
The Wisconsin women's golf team finished competition at the 2008 Big Ten by placing sixth with a four-round total of 1223 (314-292-304-313). This was Wisconsin's best finish at the conference championship since it tied for fifth place in 2004 and broke the Badgers' two-year streak of finishing ninth.

Last year, Wisconsin set a new school record for 18-hole scoring average (309.73) and it broke the record again this year with a 308.37 average. The Badgers also had the second best mark in school history for 18 holes with their 292 in the second round of the Big Ten Championships.

Men's tennis
The Wisconsin men's tennis team closed out its regular season in impressive fashion, sweeping Michigan State 7-0. With the win, Wisconsin clinched the No. 2 seed for the Big Ten tournament.

Two weeks after sweeping Minnesota, the Badgers got all it could handle in a 4-3 win over the Gophers in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Championship. The team then saw its run at the championship end with a semifinal loss to third-seeded Illinois.

The Badgers saw its season come to a close in the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. The Badgers fell to No. 3 UCLA 4-0. The loss ended an impressive season for the Badgers. They finished the year with 18 wins, their best total since winning 20 in 1990. In the Big Ten, Wisconsin finished with eight wins for its highest total since 1982.

Women's tennis
Under first-year head coach Brian Fleishman, UW made substantial strides as the season progressed. Most impressively, the Badgers posted a six-win improvement from last season, including two wins in Big Ten play after being shut out a year ago.

After advancing past the first round with a 4-2 victory over Michigan State, the Wisconsin women's tennis team saw its Big Ten Championship run ended by Indiana 4-0.

Softball
Wisconsin concluded its 2008 season with a six-game homestand. UW swept in-state rival UW-Green Bay on April 23, before splitting its games against Ohio State on April 26. Unfortunately, the Badgers' loss in the first game mathematically eliminated them from the 2008 Big Ten Tournament. In the second game against the Buckeyes, a 4-3 win for UW, Joey Daniels hit a program-high three doubles.

Against border rival Minnesota, Wisconsin played its longest game of the season, an 11 inning marathon that was won by the Gophers 4-0. Vanevenhoven allowed only two hits and struck out six in her 5.2 innings of work.

Rowing
The Wisconsin women's rowing team placed second overall at the 2008 Big Ten Championships. The Badgers were seeded fifth in the varsity eight, fourth in the second varsity eight, third in the varsity four, and first in the second varsity four.

Thanks to top-five finishes in the varsity eight and second varsity eight, as well as a novice eight title, Wisconsin took fourth out of 22 teams at the two-day 2008 NCAA Central/South Regionals.

Wins by the second varsity eight in the petite final and the varsity eight in the third-level final pushed Wisconsin into 10th-place at the 2008 NCAA Rowing Championships. The finish for the Badgers at the three-day long event equaled the program's second-highest result in five NCAA trips.

Men's outdoor track and field
The streak is finally over for the Wisconsin men's track and field team. After four straight Big Ten Conference outdoor titles, the Badgers finished second at the 2008 championships.

A quartet of freshman scored in their first Big Ten championships. Chas Demers finished fourth in the 200 meters in a regional qualifying time of 21.24. Jake Fritz placed sixth in the shot put with a near three-foot personal best toss of 58-8 ¾. His throw moves into fifth on the UW top-10 list. Zach Beth finished seventh in the 800 meters in 1:51.37 and James Liermann took eighth in the triple jump with a personal best of 49-3.

Women's outdoor track and field
Led by a title by Megan Seidl in the high jump and two school records, the Wisconsin women's track and field team tied for sixth at the Big Ten Conference outdoor championships. The Badgers scored 73 points to tie Iowa and finish only four points out of fourth place.

Seidl became Wisconsin's first Big Ten outdoor champion in the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, 8 ¾ inches.

Juniors Chavon Robinson and Jenny Soceka bettered Wisconsin records in the triple jump and pole vault, respectively, both earning second-place finishes. Robinson went 43-3 ¾ in the triple, breaking Cathy Ross' six-year old mark of 42-10 ¼ set in 2002.

Information for this report provided by uwbadgers.com and bigten.org.

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