Three days after becoming the fourth University of Wisconsin athlete to win an NCAA men’s individual cross country title, senior Morgan McDonald was named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Athlete of the Year, the organization announced Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, McDonald was named the Big Ten Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year after the Sydney, Australia, native won the conference meet last month.
UW junior Alicia Monson was named the women’s Big Ten Cross Country Athlete of the Year. The Amery native, who finished fourth at the national meet and was the Big Ten and NCAA Great Lakes Region champion, is the first Badgers runner since Bethany Brewster in 2001 to earn the Big Ten accolade.