Stories about the University of Wisconsin men’s and women’s cross country teams are like tall tales.
Badgers fans boast of their accomplishments (“The men have won 49 Big Ten Championships! And 33 individual titles!”) and nod their heads in agreement at the mention of various superlatives (“The women won six consecutive conference titles! Twice!”).
And like lumberjacks trying to top each other with campfire myths of Paul Bunyan or the elusive hodag, very few fans have actually laid eyes on Wisconsin cross country legends like three-time All-American Mohammed Ahmed or 1995 national champion Kathy Butler. Fewer still have ever seen a race.