Boys Cross Country: Malachy Schrobilgen picks Wisconsin

Updated: December 13, 2011 6:40PM

A reunion with former Oak Park-River Forest teammate Jack Stapleton was too good to pass up for Malachy Schrobilgen.

Stapleton recently completed his freshman season at the University of Wisconsin, which won its fifth NCAA title last month in Terre Haute, Ind. Stapleton, a River Forest native, did not run in the national championship meet, but currently is the only Illinois runner in coach Mike Byrne’s program.

Schrobilgen, who finished third in the IHSA Class 3A state meet, chose the Badgers over Syracuse and Georgetown. Schrobilgen committed to Wisconsin on Dec. 5, just two days after finishing 44th at the Nike Cross National meet in Portland, Ore.

“I came home from Portland and I had a lot of information together at that point,” said Schrobilgen, an Oak Park resident. “That evening, I sat down with my family. Coach Byrne, ironically, called that night, so I told him (my decision).”

Schrobilgen finished 26th, in 15:53 over five kilometers, at the Foot Locker Nationals, held at Balboa Park, in San Diego, on Saturday.

Schrobilgen was the best greater Chicago area finisher in the race. Decatur MacArthur senior Michael Clevenger placed 25th. The only other top-40 finisher from Illinois was Beecher junior Grant Nykaza, who placed 33rd.

After the state meet, Schrobilgen said recruiters began asking whether he was going to appear in one or two national meets to conclude the season. He did not participate in any national meets last season after placing fifth at State.

“Foot Locker was the more enjoyable experience,” Schrobilgen said. “Being in San Diego for four days was an incredible experience. The Foot Locker meet gives runners full range of what they want to do.”

Nearly a week before the Nike Cross National, Schrobilgen tweaked the Achilles’ tendon in his left foot and did not run at 100 percent, as he had hoped.

“Because of that, I had to back off on my training the last two weeks,” Schrobilgen said. “I was disappointed because I wanted to better the challengers with a move up to the front.”

After speaking with Byrne, Schrobilgen eventually gave the news to Stapleton in Madison. The duo respectively finished fourth and fifth at the state meet in 2010, with Stapleton (14:31) placing just ahead of Schrobilgen (14:52) for the sixth-place Huskies.

Schrobilgen was the only OPRF runner to reach this year’s state meet.

“I knew Jack would be cool about being on the same team (again),” Schrobilgen said. “With Jack at (Wisconsin), I didn’t want it to be a huge deciding factor in recruiting. I thought of it as a bonus point. At Wisconsin for my visit, I had the feeling that the balance was better between academics and athletics. You can be exceptional at both.”

Schrobilgen doesn’t yet know what he’ll choose as a major, but he’s interested in anthropology and history.

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