UW-Whitewater men’s cross country looks to build on their stellar 2023 season, where the Warhawks finished second in both the WIAC championships and the North Regional. To start the 2024 season, the Warhawks secured a first-place finish at the North Central Invitational.
The Warhawks were led by sophomore Keegan Bratt, who placed second overall, and his brother Landen Bratt, a senior who earned an 11th-place finish. As the season progresses, the Bratt brothers will be essential in helping the Warhawks continue their momentum. They weighed in on their lives as student-athletes and being brothers on the same team.
Q: What inspired both of you to pursue cross country, and how did you get started in the sport?
A: Both of us started in high school. We didn’t really like it at first, then we realized after a little bit that we had a lot of potential in the sport and that we could achieve some big things. Our mom ran in college and has been running marathons her whole life, a big one being the Boston Marathon. She was a big factor in pushing us to join cross country and track as freshmen in high school. So all-in-all, our family was an inspiration to start running, and all of our siblings also ran in high school.
Q: How do you motivate each other during races and training? Is there any sibling rivalry involved?
A: We definitely try to motivate each other in races and training. We are in the same workout group, so it’s pretty cool to be able to train and compete at pretty much the same level as we have together since high school and push each other to get better every day. There definitely is a competitive edge in our relationship, but it’s all good things, and we wouldn’t call it a rivalry. There are some days when one of us will have an off day while the other will have a good day. It’s just bound to happen. It’s all about uplifting each other and pushing each other to be the best runners and people we can be. When you train and race together, the odds are that you aren’t going to have a good day every time we run together, whether that be in training or competing.
Q: How do you balance academics and athletics while competing at a high level?
A: It’s all about finding that healthy balance, obviously. If you focus too much on one, the other will falter. Finding the balance between both and putting equal effort into both is a big part of the college experience; you can’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Q: What does a typical training week look like for you during the cross-country season?
A: A typical training week would go pretty much like this: easy run on Monday, which is usually anywhere from 8 to 10 miles in the afternoon, with lifting in the morning. Tuesday is always our first workout of the week, and then Wednesday is another easy day, around 8 to 10 miles, with a lift again in the morning. Thursday will be another workout, and Friday will usually be a short pre-meet the day before a race, which is usually anywhere from 5 to 7 miles. Then we race on Saturday and usually do a long run on Sunday, which on our team usually varies from 13 to 16 miles.
Q: Can you describe the team dynamics at Whitewater? How does being part of a close-knit team affect your performance?
A: A big thing we push on our team is to treat each other like family and push each other to be better every day in everything we do. We believe it plays a big role in how our team is as good as it is. It helps everyone perform to the best of their ability, knowing that everyone on the team has each other’s backs, whether or not you perform as well as you wanted to.
Q: What goals do you have for the rest of the season, both individually and as a team?
A: Our men’s team is currently ranked third in the national polls, and we know that our team would definitely be happy bringing a third-place trophy back to Whitewater from nationals, but we also obviously would like to exceed expectations. Anything can happen at nationals, and our team knows we have a real shot of bringing home a trophy this year. We would both like to contribute to the trophy run, whether that’s being on the conference, regional, or national team or not. We don’t really have any time goals in mind, being a little hard with cross country races having so many factors affecting them, but our main goal would be to contribute to the run for a trophy in any way for sure.
The Warhawks’ next meet is at home for the Tom Hoffman Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 21. The Bratt brothers will look to build on their incredible start with another top finish.
