Ron Helmer said, would have been to concede to Wisconsin.

Instead, the Hoosiers ran with the Badgers at the front during Sunday's Big Ten cross-country race at Urbana, Ill., challenging the nation's top-ranked team.

The Hoosiers were hoping someone would break along the way, "and it happened to be us," Helmer said.

Wisconsin finished 1-2-3, packed five runners in the top six, scored a near-perfect 17 points and extended its record conference championship streak to 13. No. 7-ranked Indiana was a distant second, although its score of 60 was its lowest since sharing the Big Ten title in 1980.