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MADISON – Chris Solinsky has his “workers” again.
The term goes back to a conversation the Wisconsin Badger Hall of Famer had with his family when his alma mater was searching for its next director of track and field and cross country.
Solinsky asked both his wife and his children, “Is this something we want to do?”
“My kids actually were the first to respond and say that they missed being around track people, and my youngest actually called the student-athletes my workers. I don’t know if I’m going to continue that, but he said, ‘I miss seeing your workers.’”
Solinsky has his work cut out for him as he takes the reins of UW’s track and field and cross country programs and replaces Mick Byrne, who retired as the winningest coach in Big Ten men’s cross country history after 18 years with the Badgers.
“This program is capable of winning Big Ten titles and national titles,” said Solinsky, who took the job after five months as the executive director of the W Club and three years before that on Oregon’s track and field staff. “We’ll settle for nothing less than pursuing that.”
The biggest challenge, Solinsky said, is “taking down the beast that I helped build.” Yes, he is referring to Oregon – his former employer and the team that recently finished fourth on the women’s side and fifth on the men’s side at the NCAA outdoor championships.
“Oregon obviously has been pretty stout,” Solinsky said. “But I know their strengths, and I know their weaknesses because I was on the ground floor of building that track team into where it is now.”
He shared that message with Jerry Schumacher – the current Oregon head coach and former Wisconsin head coach when Solinsky won his five NCAA titles – at the outdoor championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“I said, ‘I’m coming for you,’” Solinsky said. “And he just laughed, and I said, ‘I’m serious.’”
Solinsky has a few things to figure out before he can follow up that top-tier talk with serious top-tier results. His first official day on the new job was June 8.
He inherited a staff that spent a long time coaching under Byrne. (Three assistant coaches have been in Madison for more than a decade, including associate head coach Kareem Jackson, who Byrne said is “very much part of my family.”)
Whether those assistant coaches stay with Solinsky is unclear at this point in the transition. He expects to have a “full answer” to that question “in short order.”
“I’m taking these first few weeks just to kind of assess the landscape, assess vision and just get a feel for where people are, if they’re comfortable in my leadership style,” Solinsky said.
Then there are the questions about financial resources that are inextricably tied to competitive success in the current era of college athletics. Byrne told the Journal Sentinel that staying competitive “requires a lot more today than it did when I started in 2008,” and interim athletic director Marcus Sedberry has acknowledged that reality as well.
“We can’t say we desire to be a top-three program in the conference or top-10, top-five in the country on a regular basis and think that you can do that with resources of old,” Sedberry said. “You have to figure out new ways to do that, and I think we’re committed to doing that.”
Facilities have long been among the areas that show the gap between the haves and have-nots in track and field.
The under-construction Kellner Family Athletic Center will include a 305-meter indoor track, and Solinsky believes it will “put us on par with any place that trains outdoor all year round.” But the McClimon Track Complex, UW’s outdoor track home, opened in 1959 and lacks the amenities of many Big Ten counterparts.
“It’s what you do in the competition field that is the biggest selling point for the program,” Solinsky said when asked about facilities attracting the talent he needs.
Athlete compensation via name, image and likeness and/or revenue sharing has emerged as another key area. Byrne said ahead of his retirement that the Badgers need to decide “if we want to play ball in that playground,” and it’s on Solinsky’s mind as well.
“It’s real in track and field, and I’ve already had multiple conversations with alums who are willing to get into that space,” Solinsky said.
Solinsky’s return to his alma mater to take the W Club position earlier in the 2025-26 academic year gave him a five-month head start in some aspects of the transition. After all, that job also required building key relationships, engaging alumni and acclimating to the athletic department.
“It prepared me and made me familiar with certain stakeholders within the athletic department and to have those conversations and know who to talk to,” Solinsky said.
His previous job change was the “right time to make a family choice,” Solinsky said. He is from Stevens Point. His wife Amy Dahlin, a fellow former UW track and field athlete, is from Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Both sides of the family obviously are much more accessible from Madison – well, technically Waunakee – than when he was coaching, whether that be at William & Mary, Florida or Oregon.
“But the desire and passion for coaching never left,” Solinsky said. “So when we collectively as a family decided, ‘This is what we want to pursue,’ it was all gas, no brakes from there.”
UW announced his hire on June 4, and it did not take long to hear the excitement from some of his figurative family in Stevens Point as well. (His old SPASH coaches “were the first to blow up my phone.”)
Now, Solinsky is living the dream at the place where he won his five NCAA titles, four Big Ten titles and 14 All-America honors as a UW track and field athlete (or worker).
“I still have woken up a few times thinking that I am dreaming,” Solinsky said. “So I’m glad that when I pinch myself, it hurts.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky has high hopes as new track and field coach
Continue reading...
The term goes back to a conversation the Wisconsin Badger Hall of Famer had with his family when his alma mater was searching for its next director of track and field and cross country.
Solinsky asked both his wife and his children, “Is this something we want to do?”
“My kids actually were the first to respond and say that they missed being around track people, and my youngest actually called the student-athletes my workers. I don’t know if I’m going to continue that, but he said, ‘I miss seeing your workers.’”
Solinsky has his work cut out for him as he takes the reins of UW’s track and field and cross country programs and replaces Mick Byrne, who retired as the winningest coach in Big Ten men’s cross country history after 18 years with the Badgers.
“This program is capable of winning Big Ten titles and national titles,” said Solinsky, who took the job after five months as the executive director of the W Club and three years before that on Oregon’s track and field staff. “We’ll settle for nothing less than pursuing that.”
The biggest challenge, Solinsky said, is “taking down the beast that I helped build.” Yes, he is referring to Oregon – his former employer and the team that recently finished fourth on the women’s side and fifth on the men’s side at the NCAA outdoor championships.
“Oregon obviously has been pretty stout,” Solinsky said. “But I know their strengths, and I know their weaknesses because I was on the ground floor of building that track team into where it is now.”
He shared that message with Jerry Schumacher – the current Oregon head coach and former Wisconsin head coach when Solinsky won his five NCAA titles – at the outdoor championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“I said, ‘I’m coming for you,’” Solinsky said. “And he just laughed, and I said, ‘I’m serious.’”
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Solinsky has a few things to figure out before he can follow up that top-tier talk with serious top-tier results. His first official day on the new job was June 8.
He inherited a staff that spent a long time coaching under Byrne. (Three assistant coaches have been in Madison for more than a decade, including associate head coach Kareem Jackson, who Byrne said is “very much part of my family.”)
Whether those assistant coaches stay with Solinsky is unclear at this point in the transition. He expects to have a “full answer” to that question “in short order.”
“I’m taking these first few weeks just to kind of assess the landscape, assess vision and just get a feel for where people are, if they’re comfortable in my leadership style,” Solinsky said.
Then there are the questions about financial resources that are inextricably tied to competitive success in the current era of college athletics. Byrne told the Journal Sentinel that staying competitive “requires a lot more today than it did when I started in 2008,” and interim athletic director Marcus Sedberry has acknowledged that reality as well.
“We can’t say we desire to be a top-three program in the conference or top-10, top-five in the country on a regular basis and think that you can do that with resources of old,” Sedberry said. “You have to figure out new ways to do that, and I think we’re committed to doing that.”
Facilities have long been among the areas that show the gap between the haves and have-nots in track and field.
The under-construction Kellner Family Athletic Center will include a 305-meter indoor track, and Solinsky believes it will “put us on par with any place that trains outdoor all year round.” But the McClimon Track Complex, UW’s outdoor track home, opened in 1959 and lacks the amenities of many Big Ten counterparts.
“It’s what you do in the competition field that is the biggest selling point for the program,” Solinsky said when asked about facilities attracting the talent he needs.
Athlete compensation via name, image and likeness and/or revenue sharing has emerged as another key area. Byrne said ahead of his retirement that the Badgers need to decide “if we want to play ball in that playground,” and it’s on Solinsky’s mind as well.
“It’s real in track and field, and I’ve already had multiple conversations with alums who are willing to get into that space,” Solinsky said.
You must be registered for see images attach
Solinsky’s return to his alma mater to take the W Club position earlier in the 2025-26 academic year gave him a five-month head start in some aspects of the transition. After all, that job also required building key relationships, engaging alumni and acclimating to the athletic department.
“It prepared me and made me familiar with certain stakeholders within the athletic department and to have those conversations and know who to talk to,” Solinsky said.
His previous job change was the “right time to make a family choice,” Solinsky said. He is from Stevens Point. His wife Amy Dahlin, a fellow former UW track and field athlete, is from Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Both sides of the family obviously are much more accessible from Madison – well, technically Waunakee – than when he was coaching, whether that be at William & Mary, Florida or Oregon.
“But the desire and passion for coaching never left,” Solinsky said. “So when we collectively as a family decided, ‘This is what we want to pursue,’ it was all gas, no brakes from there.”
UW announced his hire on June 4, and it did not take long to hear the excitement from some of his figurative family in Stevens Point as well. (His old SPASH coaches “were the first to blow up my phone.”)
Now, Solinsky is living the dream at the place where he won his five NCAA titles, four Big Ten titles and 14 All-America honors as a UW track and field athlete (or worker).
“I still have woken up a few times thinking that I am dreaming,” Solinsky said. “So I’m glad that when I pinch myself, it hurts.”
You must be registered for see images attach
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky has high hopes as new track and field coach
Continue reading...
