MEN'S TRACK WINS NCAA TITLE
March 10, 2007 | Men's Track & Field
Chris Solinsky may not have won his third consecutive national title in the 3,000 meters but his second-place finish is what propelled the Wisconsin track and field team to the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championship. The Badgers scored 40 points to win its first NCAA title in track and field and the first ever for a Big Ten Conference school.
'It proves if you coach long enough, anyone can win,' said UW coach Ed Nuttycombe with a smile. 'We've been in the top 10 and top four but this is the first time we've won it all. This year we were able to get enough people in the same place at the same time to get it done.
'I think that the key was to try to optimize as many of the opportunities that we had. There's so few for every team and the team that maximizes the best (wins) and today it was us.'
Solinsky broke the UW record in the 3,000 meters but finished second to Northern Arizona 's Lopez Lomong. Solinsky set a fast pace early but Lomong, who typically runs the 800 meters, used a quick final lap to pull ahead of the Badger and win in 7:49.74. Solinsky finished in 7:51.69, breaking the previous school best of 7:51.75 set by Matt Tegenkamp in 2005.
'It was bittersweet because I won the last two years and I wanted to come in here and do something that no one has ever done,' explained Solinsky. 'No American has ever won the double and no one in the history of the (3,000 meters) has ever won three (titles in a row). He just had a better kick than I did today. I just wasn 't able to run it out of him like I have been able to in the past.
'We knew what we had to do (for the team title). That was the focus. The biggest picture is that we won the team title and no Big Ten team has ever done that. It was great to have my coach tell me I won the team title for the team especially after this fall when in my mind, I lost the team (cross country) title for the team.
Wisconsin was in second place in the team standings after senior Demi Omole finished second in the 60-meter dash. Clemson's Travis Padgett edged the Badger by .01 seconds to win in 6.56. Omole ran the second-fastest time of his career of 6.57.
'It was disheartening,' said Omole of his second-place finish. 'Being a senior and this being my last time around, I really wanted to get the victory but the eight points is sufficient enough and I'm proud of that.
'My start felt efficient; it didn't feel as great as the start I had yesterday. Getting the points was the main thing we talked about today. We weren't talking about places; we just wanted to place higher than most Florida State people. '
Omole did just that as the Seminoles Greg Bolden placed fourth in 6.63 and Walter Dix, who stumbled out of the blocks, placed eighth in 7.09.
Omole's finish put Wisconsin in second place in the team standings with 32 points, trailing only Texas, which had 34 points and had no other competitors. Florida State had 31 points with one competitor in the 3,000 meters and an entry in the 1600-meter relay. The Seminoles did not score in the 3,000 meters and placed fifth in the relay.
Wisconsin also scored in the heptathlon as Joe Detmer set a world record in the 1,000 meters to finish fifth. The senior from Lodi, Wis., finished with a UW record total 5,761 points, breaking his own mark of 5,651 points set earlier this season.
'The key events were the high jump and the vault; (my teammates) on the sideline got me going and I ended up PRing in that,' said Detmer. 'So I knew coming into the 1,000, I knew I could break the record so I just went for it. '
After recording a personal best of 15-9 in the pole vault to tie for sixth, Detmer headed into the final event'the 1,000 meters'with the world record on his mind.
'I knew about it and that was the goal,' said Detmer, who set the American record in the heptathlon 1,000 meters earlier this season. 'I just knew I had to be on pace through 800 (meters) and I think I could have kicked it in.'
Detmer covered the first 800 meters in 1 minute, 59 seconds before kicking his last 200 meters to finish in 2:29.42. He broke the world mark of 2:30.25 and the collegiate record of 2:30.74. Detmer finished nearly 12 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in the race.
'Yeah, it's a world record but I don't really consider it too much since its only one event in the overall scheme of things,' said Detmer. 'It's nice to be able to say but I don't think I'll think too highly of it.'
Donovan Kilmartin defended his title in the heptathlon, winning with 5,998 points. Jake Arnold of Arizona finished second with 5,909 points while Raven Cepeda of Northern Iowa took third with 5,864 points. Stanford's Josh Hustedt placed fourth with 5,837 points.
Detmer, who was seeded eighth entering the NCAA meet, picked up four points for the UW team. The Badgers have 24 points, five points ahead of second-place Texas. Tennessee is third with 18 points while Auburn, Arkansas, Florida State and Stanford are tied for fourth with 15 points.
'Obviously, it's a goal to finish higher than what you're seeded,' said Detmer of his finish. 'It's nice to be scoring some points for the team. I just wish it was more.'
