Badgers' recruiting class ranked fifth in nation
December 01, 2009 | Men's Track & Field
Dec. 1, 2009
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin men's track and field team's 2009 recruiting class puts the Badgers among the nation's best, according to Track & Field News.
The publication ranked the Badgers' freshman class the nation's fifth-best group of recruits in its January issue.
"A deep class for Ed Nuttycombe is topped by All-Americans Zach Mellon (1:48.64) and Mick Viken (16-10)," the magazine states.
Both Mellon, a middle distance standout from Buffalo, Minn., and Viken, a pole vaulter from Rolling Meadows, Ill., were named to the Track & Field News High School All-America teams last month.
Mellon was the publication's No. 2-ranked athlete at 800 meters after finishing second at the U.S. junior championships in June. He ranked third nationally for the 2008 season, as well.
Viken was Track & Field News' fifth-ranked prep in the pole vault after winning the Illinois Class 3A state title and finishing ninth at the U.S. junior meet over the summer. He cleared the 16-foot plateau a total of seven times in his final high school season.
In its ratings of the 2010 recruiting classes, Track & Field News also credits the Badgers for distance standouts Mohammed Ahmed - who won the Canadian junior cross country championship over the weekend - Reed Connor and Drew Shields.
Redshirt freshman long jumper Marcus Jenkins, who has a wind-aided leap or 25-2 1/4 to his credit, also is listed as one of the Badgers' top recruits.
This marks the third time Wisconsin has been ranked among the nation's top-five recruiting classes since Track & Field News began its ratings in 1995. The last UW class to be recognized was in 2003, when the Badgers' recruits were ranked fifth.
Four years later, that group went on to power the Badgers to their first-ever national title at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. That elite recruiting class included distance runners Chris Solinsky and Tim Nelson, sprinter Demi Omole and thrower Joe Thomas.
Solinsky would go on to win five individual NCAA titles and, along with Nelson, ran for the U.S. at the 2009 IAAF World Championships. Omole won 11 individual conference titles and was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year as a senior. Thomas was a first-round NFL draft pick and plays for the Cleveland Browns.
The Badgers' 1997 class also was ranked No. 4 by Track & Field News.
Wisconsin opens the 2010 season the weekend of Jan. 15-16, when it hosts the Badger Quad at the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center.
