Jan. 15, 2010
Complete Results | Complete Results 
MADISON, Wis. -- David Grzesiak’s personal-best pentathlon performance Friday has the Wisconsin men’s track and field team in the lead after the first day of competition in the Badger Quad.
Grzesiak made his return to the Badgers’ lineup after redshirting last season and wasted little time in contributing to the team’s cause. He racked up a career-high score of 3,922 points – third-best in school history – to distance himself from the field and win the five-event competition at the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center.
By taking the pentathlon, Grzesiak gave Wisconsin an early 16-6 lead over Milwaukee in the team race, as neither Marquette or SIU-Edwardsville entered athletes in the initial event.
Teammate and sophomore Derek Steinbach was second with a career-best score of 3,673 points, followed by freshman Japeth Cato, who took third with 3,569 while competing unattached in his first-ever pentathlon. Sophomore Ian Jansen took fourth place for the Badgers with 3,393, while senior Seth Pelock competed only in the first four events.
Milwaukee’s Ryan Rayeske grabbed fifth place to score the Panthers five team points.
Grzesiak shook off a relatively slow start – he ran 8.50 in the 60-meter hurdles and posted a mark of 21 feet, 10 inches in the long jump – by finishing strong over the final three events.
He threw a personal-best 42-1 1/2 in the shot put, trailing only Steinbach’s indoor personal-best mark of 44-2 3/4, and then obliterated his previous lifetime best in the high jump by clearing 6-9.
That was still short of Cato’s effort in the long jump, as he was the class of the field at 6-10 1/4 despite competing in the event for the first time at any level. He also led the way in the long jump with a leap of 23-1 1/4.
Grzesiak closed out the competition by running away with the 1,000 meters, finishing in 2:45.42. Jansen was next-fastest and smashed his previous career best in the race by clocking in at 2:46.75, while Steinbach also finished with a personal-best run of 2:49.35.
On the women’s side, Milwaukee’s Moriah Myles took the top spot in the pentathlon with a score of 2,919 to give the Panthers an early nine-point advantage on the rest of the field.
A pair of Wisconsin freshman who competed unattached rounded out the finishers in the competition, with Samantha Berg (2,888 points) taking second and Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey (2,717) finishing third.
The UW women enjoyed a strong showing in the exhibition discus competition held in the McClain Center, as Badgers swept the top three spots. Freshman Taylor Smith claimed the win at 153 feet, 4 inches to finish just ahead of teammate Sunni Massop, who went 152-4 to earn runner-up honors.
Senior Amanda Hoeppner, who missed the 2009 season due to injury, took third at 139-3.
In the men’s event, senior Rory Linder grabbed a second-place finish with a throw of 159 feet, 2 inches.
The Badger Quad continues Saturday with a full slate of events, beginning with field events at 11 a.m. Running events get underway at 11:30 a.m., with the two-hour, all-finals afternoon session scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
