Badgers' distance crew seeks speed in Seattle
February 11, 2010 | Men's Track & Field
Feb. 11, 2010
MADISON, Wis. -- After putting on a performance for their home fans two weeks ago, Wisconsin’s men’s distance runners take their show on the road this weekend to compete in the highly-competitive Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash.
A trio of Badgers will get things rolling on the 307-meter track inside Washington’s Dempsey Indoor by competing in the 5,000 meters at 9:30 p.m. on Friday. Wisconsin will then have eight competitors in action Saturday, beginning with the men’s mile at 1:55 p.m.
| Husky Classic | |
| Date | Friday-Saturday, Feb. 12-13 | 8 p.m. / 10 a.m. |
| Location | Seattle, Wash. | Dempsey Indoor (307-meter Mondo track) |
| Meet Info | Final Schedule  | Start List |
| Live Coverage | Live Results | Flotrack Live Webcast |
| Rankings | USTFCCCA National Team Rankings | Regional Team Index |
| Performance Lists | NCAA | Big Ten |
| UWBadgers.com | Meet Notes | Performance List |
With an automatic berth in the NCAA championships already secured thanks to his 3:58.98 mile at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational on Jan. 30, senior Craig Miller is returning to the track in the 3,000 meters this weekend.
He owns a lifetime best of 7:59.49 and is seeded into what should be an exciting third and final heat of the invitational section. Joining Miller in the field for the fast heat are defending NCAA 1,500 meters champion German Fernandez of Oklahoma State, who owns the Dempsey track record at 7:47.97, as well as New Mexico’s Lee Emanuel, who held off Miller to win the mile at last year’s NCAA indoor championships.
Among the others to watch in the field are Cal’s Michael Coe, who comes into the meet seeded second at 7:48.05, Northern Arizona’s David McNeill and former Badger Brandon Bethke, who now competes for Arizona State.
Miller’s 3:58.98 effort in the mile came in his first race of the season and has the senior ranked in a tie for third place nationally in the event.
The penultimate heat of the invitational 3,000 also boasts and impressive field and includes Wisconsin freshman Reed Connor and seniors Jack Bolas and Ryan Gasper.
The junior duo of Zach Beth and Luke Rucks both have posted NCAA provisional qualifying marks already this season, and both will run Saturday in the invitational 800 meters. Beth comes off a school-record run in the 1,000 meters at last weekend’s Meyo Invitational.
Freshman Zachary Mellon is slated to run in the fast section of the collegiate 800 meters and owns that field’s No. 1 seed time at 1:49.00.
In the mile, redshirt freshman Rob Finnerty will look to chase down an NCAA qualifying time while competing in the fast heat. Former Badger Chris Solinsky owns the Dempsey track record in the mile after running a 3:55.76 there last month.
Freshman Mohammed Ahmed, who was recently named to the Canadian national team for the upcoming NACAC Cross Country Championships, will compete in the 5,000 meters Friday, along with redshirt freshman Maverick Darling and junior Landon Peacock.
Both Darling and Peacock are provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships in the 3,000 meters after finishing 1-2 at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational two weeks ago.
Peacock ran his personal-best time of 14:07.74 at last year’s Husky Classic.
