May 15, 2010

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The majority of the Wisconsin men’s track and field team’s performances Saturday didn’t have points attached, but that doesn’t mean the Badgers aren’t in a good position heading into the final day of the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

With eight events scored through the first two days of competition, the Badgers stand in a tie for third in the team standings with 35 points. Minnesota leads those standings with 79 points, while Indiana has tallied 36 and Purdue has matched the Badgers with 35 points through the first two days of competition.
 
Only five event finals were contested Saturday, with the Badgers scoring podium finishes in the long jump and decathlon.

“For the most part, Saturday is about putting yourself into position to score points on Sunday,” head coach Ed Nuttycombe said. “We had a great day in that respect, as far as qualifying for finals on Sunday, but we also had some solid performances that generated some points to keep us in the hunt.”

Junior Rayme Mackinson posted a leap of 23 feet, 9 inches to claim third place in the long jump. The performance, which came on Mackinson’s final attempt of the trials, proved to be an early boost for the Badgers.

Sophomore David Grzesiak managed to match Mackinson’s scoring output with an impressive final day in the decathlon. He took third with a personal-best score of 7,364 points, a total that ranks him eighth on the Badgers' all-time list, in a tightly-contested battle through the 10-discipline challenge.

Grzesiak -- the leader with two events remaining on the slate -- finished just 17 points back of champion R.J. McGinnis of Minnesota, who held off runner-up Frank Shotwell of Michigan by a meager two points to claim victory.

A personal-best effort in the pole vault propelled Grzesiak into the leader after eight events, as he cleared 15 feet, 5 inches to improve his lifetime-best mark by a full six inches. He also posted a personal-best mark of 128-7 in the discus.

Senior Seth Pelock aided the Badgers’ cause with team points in the final decathlon competition of his career by finishing off an eighth-place finish at 6,862 points.

Wisconsin also picked up team points from freshman Collin Taylor's seventh-place finish in the high jump, which he earned with a clearance at 6-10 1/4. It was the second Big Ten scoring performance in as many attempts for Taylor, who also was seventh at the conference’s indoor championships.

As far as scoring events were concerned, the Badgers’ night ended with an eighth-place showing by freshman Phil Thomas in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 8:58.85.
 
Wisconsin also pushed a number of athletes through to Sunday's finals on the track, including three finalists in the 1,500 meters and two more each in the 400 meters and 110-meter hurdles.

In the 1,500, senior Jack Bolas clocked the fastest overall time at 3:45.86, while fellow senior Craig Miller -- the defending Big Ten champion – was third-fastest at 3:47.91. Redshirt freshman Rob Finnerty also cracked the field with his run of 3:48.16 to finish 11th-fastest overall.

Senior James Groce ran fourth fastest overall in the 400 meters by clocking a season-best 47.35, and sophomore Kyle Jefferson was just behind at 47.53 to qualify with the No. 5 seed for Sunday’s final.

Senior Nate Larkin punched his ticket for a return trip to the finals of the 110 hurdles by qualifying third-fastest overall at 14.41. Larkin scored All-Big Ten honors with a runner-up finish last year, and he also was runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles indoors this season. Sophomore Adum Gross also raced his way into the final with the sixth-fastest time overall at 14.46.

In the 800 meters, junior Zach Beth won his heat to earn an automatic qualifying spot in the final, with his time of 1:49.80 standing as the second-fastest mark in the prelims.

Freshman Gavin Robertson blazed to a personal-best time in the 200 meters with a 21.28, a mark that pushed him into the final.

The Badgers also pushed through their 4x100-meter relay team of Larkin, Robertson, Groce and Jefferson, which clocked a time of 40.60 to earn the No. 4 seed for the final.

The Big Ten outdoor championships conclude Sunday with finals in numerous events, with the schedule beginning at 10 a.m. (CT).