April 17, 2011
• Mt. SAC Relays Results | Beach Invitational Results
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin men’s track and field team’s performance list has a distinctly different look after the Badgers wrapped up their busiest weekend of competition in a pair of meets Saturday.
A number of UW athletes made season debuts or opened in their specialty events on the West Coast this weekend, with Badgers moving their way up the Big Ten Conference performance list in events across the board thanks to performances in several meets.
The weekend came to a close Saturday at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., and the Beach Invitational in nearby Norwalk, Calif.
The Badgers’ middle distance duo of redshirt freshman Zachary Mellon and senior Zach Beth were UW’s representatives on the final day of the Mt. SAC Relays, running in the Olympic Development section of the 800 meters.
Mellon, competing in his second 800 meters races in as many days, clocked an outdoor collegiate-best time of 1:48.91 to take second in the race. Beth, making his season debut in his specialty event, finished fourth in 1:49.13.
The performances moved both into the top 20 nationally in the event, with Mellon also ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten and Beth just behind at fifth in the conference rundown.
Meanwhile, at Long Beach State’s Beach Invitational, the Badgers sent a full complement of athletes to close out a busy weekend.
The sprinters were on display in the California heat, led by a lifetime-best run for junior Kyle Jefferson in the 200 meters. Jefferson raced to a tie for second place by laying down a wind-aided time of 20.96 seconds -- a mark that bumps him all the way to the No. 2 spot on the Big Ten performance list.
That performance came on the heels of Jefferson’s run of 46.98 in the 400 meters Friday, which moved him to No. 4 on the Big Ten list in that event.
Also in the 200 meters Saturday, junior Brady Hammon ran a season-best 21.78 to take 20th overall in the event.
In the 110-meter hurdles, junior Adum Gross ran a time of 14.38 seconds to claim sixth place, with junior Temi Ogunbodede clocking in at 14.54 to take 10th.
Although they were wind-aided, the Badgers also saw their top marks of the season recorded in the long jump. Redshirt freshman Japheth Cato took fourth in the long jump with an outdoor personal-best leap of 24 feet, 3 inches. Senior Rayme Mackson leapt 23-6 3/4 to take seventh.
In the high jump, senior Pat Nichols cleared 6-9 1/2 to grab second place.
Next weekend, the Badgers will send athletes to compete in the John McDonnell Invitational at Arkansas, as well as the Triton Invitational in San Diego.
