April 24, 2011
• Triton Invitational Results | McDonnell Invitational Results
MADISON, Wis. -- With the calendar officially turned to spring, the Wisconsin men’s track and field team has officially hit its stride outdoors.
Wherever they were competing on Saturday, the Badgers posted outstanding performances to continue climbing the Big Ten performance list.
In San Diego, freshman Dan Block continued his assault on the Badgers’ record books by improving his own school record in the discus for the third straight meet. In Arkansas, three decathletes posted season-best scores – including two lifetime-best marks – to take three of the top six finishing positions.
Block was back to business after taking a weekend off, a rest he earned by matching the Badgers’ all-time mark in the discus on April 2 before topping the record by a full two feet on April 9.
The week away from competition paid dividends as Block unleashed a throw of 192 feet, 5 inches to take eighth place at the Triton Invitational – and finish with the top mark of any collegian in the field. His performance topped the record of 188-0 that Block set just two weeks ago.
The throw increased Block’s lead atop the Big Ten performance list to more than six feet ahead of second-place Blake Eaton on Penn State. It also bumped Block all the way to No. 6 in the nation and made him the top-ranked freshman in NCAA Division I competition this season.
Block also posted an outdoor personal-best throw of 57-2 1/4 to finish fifth in the shot put – the seventh-best mark in the Big Ten.
Junior David Grzesiak missed out on matching his personal-best mark in the decathlon by just 22 points, but he led a strong charge for the Badgers at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
Grzesiak’s score of 7,352 points was enough to grab second place and hold off teammate Derek Steinbach, who finished third with a career-best total of 7,310 points – and moved to No. 9 on UW’s all-time list in the process.
Arkansas’ Kevin Lazas won the event with a score of 7,542.
Junior Ian Jansen also posted the best mark of his career, compiling a score of 6,801 points to take sixth in the two-day, 10-event competition.
Grzesiak and Steinbach vaulted to second and third on the Big Ten’s performance list and trail only Minnesota senior Brock Spandl, who owns a season-best score of 7,384 points.
A windy first day helped the competitors in the 100 meters and long jump on Friday, but calm conditions prevailed on Saturday. Grzesiak did his biggest damage on the track, closing each day of competition with personal-best runs.
He clocked a lifetime-best time of 49.31 seconds in the 400 meters to close out day one and then checked in at a career-best 4:29.84 in the 10th and final event, the 1,500 meters, on Saturday.
The winds pushed Steinbach to some fast times in the sprints, but he especially shined in the field events to close out the competition Saturday. He followed up a personal-best clearance of 15 feet, 5 inches in the pole vault with a lifetime-best mark of 207-8 in the javelin.
The throw propelled Steinbach to No. 3 in the Big Ten this season and ranks as the fifth-best mark in UW history.
Also Saturday at the McDonnell Invitational, the tandem of redshirt freshman Japheth Cato and junior Mickey DeFilippo grabbed second and third in the pole vault. Both cleared 16-6 3/4, with DeFilippo edging his teammate for the runner-up spot on the criteria of total misses.
After a rather light weekend, the majority of the Badgers return to competition next weekend at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, with action getting underway Thursday evening.
