April 29, 2011

• Thursday Results  |  Thursday Results   |  Photo Gallery

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Wisconsin men's track and field team eased into the 102nd running of the Drake Relays on Thursday, even though it was anything but easy for the Badgers that took the track.

That was especially true for senior Landon Peacock, who raced to a runner-up finish under the lights at Drake Stadium.

UW competed athletes in both the 10,000 meters and 5,000 meters as part of the Thursday evening distance carnival, but Peacock's performance was the highlight of the night.

The reigning Big Ten cross country champion, who was sidelined for the entire indoor season by injury, was strong in just his second race on the track this year. Peacock clocked a time of 14 minutes, 7.76 seconds to take second in a very competitive 5,000 meters, finishing second to Southern Illinois' Jeff Schirmer.

Peacock ran with the lead group throughout and eventually moved to the front and held the lead as he and Schirmer broke away to take the bell for the final lap. That's when Schirmer made his move, slipping past Peacock and eventually putting some distance between the pair to finish in 14:05.47.

Sophomore Drew Shields also raced the 5,000 but dropped out in the race's late stages after clipping the rail on the inside of the track.

Michael Brice's debut on the track for UW was more successful, as the freshman finished his first race in a Badgers uniform seventh in the 10,000 meters. Brice clocked in at 30:30.09, with race winner Tanner Fruit of Nebraska-Kearney logging a time of 29:50.41.

Freshman Neal Berman, racing less than an hour-and-a-half after stepping off the team bus in Des Moines, was unable to finish.

The Drake Relays begins in earnest for the Badgers on Friday, beginning with the prelims of the 4x100-meter relay at 9:48 a.m. UW is scheduled to compete in eight events on Friday, including four relays.

UWBadgers.com will provide an all-day live blog from the track to provide regular updates.