Wisconsin Badgers
Big Ten Championships
Badgers make opening statements at Big Ten meet
February 27, 2015 | Men's Track & Field
| |||||||||
  |  
Feb. 27, 2015
GENEVA, Ohio -- The Wisconsin men's track and field team did all it could Friday to maximize scoring opportunities on the opening day of the 2015 Big Ten Indoor Championships, an effort led by distance runners, sprinters and multi-event athletes alike.
The pair of Morgan McDonald and Malachy Schrobilgen put on a strong performance in the 3000 meters but were unable to overcome champion Robby Creese of Penn State, who led early in the race and eventually made his way back to the front. Creese crossed the line in 8 minutes, 10.75 seconds for the win, with McDonald on his heels in 8:11.67 and Schrobilgen clocking in at 8:12.91.
The field failed to string out for much of the race, and the pair of Badgers were content to ride the rail near the front of the tightly-bunched pack in the early going.
As the slow-to-develop race wound down, McDonald made a move to the front with two laps to go, bringing Schrobilgen along for the ride. He ran at the point until Creese mounted his charge over the final 150 meters.
The Badgers also got points in the distance medley relay, with the quartet of McKena Ramos, Corbin Ellis, Cooper Barth and Russell Sandvold combining on a run of 9:48.37 that was good for seventh place.
Those performances left the Badgers in a tie for sixth place with a total of 15 points -- just 2.5 markers out of third -- after the first day of competition at the SPIRE Institute. Nebraska leads the team standings with 39.5 points and Penn State sits in second place with 33.
There are more points on the horizon Saturday, with sophomore Brandon Mortensen and redshirt freshman Sawyer Smith in prime position to score in the heptathlon after a strong opening day. Mortensen finished with a four-event score of 3,120 points to stand fourth, while Smith piled up 2,957 points and sits in eight place.
Mortensen started strong with a personal-best run of 7.14 in the 60 meters, with Smith clocking a 7.15. Things got even better in the long jump, with Mortensen leaping 23 feet, 10 inches to vault up the standings. He added a clearance of 6-6 1/4 in the high jump to round out his opening-day effort.
With the 60 hurdles, pole vault and 1000 meters to come Saturday, the field is chasing Minnesota's Luca Wieland, who holds a slight lead with 3,296 points. Michigan State's Tim Ehrhardt is second at 3,207 and Indiana's Stephen Keller stands third at 3,173.
Ryan Davis also laid the foundation for Saturday success by racing to the fourth-fastest time in UW history -- and the Badgers' best mark since 1993 -- to win his section of the 400 meters prelims in 46.89 seconds. His time stacked up third overall and puts him in a strong position for the final.
Only two Badgers have recorded faster indoor 400s than Davis, with LeRoy Dixon running a 46.45 in 1983 and Bryan Jones clocking a 46.76 in 1993 and a 46.77 in 1992.
Davis came back and turned in a personal-best 21.52 in the 200 meters but narrowly missed out on another finals bid.
Two hundredths of a second separated Aaron Thompson from a spot in the final of the 600 meters, with his 1:18.92 the 10th-fastest mark in the field. Minnesota's Rashawn Fountain clocked a 1:18.90 to take the ninth and final spot in the final.
Also, Jesse Johnson tied for 13th in the pole vault by clearing 16-3 1/2 and Riley Budde was 16th in the shot put with a throw of 54-2 1/2.
The final day of Big Ten competition gets underway at 9 a.m. (CT) Saturday when the heptathlon resumes with the 60 hurdles.
The main attraction, however, will be the showdown between the top two weight throwers in NCAA Division I history, record-holder and defending Big Ten champion Michael Lihrman of Wisconsin and No. 2 all-time thrower Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Purdue. The weight throw gets underway at 12:45 p.m. (CT).
