GENEVA, Ohio - The No. 22 Wisconsin women's track and field team wrapped up the final day of the Big Ten Conference Indoor Championship, finishing eighth with 38 points.
More than half of those points came from redshirt senior
Kelsey Card, who defended both of her Big Ten indoor titles with a win in the shot put yesterday and the weight throw during today's competition.
The throw of 72 feet, 7 3/4 inches set a new personal record for the All-American and currently ranks No. 1 in the country among NCAA Division I athletes.
"I'm really excited that I was able to double again like last year," Card said of her wins. "It means a lot finishing up my Big Ten season with a PR and hopefully I can carry that wave into nationals in a couple of weeks."
"We have to take a step back and appreciate what Kelsey did out there today," Director of Track and Field
Mick Byrne said of Card's performance. "Just the confidence I saw out there today in that competition. I just saw a side of her that I haven't seen in a while, just so relaxed and so comfortable with who she is and where she's at."
Redshirt freshmen
Banke Oginni and
Kennedy Blahnik also competed in the weight throw earning 18th and 24th place, respectively, with marks of 58-1 1/4 and 54-5 1/2.
In today's 600-meter finals, junior
Brenna Detra captured fifth place in 1 minute, 30.35 seconds.
After setting a new Wisconsin record in the indoor pentathlon yesterday,
Georgia Ellenwood was back in action today as she competed in the high jump. The redshirt sophomore placed seventh with a clearance of 5-10, only one-half of an inch off of her personal best.
Fellow high-jumper
Emma Haugen tied for 11th with a height of 5-7.
Three athletes represented the Badgers in the 5,000 meters. Junior
Michele Lee led the trio with a ninth-place finish in 16:38.23.
Gabi Anzalone crossed the line in 16:50.49 to place 10th, and not far behind was
Jamie Shannon who took 11th in 16:54.27.
The distance medley relay team of Detra,
Ebony McClendon, Ellenwood, and
Emma Reifel closed out the Big Ten meet with a 13th place finish in 3:46.55.
Although the final team ranking was not what the team had hoped for, Byrne was excited for the future of this team in the conference.
"We are getting better...and I think over the next years we're going to be much better," said Byrne. "We're going in the direction that we want to...We believe that in a year or two down the road, we're going to be really strong in this conference."
The team takes a well-deserved competitive break next weekend as they prepare for the NCAA Indoor Championships March 11 and 12 in Birmingham, Alabama.
