MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's and women's track and field squad face a much different weekend than the one they enjoyed this past week. Coming off a weekend of rest, the Badgers will hit the ground running in an action-packed two days of competition. The Badgers will divide and conquer at three different meets: the Triton Invitational, the Stanford Twilight, and the John McDonnell Invitational.
"We've got three groups going in different spots this weekend," UW Director of Track and Field
Mick Byrne said. "Sometimes you have to do that and seek out the best competition for each event group, and each group will be tested this weekend against some of the nation's best athletes.
"Right now all you have to concentrate on is getting those (NCAA) regional times because sometimes the Big Tens is more competitive and nobody's thinking about times, they're thinking about winning events."
Stanford TwilightThe Stanford Twilight will play host to the Badger's distance runners. Under the direction of Byrne, the distance squad will participate at a one-day event hosted by Stanford University, kicking off on Friday night.
Coming off a win at the Spec Towns Invitational in the 800 meters,
Austin Mudd will continue his senior campaign by competing in the 1500 meters, an event where he earned first-team All-America honors in 2013.
"It's a new meet at Stanford, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out," Byrne said. "Mudd is ready to go right now, and we look forward to seeing him run well and run fast. He's looked fantastic in the last couple of workouts."
Sophomore
Joe Hardy will take his first crack at the outdoor season. As last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year in the 1500 meters, Hardy will switch gears to compete in the 5000 meters and will be joined by junior Russ Sandvold.
Gabi Anzalone, Michele Lee, Jamie Shannon and Shaelyn Sorensen will represent the distance squad on the women's side. Anzalone and Sorensen have raced once this outdoor season in the 5000 meters at the Aztec Invitational, finishing first and second, respectively.
John McDonnell InvitationalAs the distance squad heads to Stanford, the sprinters will blaze their own trail as they head to the John McDonnell Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas
Junior Brenna Detra has had a stellar start to her outdoor season. Coming off a pair of victories at the Aztec Invitational in the 400 hurdles and 800 meters, Detra will compete in the 400 hurdles Saturday.
On the men's side,
Lorenzo Larry will take his sprinting prowess to the John McDonnell Field. Finishing third in the 200 meters and fifth in the 100 meters at the Spec Towns Invitational, Larry will look to better his marks as he looks to crack the program's top-10 list in both events.
Ryan Davis will join Larry in the 200 meters and will compete in the 400 meters along with
Corbin Ellis on Saturday.
Wisconsin is also slotted to have a men's 4x100 and 4x400 relay team run in Arkansas.
Triton InvitationalAnother set of Badgers will also fly off to California but with another destination in mind. A variety of Badger athletes will compete at the Triton Invitational, a two-day meet hosted by the University of San Diego.
"We've been going to Triton for several years now and our kids have done really well at the meet," Byrne said. "It's become a premier meet for the throwers and we have to be there."
The women's team will be represented on Friday by Kelsey Card, Hanna Barton, Kennedy Blahnik, and Haley Showalter in the discus. Kelsey Card is ranked third in the nation in the discus.
Showalter will also compete that day in her specialty, the hammer throw.
Saturday will set the stage for the rest of the events as Card looks to continue her stellar season in the shot put. She is currently tied for ninth in the country in the event.
Blahnik and Banke Oginni will also compete alongside Card in the shot put.
Brianna Bower and Danielle Weber round out the women throwers and will compete in the javelin. Bower holds the school record in the javelin while Weber has the fifth highest mark in school history.
Multi-event athletes Georgia Ellenwood and Casie Pawlik will each compete in the 100 hurdles, 200 meters, and long jump. Ellenwood ranks eighth in school history in both the 100 hurdles and long jump.
For the men,
Riley Budde will attempt to mirror this success in the shot put and discus on Saturday after coming off of incredible performances at the prestigious Spec Towns Invitational. The sophomore ranks in the top-10 in Wisconsin history in both disciplines. Budde will be joined by fellow sophomore
Josh McDonald in the discus.
Multi-event athletes
Charlie Foss and
Trent Nytes will also test their speed and agility in the 110 hurdles, 100 meters, 200 meters and pole vault.
