MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin track and field program will send five student-athletes to compete at the USA Track and Field Junior National Championships in Clovis, California this weekend.
The competition serves as a qualifier for the 2016 IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, July 19-24. The top-two finishers in each event that also hold the world championship qualifying standard will earn a spot on Team USA's World Junior team.
Haley Showalter and Amy Davis open things up for the Badgers on Friday, as Showalter throws the discus at 9:15 p.m. CT while Davis races int he 5000 meters at 11 p.m.
A standout in both the discus and hammer throw, Showalter finished fourth in the discus at last year's junior championships with a throw of 160-8 and has a collegiate-best mark of 159-10.
Davis enjoyed an action-filled track season which included competing in the distance medley relay that took fifth at the prestigious Armory Track Invitational, being a part of the Badger's 5000 meter sweep at the Aztec Invitational where she earned a fifth-place finish with a collegiate personal-record time of 17 minutes, 4.91 seconds. She also ran the 5000 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships where she took 15th.
Saturday will be a busy day for the Cardinal and White as the remaining four athletes vie for a spot on the U.S. World Junior team.
Showalter will begin the day for the Badgers in the hammer throw at 8:30 p.m. The freshman will try and qualify for her second World Junior Championships after earning a spot on Team USA in 2014.
The Highlands Ranch, Colorado, native has had a stand-out season for the Badgers as she has notched five top-five finishes in the hammer throw. The two-time U.S. junior champion in the hammer throw broke the UW record in the event with a toss of 207-3 at the Wisconsin Twilight in May. She also claimed victory in the hammer throw at last year's Pan-American Junior Championships.
Another true freshman, Emma Haugen, will compete in the high jump at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday Haugen cracked the Wisconsin top-10 list in the high jump after leaping 5-9 1/4 at the Wisconsin Twilight and at the Big Ten Championships, where she would finish ninth. The mark also gave her a berth to the NCAA West Preliminary Round.
The final two Badger competitors,
Olin Hacker and
Zack Snider, will run in the men's 5000 meters on Saturday at 11:15 p.m.
Hacker, who took a redshirt during the 2015 cross country season and the 2016 track and field seasons, competed unattached at the UW-Platteville Invitational, coming in fourth place in 14:18.81 in the 5000 meters. He also won the 3000 meters at the Wisconsin Track Club's Meet of Miles in 8:08.71, which qualifies him to compete in the 5000 meters at the 2016 IAAF World Championships if he finishes in the top-two on Saturday.
During his senior year at Madison West High School, he was named the 2015 Gatorade Wisconsin Boy's Track and Field Athlete of the Year and
the Wisconsin State Journal/Wisconsin PrepZone.Com Boys Athlete of the Year. The Madison native was a four-time high school state champion, winning the 1600 and 3200 meters his junior and senior seasons.
Snider redshirted the cross country and outdoor track and field seasons for the Cardinal and White. The freshman won the 5000 meters while competing unattached at the UW-Platteville Invitational earning an IAAF World Junior Championship qualifying time in 14:06.76. The Carmel, Indiana, native also made a splash at the Big Ten Indoor Championships where he scored for UW with a sixth place-finish in the 3,000 meters clocking in at 8:06.53 after winning the unseeded section.
In addition, two incoming Badgers will also be competing at the meet.
Chinne Okoronkwo will partake in the triple jump on Sunday at 8:30 p.m., an event where she is a four-time Washington 3A champion. The 2015 and 2016 Gatorade Washington Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year is a versatile competitor, finding success not only in the triple jump, but in the long jump and pole vault.
Emma Fitzgerald will take part in the heptathlon after winning the New Balance Outdoor meet with a competition-record score of 5,464 points. Fitzgerald also specializes in the javelin where she won the event at the 2013 World Youth Trials and the 2014 World Youth Olympic Trials to earn a spot on Team USA at the second Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
Fitzgerald will compete in the open javelin on Friday at 7:15 p.m. before taking part in the heptathlon that starts at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
