EUGENE, Ore. – A group of nine Wisconsin track and field athletes, five men and four women, head west this week for the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, hosted by the University of Oregon at Historic Hayward Field.
The championships begin on Wednesday with the men's semifinals and the first day of the decathlon, while the women's semifinals and the final day of the decathlon take place on Thursday. Friday brings the final day of men's events and the initial day of the heptathlon, while the women's finals conclude the four-day meet on Saturday.
All running events will air live on the ESPN family of networks, while action from the field events and multi-events can be seen on Watch ESPN.
Leading the Wisconsin group is a trio of fifth-year seniors in
Kelsey Card,
Austin Mudd and
Zach Ziemek. The group has combined to earn 11 first-team All-America honors during their historic careers in Madison.
Recently named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year, Card will compete in the shot put and discus as she looks to build on her runner-up finishes in both events at last year's NCAA championships.
Card, who has the NCAA's second-best mark in the shot put this year of 60-10 3/4, will compete in the event on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Plainview, Illinois, native will also partake in the discus, where she's the NCAA leader with a throw of 204-2, on Saturday at 5:05 p.m. CT. Card is one of five collegians to double this week in both the women's shot put and discus.
Mudd enters this year's NCAA championships as the No. 13 seed in the men's 800 meters after earning a time of 1 minute, 48.17 seconds, at the 2016 NCAA West Preliminary Round. He will race Wednesday night in the third heat of the 800 meters at 8:14 p.m., while the finals take place on Friday at 8:47 p.m.
The Greenwood, Indiana, native ran a lifetime best of 1:47.52 at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Championships in the 800 meters en route to a third-place finish. Mudd eyes his third first-team All-America honor after earning first-team accolades in the indoor mile and outdoor 1500 meters in 2013.
Ziemek, along with redshirt junior
Brandon Mortensen, are the first Badgers to compete this week as the decathlon duo start the 10-discipline event on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. The second day of the decathlon starts on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. and is set to conclude at 8:56 p.m.
'Double Z', the reigning NCAA indoor heptathlon champion, looks to become only the second collegian to sweep the men's multi-event titles in the same season. The Big Ten indoor and outdoor pole vault champion, Ziemek holds the No. 5 seed in the decathlon with a season-best score of 8,047 points set back in April at the Bulldog Decathlon.
In his last NCAA outdoor championship meet, Ziemek scored a then-school record of 7,981 points in the decathlon to finish fifth to earn first-team All-America accolades.
A native of Hartland, Wisconsin, Mortensen is the No. 23 seed in the decathlon with a personal-best score of 7,335 points set at this year's Big Ten outdoor championships en route to a fourth-place finish.
Georgia Ellenwood is set to compete in her third-straight NCAA outdoor championships in the heptathlon, as she's seeded eighth with a season and personal-best score of 5,914 points, which is tied for the school record.
The sophomore, who earned first-team All-America honors earlier this year in the NCAA indoor pentathlon, starts the heptathlon on Friday at 2:30 p.m., while action starts Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Langley, British Columbia, native, finished 10th at last year's NCAA outdoor championships and was 12th in 2014.
Redshirt freshman
Morgan McDonald will run in the men's 5000 meters on Friday at 9:25 p.m. after competing in the 3000 meters at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships. A native of Sydney, Australia, McDonald holds the nation's fifth-fastest time in the 5000 meters of 13:34.78, which ranks sixth in program history.
Fellow freshman
Haley Showalter will make her NCAA debut on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the women's hammer throw. A two-time U.S. junior champion in the hammer throw, Showalter holds the school record in the event at 207-3.
Sophomore
Taylor Amann also makes her national championship debut on Thursday when she competes in the pole vault at 7 p.m. The Hartland, Wisconsin, native tied for fourth in the pole vault at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Championships with a personal-best clearance of 13-7 3/4. Amann tied for seventh at the NCAA West Prelims with a jump of 13-6 ¼ to advance to Eugene.
For the third-straight year, the Badgers have an entry in the men's discus.
Josh McDonald will throw at Historic Hayward Field on Friday at 7:05 p.m. McDonald qualified for this year's NCAA Championships with a lifetime best throw of 183-2 at the 2016 NCAA West Prelims to finish 12th and advance to his first NCAA meet.
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