UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Two years ago, Wisconsin men's track and field standout Malachy Schrobilgen won the 10,000 meters at the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, outkicking the competition during the final lap.

A lot has happened to Schrobilgen, a four-time All-American in track and cross country, since his first Big Ten track title as he missed the entire 2016 track and field season due to injury.

Friday night, Schrobilgen reclaimed the Big Ten 10,000-meter crown at the Nittany Lion Outdoor Track with a convincing victory in the 25-lap race.

"I missed a lot of time last year," Schrobilgen said. "If you ask anyone I haven't really been the same runner that I was two years ago when I won this race. It's been hard to get back and I think it would've been really easy for a lot of coaches having a guy in their last year going out the door to give up on them a little bit but my coaches never gave up on me. Something's really just been clicking. I've stayed with it this season and it's just been one great work out after another and tonight out there I felt awesome."

"For a long time now Malachy's been the heart and soul of our distance program," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "When you go back to November of 2015 and that real tough, bad injury he sustained through that cross country season and 2016. All that he's gone through to rehab to get back to the top level and it is just a testament to his character. He never lost faith. He went above and beyond doing the small things to get back and it's taken him quite a while and now to see him winning a Big Ten tonight was special."

Schrobilgen crossed the line in 29 minutes, 27.48 seconds, 11 seconds ahead of Penn State's Timothy McGowan, who placed second.

A native of Oak Park, Illinois, Schrobilgen surged to the top four midway through the race before settling into second with seven laps remaining. The seasoned runner made his move to the lead with four laps remaining and never looked back en route to becoming the first Badger to win multiple Big Ten crowns in the 10,000 meters since Jason Casiano accomplished the feat at the 1995 and 1996 championships.

"That last mile I just kind of found myself up there near the front and said alright, I'm up here so it's time to go," Schrobilgen said. "I knew once I got into the lead once I was up there I was just going to have to go. I just went and felt good. I was waiting for someone to come with and it was awesome. I just stayed on the gas."

Schrobilgen wasn't the only Badger to thrive in the 25-lap race. Redshirt freshman Zack Snider, in his first career 10,000-meter race, took fifth in 29:48.36 to score four points for the Cardinal and White.

"He fell with three or four laps to go, tripping over a lapped runner," Byrne said. "At that stage, a lot of runners would have stayed on the track and used it as an excuse, but Zack got right back up, which shows great character."

Fellow redshirt freshman Ben Eidenschink placed ninth in his first-ever 10,000 meters in 29:56.78.

"We sent Ben out there to set the pace and he did that through 5000 meters," Byrne said. "I thought we were going to pull the kid off the track, but he had other things in mind. He not only finished the race, but was just one place out of scoring. That's what being 'Badger tough' means."

Sophomore Tyson Miehe took 16th in 30:45.11.

Schrobilgen and Snider weren't the only Badgers to earn team points on Friday as junior Riley Budde placed fifth in the hammer throw thanks to a bomb of 210 feet, 11 inches. After opening the event with a throw of 209-4, Budde's best throw of 210-11 came on his second attempt.

"I was hoping to throw a little bit better coming off a big PR at home," Budde said. "But I'm excited to score points for the team and I'm looking forward to the shot put tomorrow."

Freshman Tucker Wedig, in his Big Ten debut, was 13th with a heave of 183-3.

Freshman Ollie Hoare finished second in his section of the men's 1500 meters to advance to Sunday's final. The Sydney, Australia, native crossed the line in 3:44.13, which was the second-fastest time recorded in the prelims.

Joe Hardy finished fourth in his section, barely missing out on an automatic spot in the final as the junior finished in 3:50.50. Hardy's time was two-hundredths off the pace of the third-place finisher in his section. Fellow junior Carl Hirsch was sixth in his section in 3:52.38.

Nytes leads decathletes on first day
Sophomore Trent Nytes and the Badger decathletes are poised to rack up some major points in the event after the first day of competition. Nytes is currently in second with 3,987 points, just 26 points behind leader Steven Bastien of Michigan.

"Overall it was a really solid day," Nytes said. "I had a couple PR's, a couple events really close to PR's. I'm a little disappointed in the 400, that kind of hurt me, but overall a pretty solid day."

Junior Sawyer Smith sits in fifth with 3,839 points while redshirt freshman Paul Afflitto was seventh 3,722 points thanks to a pair of personal-best marks. Senior Brandon Mortensen holds down the ninth spot after five events with 3,572 points.

Wisconsin started the meet strong went 2-3-4 in the 100 meters as Nytes and Smith both clocked an 11.04 and Afflito crossed in 11.10.

Nytes stayed hot in the long jump, stealing the show with a personal-best mark of 23-11 3/4, which moved him to the top of the leader board. Mortensen also finished in the top five of the discipline, jumping 22-3 3/4 to earn 767 points.

Smith flexed his muscles in the shot put throwing 45-2 1/2. Nytes was one position behind with a toss of 43-0 1/4. Afflitto threw a personal-best 42-3 1/4, good for sixth in the field.

All four Badgers were stellar in the high jump. Nytes led the field clearing a season-best height of 6-10 ¼ on his third attempt. Mortensen placed sixth in the high jump with a mark of 6-3 ¼ and Afflitto and Smith both cleared 6-2, a personal record for Afflitto.

In the last event of the day, Smith and Afflitto went 3-4 in the 400 meters with times of 49.98 and 50.20.

"We're off to a great start," Nytes said. "Morty (Mortensen) is having a great day for just coming off of an injury so he's right on pace. Sawyer is having another solid performance and Paul is having one of his best meets as well."

The four decathletes open action for UW on Saturday with the decathlon long jump at 8:30 a.m. CT. The Badgers begin the second day in second place with 18 team points.