UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In her first ever 10,000-meter race, Wisconsin women's track and field sophomore Amy Davis nabbed a sixth-place showing to lead the Badgers on the first day of the 2017 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

"What a showing by Amy," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "To score in her first career 10K, which was a fast race for a conference meet, is incredible."

Davis finished the 25-lap race in 34 minutes, 16.95 seconds to score three team points for the Badgers. A Madison native, Davis' stellar run came with her mom, Nan (Doak) Davis, the 1985 NCAA champion in the 10,000 meters, and her dad, UW wrestling coach Barry Davis, in the stands at the Nittany Lion Outdoor Track.

"It started off where coach just wanted us to sit in the pack because the race is so long," Amy Davis said. "So the first couple laps we just stayed in there, stayed tucked in, stayed in the pack and every time there was a gap being formed I made sure to stay within distance of the lead pack."

Davis hung in with the lead group of eight until the 1200-meter mark where a group of four broke away from the rest of the pack.

"I tried to stay on but I didn't have quite as much left as I thought I did," Davis said. "So it just came down to me mentally staying in it and remembering I just had to do as much as I could to make points for the team."

Senior Michele Lee was ninth in 34:30.25, while sophomore Shaelyn Sorensen was 11th in 34:42.03.

"Michele and Shaelyn both did well tonight," Byrne said. "It was great to see Michele run a personal best in her final Big Ten meet and Shaelyn hung in there tough."

Junior Brenna Detra won her heat of the women's 400 hurdles to advance to Sunday's final. The Peoria, Illinois, native ran a season-best time of 57.64, which was the second-best time in the qualifying round. Freshman Haley Lubow was 18th in 1:03.64.

Sophomore Ebony McClendon was 11th in the 200 meters, crossing the line in 24.15, while freshman Gabby DesRosiers was 27th in 25.42.

Senior Sarah Heinemann gave it her all in the prelims of the women's 1500 meters as the Waunakee, Wisconsin, native held the lead for the first three laps before finishing eighth in her heat in 4:42.43

In the heptathlon, the Badgers saw success during the first day as freshman Emma Fitzgerald sits in eighth with 3,017 points. Junior Casie Pawlik is close behind in 10th with 2,878 points while freshman Phoebe Edwards is in 12th with 2,834 points.

All three Badgers earned respectable showings in the 100 hurdles to kick start the day. Pawlik paced the squad clocking in at 14.61 to earn 894 points.

Next up in the high jump, the freshmen both captured personal-best performances clearing 5 feet, 3 ¼ inches, which launched Fitzgerald up to eighth place. 

Personal records were enjoyed by all in the shot put as Edwards put up the team's best throw of 36-3, the seventh-best mark in the field. Fitzgerald and Pawlik were right behind her in eighth and ninth with throws of 35-9 ½ and 34-10 ¼, respectively.

The 200 meters concluded the first day of the heptathlon as Fitzgerald racked up another personal record in the event, finishing in 25.87 to remain in eighth overall.

"The heptathletes tried to set the tone for the rest of the team and I believe they accomplished that today," Byrne said. "Emma is in a great position right now after recording a couple of personal bests and Casie and Phoebe are right behind her."

The trio open action for UW on Saturday by competing in the heptathlon long jump at 9:15 a.m. CT.