UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. – A trio of UW decathletes earned top-five finishes to lead the University of Wisconsin men's track and field team during the second day of the 2017 Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Saturday.

The Badgers earned 15 points in the decathlon at the Nittany Lion Outdoor Track thanks to a 3-4-5 finish from junior Sawyer Smith, sophomore Trent Nytes and redshirt freshman Paul Afflitto.

"I think it means a lot to all of us to score team points," Smith said. "Before this meet we all were talking and saying we had a chance to all score. We have had an opportunity to help the team out and to go 3-4-5 is pretty cool, especially with the two guys ahead of us being potential world-class athletes at some point in their life. That's pretty cool to be part of."

"Super job by our decathletes," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "From day one these guys bought into the program's history in the decathlon and today they went out there to make their own history. From a coaching perspective, that's awesome to see that transition. These guys learned their trade from great athletes like Zach Ziemek. We got some big team points from them and hopefully the rest of the team will feed off the energy that these guys brought to the track."

Smith led the Badgers with 7,249 points, while Nytes netted 7,086 points and Afflitto recorded a personal-best 6,945 points.  

"I think overall it was a pretty good day," Smith said. "I know yesterday was a little rough for all of us besides Trent, he had great day. But there were a couple PR's for me personally. Paul came together and had a great vault. I think he PRed by about 20 centimeters so that was awesome. I think everybody just tried to work through the weather and ignore it."

After finishing the first day of competition in second place, Nytes paced the Badgers in the 110 hurdles crossing the line fifth in 15.25 seconds. Afflitto was next in seventh with 15.53 seconds while Smith crossed ninth in 15.86. Senior Brandon Mortensen, who began the day in ninth, was injured in the event and was unable to finish. 

Smith led the field in the next event, the discus. His best toss of 139-10 came on his last attempt. Afflitto earned a personal record with a mark of 114-5.

Up next in the pole vault, Smith asserted his dominance once again, placing third with a vault of 15-1. Another personal-best performance of 14-1 ¼ helped Afflitto to fifth in the event and Nytes took sixth with a height of 13-9 ¼. Nytes, Smith and Afflitto ranked third, fourth and fifth overall with just two events to go.  

The freshman from Minnetonka, Minnesota inched his way up the leader board with a third place showing in the javelin. He led the team with a throw of 174-11. Smith nabbed fifth place with a mark of 174-0 while Nytes finished ninth throwing 134-0.

The last event of the decathlon was the 1500 meters. Wisconsin went 5-6-7 en route to having three top-five finishers overall. Afflitto paced the Cardinal and White with a time of 5:04.41. Smith followed in 5:07.27 and Nytes crossed seventh in 5:08.57. 

For a second-straight day, junior Riley Budde netted a top-five finish in the throws as Budde placed fifth in the shot put on Saturday. The Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, native threw the shot 62-1, a week after he broke the school record in the event.

"Once again Riley has done a great job getting fifth in an event that has blown up in our conference," Byrne said. "The throws in our conferences have gone to an amazing level and it's awesome to see him come back today and score big points."

"I guess that's a pretty good throw for the year," Budde said. "I was wishing to throw a little further coming off the home meet where I threw 19.42 meters (63-9 3/4). But I guess overall I'm happy with how it went."

Fellow junior Josh McDonald was 12th with a heave of 56-10.

Senior Lorenzo Larry advanced to the finals of the 100 meters thanks to a victory in the prelims. Larry clocked in at 10.51 to win the third section and advance to Sunday's final. Sophomore Alex Teague and senior James Stecker crossed the line in 10.95 and 11.19, respectively.

Sophomore Eric Brown locked in a spot in Sunday's 800-meter final thanks to a time of 1:48.78 while Cooper Barth finished in 1:53.56.

In the 400 meters, senior Ryan Davis placed 13th in 47.50, while junior Corbin Ellis was 23rd with a run of 48.99.

The 2017 Big Ten Outdoor Championships wrap up on Sunday with the men's triple jump at 10:30 a.m. CT. A tape delayed broadcast of the meet can be seen on the Big Ten