Fourteen Badgers begin journey to NCAA championships

Thursday, May 25

Austin, TX

All Day

Wisconsin Badgers

NCAA West Preliminary Round

Fourteen Badgers begin journey to NCAA championships

May 24, 2017 | Men's Track & Field

Wisconsin tracksters set to compete at NCAA West Preliminary Round

MADISON, Wis. – The road to Eugene, Oregon and the 2017 NCAA Track and Field Championships starts this weekend at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas. Wisconsin's men's track and field team will have fourteen competitors looking to punch their ticket in 10 different events Thursday-Saturday.

Wisconsin at NCAA West Preliminary
Date	Thursday, May 25 - Saturday, May 27
Location	Austin, Texas \| Mike A. Myers Stadium
Meet Info	Schedule \| Heat Sheets
Follow	Live Results \| Live Video @BadgerTrackXC

First up will be Riley Budde and Tucker Wedig in the weight throw at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Budde ranks second all-time at Wisconsin in the event with a PR heave of 219 feet, 1 inch and enters the meet as the No. 9 seed. Wedig, a redshirt freshman, ranks fourth in school history after tossing 196-9 at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative meet at the end of April.

UW will have three runners compete in the first round of the 1500 meters on Thursday night at 6 p.m. as Carl Hirsch, Oliver Hoare and Joe Hardy have all run under 3:46 this season. It will be Hirsch and Hoare's first trip to the NCAA West Prelims while Hardy looks to return to the NCAA championships after qualifying in the 1500 meters two seasons ago.

For the second-straight year, Eric Brown will toe the line in the 800 meters at 8:35 p.m.. The sophomore ran a personal-best time of 1:48.72 at the John McDonnell Invitational and is seeded 18th. Last season, the Milwaukee native finished 27th at the NCAA prelims

Senior Malachy Schrobilgen, the 2017 Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships, will cap off competition Thursday night in the 10,000 meters at 9:40 p.m. A two-time Big Ten champion in the event, Schrobilgen finished eighth in the 10,000 meters at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn first-team All-America honors.

Pole vaulters Tim Guthrie and Rashid Coulibaly kick off competition on Friday at noon. The duo is fresh off strong performances at the Big Ten championships, as both cleared 16 feet, 10 1/4 inches to place fifth and sixth and enter the weekend seeded 36th and 37th, respectively.

Budde and Josh McDonald are the other pair of field athletes to see action Friday in the shot put at 4:30 p.m.. Budde is seeded No. 8. He set Wisconsin's school record earlier this month with a throw of 63-8 3/4 at the Wisconsin Alumni Classic. McDonald has the No. 45 seed in the shot.

Sprinter Lorenzo Larry will run the first round of the 100 and 200 meters on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The senior competed in both events at the 2016 preliminary meet. This season, Larry has a combined five victories in the two events and is coming off of a ninth-place showing in the 100 meters at the Big Ten meet.

On the final day of competition Wisconsin will have four distance runners in action in the 5000 meters at 8:45 p.m.. Senior Russell Sandvold leads the charge and will be joined by Hardy and redshirt freshmen Olin Hacker and Zack Snider. Sandvold posted a top time of 13:57.81 at the Drake Relays this season. Hacker and Snider netted their season bests at the Stanford invitational, clocking in at 13:59.70 and 14:00.74, respectively.

Throwers Budde and McDonald will compete in the discus on the final day of the NCAA West Prelims at 1 p.m. on Saturday. McDonald is seeded 11th after throwing 189-11 at the Wisconsin Alumni Classic and ranks third in program history. Budde enters with the No. 30 seed.