MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Five Badgers earned victories for the No. 11 Wisconsin women's track and field team at The Dual against Minnesota on Saturday at the University Fieldhouse.
 
UW ultimately fell in the team scoring to the Golden Gophers, 88-69, in the head-to-head competition that kickstarted UW's 2018 indoor season.
 
Junior Ebony McClendon won both the 60 and 200 meters at The Dual, crossing the line in 7.53 seconds in the 60 meters and the 200 meters in 24.56. It marked the second-straight year McClendon won both events against the Golden Gophers.
 
UW excelled in the jumps, winning three of the four events. Senior Taylor Amann started off her final season with a new Dual meet record, winning the pole vault with a height of 13 feet, 5 3/4 inches. Her mark on Saturday is less than four inches off her school record of 13-9 1/4 set at last year's Big Ten indoor meet.   
 
Emma Haugen, an honorable mention All-American in the high jump, won the event clearing 5-10 to start her junior season off with a medal.
 
Sophomore Chinne Okoronkwo won the triple jump at The Dual for the second year in a row. The sophomore took home the gold with a jump of 40-11 3/4.
 
Amy Davis started out her indoor season with a win as well, taking home the gold in the 3000 meter. The junior finished with a time of 9:36.05 followed by teammate Shaelyn Sorensen who finished in 9:39.9. Davis was also runner-up in the mile with a time of 4:48.11.
 

Notables

• All-American Banke Oginni set a PR in the weight throw with a toss of 71-9 1/2, almost a foot better than her previous best mark. Oginni ranks No. 2 on UW's top-10 list, trailing only Olympian Kelsey Card. Oginni was also third in the shot put with a heave of 51-1 3/4.
• In her debut as a Badger, freshman Sophia Rivera was runner up in the shot put with a throw of 53-8 1/4. Rivera's throw ranks No. 3 in school history behind only Card and Taylor Smith.
• Georgia Ellenwood was the runner up in the long jump event. The Wisconsin senior finished with a jump of 19-2 3/4. Sophomores Phoebe Edwards and Meagan Blair finished behind Ellenwood to round out the top four in the event.
• Ellenwood was also runner up in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.71 seconds.

 

Straight from the track

UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne
On the meet format:
"This meet grounds us. It's what our sport is all about. It's pure competition. We go to too many meets where our sport isn't relevant because we make it irrelevant because it's all about times. All we talk about are times, heights, distances, and the kids buy into that. If you allow them to buy into that, they're doing it for the wrong reasons. This meet teaches our athletes what competition really means. For one day in our season, all hell breaks loose. It's noisy in here, the kids feel very important because they're scoring points for their team, and they're learning how to compete, beating other people. Some of us did that really well today, and for some of us it's still a learning process."
 
On the team's performance:
"The message at our team meeting last night was the same- learn how to compete. Obviously Ebony (McClendon) winning the 60 and 200 meters, she's a leader in our sprint group. Amy Davis did a very good job starting off in the mile, running just short of her personal best, and to do it on a flat track, then she came back to win the 3000 meters. That was a great job. Chinne Okoronwo winning the triple jump, Banke (Oginni) had a personal-best throw in the weight throw, Sophia (Rivera) had a really good performance in the shot put, Taylor Amann winning the pole vault. She's a great athlete, and you need your leaders to do this. Our leaders really stepped up to the plate today."
 

Up next

The Badgers will continue their indoor campaign next weekend in Iowa City, Iowa for the Larry Wieczorek Invitational.