GENEVA, Ohio – A pair of Wisconsin men's track and field standouts added Big Ten titles to their resumes as sophomore Ollie Hoare picked up his third Big Ten title of the 2017-18 athletic year while junior Trent Nytes won his first Big Ten crown in the heptathlon on Saturday at the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships.
 
The distance double: Hoare completes 3K/5K sweep at Big Tens
On Friday, Wisconsin men's track and field sophomore Ollie Hoare won his second Big Ten Conference title of the year, winning the 3000 meters.  
 
Saturday, Hoare did it again, breezing past the competition in the last lap of the 5000 meters to secure his distance sweep at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute.

That feeling when you do the 3K/5K double at #B1GTF!

Way to go Ollie on winning the 5K! #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/Be4dRTnzYl

— Wisconsin Track & Field (@BadgerTrackXC) February 24, 2018

 
Throughout the entirety of the race, the sophomore was consistent, sticking to the pace set by the frontrunners.
 
About halfway through, teammate sophomore Ben Eidenschink broke away from the group, amassing a huge lead to urge the others to pick up the pace. With senior Joe Hardy hot on his heels, Hoare began to make his way to the top four runners.
 
When there were just two laps to go, the Sydney, Australia native made his breakaway, lengthening his stride and picking up the pace. With a burst of energy in the last stretch, Hoare wheeled his way across the line with a time of 14 minutes, 7.50 seconds to take the crown.
 
Joe Hardy and Ben Eidenschink also scored points for Wisconsin, both finishing among the top ten. Hardy came in at third with a time of 14:10.21 while Eidenschink took seventh with his time of 14:14.65, a solid improvement from last year's 13th place finish.
 
Nytes Time
The final day of the heptathlon fared well for the Badgers, as Trent Nytes took the Big Ten title with his lifetime best score of 5,810. Nytes' score ranks third all-time in school history, just behind Olympian Zach Ziemek and former UW standout Japheth Cato.
 
Nytes started the second day of competition with a PR of 8.34 seconds in the hurdles. The junior cleared 14-7 1/4 in the pole vault and then ran the 1000 meters in a personal best time of 2:44.60 to take the win.
 
The junior is one of only six athletes to break the 5800-point barrier in the heptathlon this year.

#Badgers Trent Nytes picked up the #B1GTF ?? in the heptathlon today thanks to a PR score of 5810! pic.twitter.com/3tyQ49NA3C

— Wisconsin Track & Field (@BadgerTrackXC) February 24, 2018

 
Teammate Zach Lorbeck also picked up points for Wisconsin in the heptathlon, as the sophomore took fourth overall with a personal-best score of 5,663. Lorbeck's total also earned a spot on UW's top-ten list, as it sits at fifth overall while it ranks No. 13 in the NCAA.
 
Sawyer Smith and Paul Afflitto also competed in the heptathlon, with Smith placing ninth overall in a personal best score of 5,433 while Afflitto finished 11th with 5,066 points.
 
Ellis Breaks School Record for the Second Time
After running the second-fastest time in the preliminary heat of the 600 meters on Friday, senior Corbin Ellis came back Saturday to deliver a powerhouse performance that would write him down in history as the fastest Badger in the event.
 
Ellis held the school record in the 600 meters prior to Saturday's race, but he smashed his own record with his time of 1:16.64. Ellis took third overall in the event thanks to his dynamite run.

That's a school record for #Badgers @corbine11 as he takes third in the #B1GTF 600 meters in 1:16.64! pic.twitter.com/mCsLpPCKo4

— Wisconsin Track & Field (@BadgerTrackXC) February 24, 2018

 
Brown takes third in 800 meter finals
Corbin Ellis was not the only Badger to take a third-place finish, as junior Eric Brown enjoyed a podium finish of his own in the 800 meters.
 
After running the fastest qualifying time in the preliminary heat on Friday, Brown returned to the track, crossing the line in 1:50.97 after an intense race that came down to the last sprint down the homestretch.
 
Notes to know:

• Tucker Wedig placed 12th overall in the weight throw with a toss measuring 66-6. 
• Wisconsin also raced a 4x400 relay in Saturday's competition. The team consisting of Kallen Bentz, Corbin Ellis, Eric Brown, and Alex Teague came in with a fifth-place finish in their heat with a time of 3:13.67.
• UW finished fifth in the team race with 70 points.

 
Straight from the track
UW Director of Track and Field Mick Byrne
On Ollie Hoare's performance at Big Tens:
"Looking at the 3000 meters, when you look at the three guys racing who are in the top-10 on the national list, you know it's going to be a tough competitor race. The emotion that goes into winning that race last night, the kick in that last lap, was pretty decisive. Ollie put it down with about 320 meters to go, it was a very decisive move. You have to recover from that, go back to the hotel, eat, get a massage, sleep, and prepare for today. In my mind, it's remarkable to see someone who's only a sophomore embrace that leadership role in our distance group and understand that responsibility. He came back out today to compete less than 24 hours later in another very competitive 5000 meters."
 
"He's a double Big Ten champion. It seems like he's just gone from strength to strength every week. It's very exciting with the next couple of weeks coming up here, and also for outdoor season. Now we've got to give him a few days to rest and get his legs back under him. He was pretty tired after that 5000 meters. But that was a great job."
 
On the 5000 meters:
"Obviously Joe Hardy had to do the double as well, and Joe did a great job. Last year, Joe struggled at this meet, but this year Joe embraced it as the team captain. He understands the responsibility, and he scored big points for us this weekend, so that was a really good job. The big surprise for us this weekend was Ben Eidenschink. He opened up the whole race as it was pretty pedestrian. A couple of guys tried to reject the pace, but with about 1K to go, Ben took off, and that settled Joe and Ollie. That was a really good move, a teammate move. I'm very proud of him, and he gets rewarded with scoring, so overall a great job."
 
On the heptathlon:
"After two days of intense competition, Trent Nytes put himself into national qualifying position now, same with Zach Lorbeck. It's awesome to see those guys compete so hard, and the rest of the team kind of piggybacks off that. They get excited about watching those guys perform because they know how tough that event is."
 
On Corbin Ellis and Eric Brown's third-place finishes:
"Corbin came out and set a new school record and lifetime best, and Eric ran great a great race, really gutsy. Again, our conference is pretty deep and strong in those events, so they both did a really great job."
 
On the team competition:
"At the end of the day, this is a team competition. The men were fifth and the women were seventh. However, we had several good storylines all weekend, and it is important that we focus on those storylines as we head into our outdoor season. Several of our athletes had stellar performances this weekend, and it is important to recognize and celebrate their efforts."
 
Sophomore Ollie Hoare
On following in Morgan McDonald's footsteps in sweeping the 3K/5K:
"It's very crazy. Watching him as a freshman, thinking 'I want to do that', was incredible. Being at this meet again and actually doing that, I can't even describe it in words, it's phenomenal. I'm super happy with where I'm at training-wise, and with my progression as an athlete here at Wisconsin. That's also a credit to my teammates and my coaches who have brought me up and made me into the caliber athlete that I am today, and I'm super grateful for that."

"This is bloody unreal"#Badgers Ollie Hoare on his 3K/5K sweep pic.twitter.com/ACZGf1TYbw

— Wisconsin Track & Field (@BadgerTrackXC) February 24, 2018

 
On Ben Eidenschink's performance:
"It was very critical. No one was really wanting to take the lead, and it was getting a little bit messy in that front pack. Ben was feeling good, and he made that decision to get up there, give it a good crack, and put us in a good position, for Joe [Hardy] and I to cover that second pack while we were catching up to him in those last final laps. It's just what Badgers do, we look after our own and we try to score as many points as we can for the team. Being a distance runner, that's what we do, and we did it today. I know Mick [Byrne] and Gavin [Kennedy] are happy, and the boys are super happy as well."
 
Junior Trent Nytes
On winning his Big Ten title:
"It really means a lot. I came in and got third and second the past two years, so coming in I really wanted to get that gold medal, and it feels really great to finally get that done."
 
On having two Badgers place in the top four of the heptathlon:
"Yeah, we always talk about all of us scoring. We wanted all four of us to, but having two people in the top four, especially in this conference, the conference really blew up this year, it was a really deep heptathlon this year, and it feels great to have two guys in the top four."
 
Senior Corbin Ellis
On breaking his own school record:
"Coming from 22nd in the 400 freshman year to placing third in the 600 meters my senior year, it's indescribable. Even though I hurt so much, it's so worth it."
 
Up next:
UW will wrap up the indoor season March 8-9 at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas. The NCAA will announce the field next week as the top-16 individual athletes and the top-12 relays will qualify for the meet.