Five things to know: Badgers at 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships

Friday, May 11

Bloomington, IN

11 AM

Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Outdoor Championships

Photo by: AJ Harrison

Five things to know: Badgers at 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships

May 08, 2018 | Men's Track & Field

Wisconsin heads to Bloomington to kick off championship season

2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships

Friday, May 11 - Sunday, May 13 | Bloomington, Indiana

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MADISON, Wis. – After ending the regular season on a high note at the Wisconsin Twilight quad meet, the Wisconsin men's track and field team is set to send athletes to the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Bloomington, Indiana.

The meet starts on Friday at 11 a.m. CT with the decathlon 100 meters and runs through Sunday. Fans can watch the meet live on FloTrack and can watch a tape-delayed broadcast at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 16 on the Big Ten Network.

Fans can follow Badger action on Twitter (@BadgerTrackXC) for live updates and follow up on UWBadgers.com for recaps after each day of the meet.

1. BACK FOR MORE: At last year's 2017 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, standout performances from across the board helped UW to a fourth-place showing with 73 points. Kicking things off for Wisconsin was Malachy Schrobilgen, who became the Big Ten 10,000 meter champion with a time of 29 minutes, 27.48 seconds. Schrobilgen went on to earn the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships honor for his performance. Zack Snider also competed in the event, earning points for the Badgers with his fifth-place finish. A 3-4-5 finish from three Badger decathletes also contributed to the team's success, as they were able to add 15 points to the team score. Riley Budde earned top-five finishes in both the shot put and the hammer throw at last year's competition. The last day of Big Tens saw another Wisconsin athlete earning a Big Ten title, with Morgan McDonald taking the crown in the 5K while Schrobilgen was right behind him in second place.

2. DEC SQUAD ASSEMBLE: Wisconsin's decathletes put up an impressive showing at last year's Big Ten Championships, with a trio of Badgers earning top-five finishes, and will aspire to do so again at this year's competition. Sawyer Smith led the Badgers with a third-place finish, scoring 7,249 points. In fourth was Trent Nytes with 7,086 points and Paul Afflitto took fifth with a personal best of 6,945 points. Heading into the 2018 championship meet, three Wisconsin decathletes are ranked within the top-10 in the Big Ten Conference. Nytes ranks No. 2 overall with his PR of 7,683 set at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April. Afflitto and Zach Lorbeck sit at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, in the conference.

3. DISTANCE DOMINANCE: The Badgers have proved to be a powerhouse on the track at the Big Ten championships when it comes to the distance events. Dating back to the 2016 indoor championships, Wisconsin athletes have earned seven individual titles in the distance events. Morgan McDonald won the 3000 meters at the 2016 Big Ten Indoor Championships before winning the 3K again in 2017. McDonald also won conference titles in both the indoor and outdoor 5K in 2017. Former Badger Malachy Schrobilgen claimed the Big Ten 10,000 meter crown at the 2017 Outdoor Championships. Ollie Hoare also completed a 3K/5K sweep at the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships.

Heading into this year's Big Ten outdoor championships, Ollie Hoare is the top-ranked Big Ten athlete in the 1500 meters thanks to his blazing time of 3:37.83 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. That time not only paces the conference, but ranks sixth nationally. Joe Hardy is ranked No. 3 in the 5000 meters thanks to his PR of 13:46.85 and Zack Snider leads the conference in the 10K with a time of 29:15.73

4. STRAIGHT FROM MICK'S MOUTH: "Both on the men's and women's sides, we have eight student-athletes, returning point scorers from last year's Big Ten Championships. On the women's side we currently have 19 marks that rank in the conference's top-ten, and on the men's side we have 17 marks. Right there, that's huge because that's where the bulk of the points are going to come from. We have a good crew of athletes, we always do. You don't do well at this championship with just your superstars, you need a great supporting cast, and I think across the board, we've got a lot of young athletes who are ready to step into that role and score some points for us, and we're going to need that." - UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne.

5. OFF TO CALI (AGAIN): Following the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, the Badgers will head to Sacramento for the NCAA Preliminary Round. Qualifying athletes will compete in California as they will ultimately aim to punch their ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.