MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's and women's distance medley relay squads had one mission upon competing at the Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday: to run qualifying times for the  2019 NCAA Indoor Championships.

It's safe to say that both teams did exactly that, as both posted top-eight NCAA times and broke school records in the event in Notre Dame.
 
At last year's Alex Wilson Invitational, the men's squad broke the school record and qualified for the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships. This year, the team of Morgan McDonald, Stacey Boyd II, Eric Brown and Olli Hoare did it again, and notched the No. 2 time in the NCAA in the process.

Morgan McDonald kicked things off for the team with a split of 2 minutes, 52.4 seconds to put Wisconsin in the lead. Next, freshman Stacey Boyd II completed the 400 meter leg in 48.2 and Eric Brown kept things going with a time of 1:49.8 for the 800 meter leg. Junior Olli Hoare brought it home with a mile split of 3:55.8 to notch the team's runner-up finish.

The men came through with an overall time of 9:26.24, breaking the previous record by a full second and earning a qualifying time to the national meet in March.

The women's quartet of Alissa Niggemann, Gabby DesRosiers, Bianca Stubler and Alicia Monson also posted a huge performance in the distance medley relay, finishing with an overall time of 10:59.72, becoming the first UW squad to break the 11-minute mark in the DMR. 

Niggemann got things started with a split of 3:26 in her opening leg of the relay. Gabby DesRosiers took to the track and completed the 400 meters in 53.7 while teammate Bianca Stubler split a 2:08.8 in the 8000 meters. In the anchor leg, Alicia Monson propelled the squad to their fourth-place finish and school record time with a split of 4:32 in the mile.

The squad demolished the previous school record, a record that was set by Jenni Westphal, Markesha McWilliams, Janet Westphal and Kathy Butler in 1996, by almost ten seconds. 

This year's squad's time was good for fourth place and is currently ranked No. 8 in the NCAA as the top-12 teams advance to the NCAA indoor meet next month. 
 
The Badgers have officially entered championship season and will compete at the Big Ten Indoor Championships next weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23.

Straight from the Track
UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne
On the record-setting setting distance medley relays:
"The men are currently ranked No. 2 in the country and the women are at No. 8. Mission accomplished. For the men's race, Morgan blew it open with his 2:52.4 before he handed it off to Stacey Boyd, giving him a good 15 meter lead. Stacey handed off right with the leaders, they were all together. Illinois got into the picture on the 400 leg, and Eric Brown did a really good job at handing off the baton to Olli right in the lead. Notre Dame and BYU were right there also. Down the last straightaway, Olli and the Notre Dame runner were side-by-side, and Olli crossed second."

"On the women's side, Alissa Niggemann started us off with a split of 3:26. Gabby came through with a split of 53.7 and Bianca gave us a high 2:08. So, we were on the splits that we thought we could hit right through the first three legs, and we knew Alicia could give us anywhere from a 4:30 to a 4:35 mile, and she gave us a 4:32 mile, so that was it. We came here to get the national qualifier, and our women accomplished that."

"The big thing for us is that starting with last weekend, Alicia getting the 3K record I thought it was important that we go to Notre Dame with the women and give it all we've got to at least try to get to the national championships in the DMR. We haven't done that in a long, long time. And I also thought we had a real good shot at breaking the school record. When you look at the record book, some of those marks go back to the 80's and 90's, but they're starting to come back our way now, which is huge for the program. These women are program-changers and even the culture has changed. When you look at the names that they're erasing, they were big, big names in Badger history and in women's track. We're starting to turn the corner."

"On the men's side, when you look at last weekend, which was a great weekend in New York. Sometimes we take it for granted, and we shouldn't. We came here to run a national qualifier. We wanted to qualify for nationals and then figure out our next move from there. We've still got the Big Ten championships next weekend and they did a good job today."
 
Alex Wilson Invitational
Notre Dame, Ind.
February 16, 2019
 
Women's Distance Medley Relay
4. Alissa Niggemann, Gabby DesRosiers, Bianca Stubler, Alicia Monson – 10:59.72
 
Men's Distance Medley Relay
2. Morgan McDonald, Stacey Boyd II, Eric Brown, Olli Hoare – 9:26.24