ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The regular indoor season has concluded for the Wisconsin men's track and field team and they will head to the U-M Indoor Track Stadium at the University of Michigan this weekend for the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
 
The Big Ten championships are scheduled to begin on Friday, February 22 with the heptathlon 60 meter dash and on Saturday, February 23 with the heptathlon 60 meter hurdles.
 
The 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championships will be streamed live on FloTrack and on BTN Plus. In addition a tape-delayed broadcast will air on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network. 
 
Badger fans can also follow along on Instagram and Twitter (@BadgerTrackXC) and catch a recap following the meet on UWBadgers.com.
 
1. RED & WHITE CLASSIC RECAP: Led by their distance athletes, UW put up an impressive showing at their last indoor home meet of the season, tallying twelve top-three finishes. Competing unattached, Seth Hirsch was the 3,000 meters champion, crossing the line with a time of 8:26.24 while teammates Conor Perreault and Derick Peters, also competing unattached, took second and third, respectively. Senior Corbin Ellis, who also competed unattached, was the 400 meters champion while Ryan Dundun took third in the event. In the field, sophomore George Ghafari earned a big personal best in the high jump, clearing the bar set at 6-9 3/4 to finish runner-up in the event while Rashid Coulibaly was the runner-up in the invitational section of the pole vault, clearing a height of 16-10 3/4. 

2. DOMINANT DMR: The Badgers also raced in the distance medley relay at the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame over the weekend, where UW student-athletes set a school record in the event and earned a qualifying time for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. The quartet of Morgan McDonald, Stacey Boyd II, Eric Brown and Olli Hoare completed the relay in 9 minutes, 26.24 seconds, breaking the school record by a full second and posting the No. 2 time in the NCAA. 

3. BIG TEN CHAMPIONS: Wisconsin returns three Big Ten champions to the conference meet this weekend in Morgan McDonald, Olli Hoare and Trent Nytes. McDonald swept the distance events at the 2017 Big Ten championships, winning both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters while teammate Olli Hoare kept the tradition alive at last year's championships, completing the sweep and tallying two more Big Ten titles to his resume. Additionally, redshirt senior Trent Nytes won the heptathlon at the 2018 indoor championships with a personal best score of 5,810 points, which still currently stands as the No. 3 score in program history. 

4. IN THE RANKINGS: Following their impressive weekend at the Red & White Classic and the Alex Wilson Invitational, the Badgers achieved their highest national ranking in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association National TFRI poll since 2014. Wisconsin cracked the top-10, checking in as the No. 8 team in the nation. In addition, the Badgers also boast the highest USTFCCCA #EventSquad ranking in the nation in the 3,000 meters. 

5. NEXT IS NATIONALS: Following the Big Ten Indoor Championships, qualifying athletes will gear up to compete for a national title at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships. The national championships will be held on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama.