BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Following outstanding performances throughout the entirety of the indoor season, the Wisconsin men's track and field team has earned seven entries for the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama.
Hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the NCAA Indoor Championships will be held at the CrossPlex Facility from Friday, March 8 through Saturday, March 9.
The meet will be broadcast live on ESPN3. In addition, fans can follow along on Instagram and Twitter (@BadgerTrackXC) and can catch a recap following the meet on UWBadgers.com.
1. DISTANCE DOMINANCE: Two of Wisconsin's distance standouts have qualified for the national championships in multiple events. Junior Olli Hoare leads the NCAA in the mile after posting a blazing time of 3 minutes, 54.83 seconds at the Millrose Games. That time broke the school record, the Big Ten Conference record and marks the eighth-best time in collegiate history. Hoare is coming off of another big performance, earning his sixth Big Ten title after breezing by the competition in the mile at the Big Ten championships. The Sydney, Australia, native enters this weekend as the national leader in the mile and as the No. 5 seed in the 3,000 meters with his time of 7:48.81, which was set in his season opener at the Iowa State Classic.
Morgan McDonald has also put up impressive times this season, starting with his runner-up finish in the 3,000 meters at the Millrose Games in his season debut. His time of 7:42.76 also broke the school and Big Ten conference records, and also marks the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history in the event. In addition, McDonald also posted an NCAA qualifying time in the 5,000 meters after winning the event at the Big Ten Championships, running the No. 5 time in program history and ranking No. 6 nationally.
2. RELAY READY: The Badgers have qualified a distance medley relay squad to the national championships for the second-straight year after
Morgan McDonald,
Stacey Boyd II,
Eric Brown and Olli Hoare broke the school record in the event at the Alex Wilson Invitational in Notre Dame. The quartet finished runner-up, coming through with an overall time of 9:26.24, which stands as the No. 2 time in the NCAA behind Notre Dame.
3. MULTI MAGIC: Two of Wisconsin's multi-event athletes will also make their second-straight appearance on the national stage.
Trent Nytes and
Zach Lorbeck enter this weekend as the No. 11 and No. 16 seeds, respectively, in the heptathlon. Nytes earned his qualifying mark of 5,660 points at the Big Ten Championships, where he finished third overall. Lorbeck also posted his qualifying mark of 5,530 at the conference championships, where he also earned a podium finish after taking fourth overall.
4. LAST YEAR'S CHAMPIONSHIPS: Last year, Olli Hoare, the distance medley relay of
Joe Hardy,
Corbin Ellis,
Eric Brown and Hoare as well as
Trent Nytes and
Zach Lorbeck all competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Hoare finished eighth in the 3000 meters and also helped the relay squad to a sixth-place finish to earn First-Team All-America honors. Nytes took 11th overall in the heptathlon while Lorbeck finished 15th, both earning Second-Team All-America honors.
5. OUTDOOR AGAIN: After the conclusion of the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, the Badgers will start to prepare for the outdoor season. The first outdoor meet of the season for Wisconsin will be the Aztec Invitational on Saturday, March 23.
