Five events to watch: Big Ten Outdoor Championships

Friday, May 14

Champaign, ILL.

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Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Outdoor Championships

Photo by: Tom Lynn

Five events to watch: Big Ten Outdoor Championships

May 13, 2021 | Women's Track & Field

Championships run from Friday - Sunday

By: Diane Nordstrom

Schedule of Events | Watch on B1G Network + (FREE) | Live Results

MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin men's and women's track and field teams travel to Champaign, Illinois, to compete in the 2021 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships this weekend. The meet runs from Friday-Sunday at Demirjian Park on the University of Illinois campus. The meet will be streamed live for free on B1G Network+.

The 2020 Big Ten Outdoor Championships were canceled due to COVID 19. In 2019, the Badger women finished seventh with 60 points. Senior Alissa Niggemann is the reigning Big Ten champion in the women's steeplechase.

Fans can follow the meet on Twitter and Instagram (@BadgerTrackXC).

Here are five events to watch on this weekend.

1. TWO-DAY CHALLENGE: The Badgers entered two athletes – Jordan Hirsbrunner and Mackenzie Heyroth – the two-day challenge called the heptathlon. Hirsbrunner finished second in the pentathlon at the 2021 Big Ten Indoor Championships and also qualified for the NCAA Indoor meet, where she earned second-team All-America honors. Heyroth also scored for the Badgers at the Big Ten Indoor meet, finishing eighth. Hirsbrunner enters the meet with the No. 2 score in the conference this season with 5,272 points.

2. SPRINTING AWAY: Wisconsin has two potential scorers in the 100-meter dash in freshman Kiley Robbins and sophomore Taylor Gilling. Robbins finished second in the Big Ten Indoor 60-meter dash in 7.31 seconds, setting the school record. Outdoors, she has broken the school record in the 100 meters, running 11.53 in early April, which ranks third in the Big Ten. Gilling has run 11.62 in the sprint this season, which ties her for fourth on the UW all-time list and ties her ninth in the Big Ten this season. The duo also compete in the 4x100-meter relay, which has run 45.28 this year. That time ranks the quartet to Robbings, Gilling, Destiny Huven and Armoni Brown second at Wisconsin all time and fourth in the Big Ten.

3. HURDLING HUVEN: Sophomore Destiny Huven finished second in the Big Ten Indoor 60-meter hurdles, missing the gold medal by .007 seconds. Outdoors, she has run 13.43, which ranks second in the conference and second all-time at UW. She is just 0.16 seconds off the school record of 13.27, set by Deanna Latham in 2013.

4. STRONG ARM BADGERS : As usual, Wisconsin fields a strong group of throwers. Junior Josie Schaefer ranks second in the Big Ten in the shot put at 58 feet, 8 ½ inches while also ranking fifth in the discus at 182-7. Both marks are personal bests and rank her second in both events on the UW all-time performance list. Freshman Chloe Lindeman leads the Badgers in the hammer, where she ranks ninth in the conference with a personal best toss of 192-8. She will be joined in the hammer by teammate Olivia Roberts, who has a season's best throw of 179-11. Lindeman will also compete in the shot put.

5. MIDDLE DISTANCE EVENTS TO WATCH: Two events to keep on your radar for the Badger women is the steeplechase and 800 meters. Senior Alissa Niggemann is the reigning champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after winning the 2019 title in 10:06.13. She earned second-team All-America honors that season, running a school record of 9:51.60 in the NCAA prelims.

In the 800 meters, Madison Mooney has been rapidly moving up the UW performance list. At the 2021 Big Ten Indoor Championship, Mooney used a strong last-lap kick to finish second in the 800 meters, running a personal best time of 2:05.79. Outdoors, the Colorado native has 2:05.86, which ranks her eighth in the Big Ten and eighth on the UW all-time performance list.