Five events to watch: Badgers head to Big Ten Indoor Championships

Friday, February 25

The Spire, Geneva, OH

Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Indoor Championships

Tickets

Abdullahi Hassan competes in the 800 meters.

Photo by: Carol Chen

Five events to watch: Badgers head to Big Ten Indoor Championships

February 22, 2022 | Men's Track & Field

Watch Live Results Championship Central Performance List

Wisconsin runners lead conference in three events

By: Londyn Butler

MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin men's track and field team heads to Geneva, Ohio, for the Big Ten Conference Indoor Championships at The Spire. Events take place on Friday and Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. CT both days. The heptathlon kicks off the action on both days.

The Badgers have three No. 1 seeds for the meet, including grad student Olin Hacker, who has the top times in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Sophomore Abdullahi Hassan is also the top seed in the 800 meters.

Fans can follow for live results on our Twitter and Instagram page @BadgerTrackXC

Here are five events to watch this weekend.

1. HACKER FOR THE LEAD: Graduate student Olin Hacker enters the Big Ten Championships with the top times in the 3,000 meters (7:45.73) and 5,000 meters (13:37.02). His times rank him second and fourth on the UW top-10 performance list. lin Hacker's biggest competition in the 3,000 meters may be his teammate Jackson Sharp, who enters the meet with the second-best time of 7:48.56. Senior Charlie Wheeler is also ranked fifth in 7:57.77. In the 5,000 meters Hacker is schedule to be joined by Wheeler and freshman Oliver Paleen.

The mile may be fastest in Big Ten history with eight athletes under the four-minute mark this season, including Wisconsin freshman Adam Spencer. Spencer ranks fourth in the conference at 3:57.29. Teammates Shuaib Aljabaly and Sharp are also entered in the mile.

2. THE AMAZING ABDULLAHI: With a personal best of 1:47.51 in the 800 meters, sophomore Abdullahi Hassan ranks second at Wisconsin, just .06 seconds off the school-record time of 1:47.45 set by Zach Mellon. Hassan will be joined by junior Ansel Fellman in the 800.

3. STRONG THROWS: Junior Andrew Stone is seeded third in the shot put with a personal best toss of 65 feet, 0 1/2 inches from the Red Hawk Invitational on Feb. 5. His mark is only nine inches off the conference leader this season and only seven inches off the Badger indoor school record. Stone is looking to improve upon his fifth-place finish of a year ago. He will be joined by redshirt freshman Jason Swarens in the shot put. Swarens has improved his personal best by nearly eight feet since the start of the season, currently ranking sixth in the Big Ten at 63-4 3/4.

Swarens will also be competing in the weight throw along with teammates Sam Coil, Cole Hooper and Dan Ufearo. Coil ranks fourth in the conference with a personal best with a toss of 71-2 ¾, ranking him third all-time for Wisconsin. All four Badgers rank among the top 17 weight throwers this weekend.

4. DMR QUARTET: Wisconsin is the reigning champion in the distance medley relay as the quartet of Shuaib Aljabaly, Colin Enz, Ansel Fellman and Jackson Sharp won the title in 2021 in 9:46.39 with Sharp outleaning the Illinois runner at the finish line. Last weekend, the team of Adam Spencer, Enz, Abdullahi Hassan and Sharp ran a school record of 9:23.85. That time ranks third in the Big Ten this season, a little over a second out of first place.

5. LO LEVELS UP: Junior Lawrence Johnson has consistently improved his time in the 60-meter dash this season. At the Windy City Invitational on Feb. 12, he ran a personal best time of 6.61, just .06 seconds off the UW record of 6.55 held by Deme Omole. Johnson is ranked third in the Big Ten this season and tied for 14th in the nation.