Taking a Liking to the 10K

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Sophomore Bob Liking booked his ticket to the NCAA Championship to lead the Wisconsin men's track and field team on day one of the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Wednesday.

Despite being seeded 47th in the 10,000 meters, Liking stayed with the lead pack the entire race, moving into the top-eight runners with 800 meters remaining. Needing to finish among the top-12 racers, Liking placed eighth, running a personal best time of 28 minutes, 47.40 seconds. His time improved upon his previous best by nearly 15 seconds as he was running in just his third 10K race on the track.

In other finals, redshirt freshman Jason Swarens threw an outdoor personal best of 61 feet, 5 3/4 inches in the shot put to finish 20th. His mark ranks fourth on the UW all-time performance list. Redshirt sophomore Andrew Stone placed just behind his teammate, taking 21st at 61-4 1/2.

In the hammer, sophomore Cole Hooper had a best throw of 201-0 to finish 32nd.

Four advance to quarterfinals

Four Badgers advanced to the next round of their respective events, including one setting a Wisconsin record.

Junior Lawrence Johnson broke the school record in the 200-meter dash, finishing second in his heat and seventh overall in 20.41. His time broke the previous mark of 20.52 set by Robert Hackett in 1987.

Johnson also qualified for the final of the 100-meter dash, winning his heat in a wind-aided time of 10.21. The 100 quarterfinal kicks off at 6:35 p.m. on Friday with the 200 quarterfinal starting at 7:50 p.m.

Two Badgers will run in Friday's quarterfinals of the 1,500 meters as freshman Adam Spencer and junior Jackson Sharp advanced.

Spencer finished second in his heat and second overall in 3:40.55. Sharp, who was seeded 41st, advanced with the 12th-fastest time of 3:43.30. The quarterfinal starts at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.

Sophomore Abdullahi Hassan advanced to the quarterfinals of the 800-meter run, finishing second in his heat and 13th overall in 1:48.36.

Up Next

The next round of the NCAA West Preliminary for men will be held on Friday. Field events begin at 1 p.m. with running events starting at 5 p.m. The meets streams live on ESPN.com.

Thursday Results
100 meters
3. Lawrence Johnson - 10.21

200 meters
7. Lawrence Johnson - 20.41

800 meters
13. Abdullahi Hassan - 1:48.36

1500 meters
2. Adam Spencer - 3:40.55
12. Jackson Sharp - 3:43.30

10,000 meters
8. Bob Liking - 28:47.40

Shot put
20. Jason Swarens - 61-5 3/4
21. Andrew STone - 61-5 1/2

Hammer
32. Cole Hooper - 201-0