Five things to know: Badgers to compete at NCAA West Preliminary Rounds

Wednesday, May 24

Sacramento, CA

Wisconsin Badgers

NCAA West Preliminary Round

Bob Liking competes in the 5,000 meters at the Big Ten Championships

Photo by: Carol Chen

Five things to know: Badgers to compete at NCAA West Preliminary Rounds

May 23, 2023 | Men's Track & Field

Wisconsin travels to Sacramento for first round of championship qualifying

By: Londyn Butler

Schedule of Events | Live Results | Watch on ESPN+

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 23 Wisconsin men's track and field team heads to Sacramento, California, for the NCAA West Preliminary Round this week. The Badgers are sending 14 athletes to compete with events beginning on Wednesday. Field events start at 12 p.m. CT and the running events will begin at 8 p.m. CT. Competition continues on Friday with field events starting at 3 p.m. CT and running events at 7:15 p.m. CT.

The top-12 finishers from each event from the NCAA West Preliminary Round qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championship on June 7-10, which will be held at the University of Texas-Austin in Austin, Texas.

You can follow along for live results and watch all events except the throws on ESPN+. Follow @BadgerTrackXC on Twitter and Instagram for live updates.

Here are the five things to know:

1. THROW B1G OR GO HOME: Redshirt junior Jason Swarens won bronze in the shot put at the Big Ten Outdoor championships, throwing a personal best of 67 feet, 4 ¾ inches, breaking the school record for the second time this season. Swarens ranks sixth in the nation and fifth in the West Region. Grad student Sam Coil competes in the hammer along with teammate Cole Hooper. Cole finished fourth in the Big Ten this season and ranks 20th in the West Region with a personal best throw of 219-10 this season. Hooper has a personal best throw of 207-9 this season, ranking 36th in the region. Andrew Stone competes in both the shot put and discus throw this season, ranking 13th in the shot put at 63-10 1/2 and 23rd in the discus with a personal best throw of 190-4.

2. SPEEDY SPRINTS: Senior Lawrence Johnson is set to compete in the 100-meter dash. Johnson holds the school record in the 100 meters in 10.08 seconds after beating a 16-year-old record last year. Johnson is ranked 23rd in the West Region season, running a season's best of 10.20. Making his regional debut will be freshman Giovanni Wearing, competing in the 110-meter hurdles. The Virginia native ran a best time of 13.95 this season, ranking 46th in the region.

3. MIDDLE DISTANCE MAYHEM: Australia native Adam Spencer ranks sixth in the 1500 meters, heading into the Preliminary Round. Last year, Spencer won bronze in the 1500 meters at NCAA West Prelims, qualifying for the NCAA Championship. Junior Abdullahi Hassan ran a season-best of 1:46.25 in the 800 meters, ranking him fourth in the nation and second in the west region. Hassan is half a second off the school record of 1:45.6 set by Mark Winzenried in 1971.

4. TAKING A LIKING TO SHARP: Competing in the men's 5,000-meters is junior Jackson Sharp and set to run in the 10,000-meters is junior Bob Liking. Sharp ran a best time of 13:29.84 this season, ranking him seventh all-time at UW, fifth in the west region and 10th in the nation. In the 10,000 meters, Liking has a personal best time of 29:00.77, which ranks sixth in the nation and fifth in the west region.

5. SPLASH OF THE STEEPLE: Freshman Logan Measner made a splash in the steeplechase this season, finishing second at the Big Ten championships. His personal best time of 8:45.14 ranks 25th in the region and is just three seconds out of the UW's top-10 performance list. Measner will be joined by grad transfer Ben Nibbelink in the steeplechase. Nibbelink ranks 52nd in the region with a season best time of 8:54.78, finishing fourth at Big Tens.