PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – The Wisconsin men's track and field team opened its weekend of competition at the Penn Relays and Texas Invitational as five different Badgers earned top-fives finishes on Thursday. 

At the Penn Relays, Redshirt freshman Nick Gilles made a tremendous charge during the final 800 meters of the steeplechase to finish second in 8 minutes, 39.91 seconds. Gilles sat in 12th place with two laps to go and eighth with 400 meters remaining before making his move to second.   

A native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, Gilles now ranks 10th in school history in the steeplechase. His time ranks second in the Big Ten Conference and in the top-20 in the NCAA West Region. 

In his first collegiate 1500 meters, Matan Ivri stopped the clock in 3:43.50 to finish third and was just .34 seconds behind Penn State's Jake Allen who won the event.  

To close out the night, three Badgers took to the track for the 5000 meters. Bob Liking and Johnny Livingstone went 4-5  with times of 13.32.52 and 13:36.18 respectively, in a highly competitive field of 66 athletes. Liking was less than two seconds off of Parker Wolfe's winning time of 13:31.09 while Livingstone set a personal best. Sophomore Micah Wilson crossed the line at 13:45.93, taking 13th place.

Meanwhile in Texas, senior Joseph White led the Badgers securing a second place finish with a remarkable throw of 186 feet even (56.71m). This marks the Kenosha, Wisconsin native's second podium finish of the outdoor season. Jake Schaefer earned a top-10 finish in the discus with a toss of 167-11 (51.19m)

Up Next: The Badger throwers will wrap up action at the Texas Invitational on Friday in Austin Texas. The men's hammer throw will kick things off at 12:30 p.m. CT. Wisconsin will also continue competition at the Penn Relays as UW is slated to compete in the distance medley relay and sprint medley relay while Gio Wearing will race in the 110 hurdles. Fans can watch the action at Penn live on FloTrack. 

2025 Penn Relays
Thursday, April 24
Franklin Field
Philadelphia, PA

1500 Meters
3. Matan Ivri, 3:43.50 

5000 Meters
4. Bob Liking, 13:32.52
5. Johnny Livingstone, 13:36.18
13. Micah Wilson, 13:45.93

3000 Steeplechase
2. Nick Gilles, 8:38.91

Texas Invitational 
Thursday, April 24
Mike A. Myers Stadium
Austin, Texas

Men's Discus
2. Joseph White, 186-0 (56.71m)
10. Jake Schaefer 167-11 (51.19m)