MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's and women's track and field teams continue their outdoor season by sending five athletes to two meets, the Mt.SAC Relays in California and the Wake Forest Invitational in North Carolina
Fans can follow along on social media at @BadgerTrackXC and find live results for the Mt. Sac Relays at Finished Results.
1. LAST WEEKEND RECAP: Last week, the Badgers competed at six separate meets.
The men were highlighted by seven individual wins across various events. Jalen Williams and Elliot Harris dominated for the sprints group, earning 1-2 finishes in the 400 meters in back-to-back meets. Williams won both races at the UCLA Legends Invitational and Cerritos Invitational. He posted a season-best at UCLA, finishing in 47.21 seconds. Giovanni Wearing also won the 110 meter hurdles in back-to-back meets while Justin Kiefel won the triple jump with a distance of 47-1 at the UCLA Legends Invitational. On the distance side, the Badgers swept the podium in the 1500 meters at the UW-Platteville Invitational, headlined by Max Hartke's win and personal best at 3:46.19. Freshman Liam Newhart competed unattached in the 5000 meters at Platteville, winning the race in 13 minutes, 50.43 seconds. Quinn Lansill won his section of the decathlon at the Bryan Clay Invitational. He scored 7,059 points after setting personal bests in the 100 meters, shot put, 400 meters, 110 meter hurdles and javelin throw. Finally, throwers stood out during the busy weekend, including three top 10 placements from Jason Swarends (3rd), Jacob Bugella (6th) and Nick Tomasovic (9th) at the LA Twilight Open.
The women headlined their weekend with four UW top-10 performances and 19 personal best marks. At the Bryan Clay Invitational, two Badgers made their mark on the 5,000 meters as Leane Willemse and Maya Rayle set new personal best times. Willemse finished in 15:49.80, which places her No.7, while Rayle ran a 15:52.50, joining UW's top-10 list at No. 9. Shaina Zinter scored a personal best of 5,499 points in the Heptathlon, moving her to eighth on UW's All-Time performance list, her score currently ranks No.11 in Division I and first in the Big Ten this season. Danni Langseth was the fourth Badger to make an appearance on the All-Time performance list, throwing for a personal best distance of 53 feet, 11 ¾ inches (16.45m), moving her up to No.6 and ranking her Langseth No.10 in the Big Ten Conference this season.
2. WEEKEND DOWN UNDER: Four Badgers competed in the Australian Athletics Championships this past weekend as junior Adam Spencer was crowned a National Champion. Spencer won the 1500 meters in a thrilling race, crossing the line in 3 minutes, 37.68 seconds. UW alum Oliver Hoare followed close behind Spencer, finishing second at 3:37.83.
The remaining Badgers both earned podium finishes in the 5000 meters. A four-time NCAA Champion, McDonald clocked in at 13 minutes, 39.66 seconds, while Sharp was followed right after in 13:39.82. McDonald was toward the front of the pack for the entirety of the race. However, Sharp found himself in the middle of the pack until the midway point of the 12.5-lap race, where he made a move to the outside and surged to the front of the lead pack.
3. WHAT TO EXPECT AT MT.SAC: Multi-athlete Cade Amborn will compete in the men's decathlon out west, alongside UW alum and two-time Olympian Zach Ziemek. Amborn has had a strong start to his outdoor campaign, competing in four throwing events and earning two top 10 finishes. Wednesday marks his first multi-event since getting on the podium at the 2024 Big Ten Indoor Championships, finishing third in the heptathlon with 5,707 points. He begins the competition at 2 p.m. CT Wednesday. Ziemek will compete in his first full decathlon of the year as he continues to prepare for 2024 Olympic Trials in June. Ziemek has already taken the stage at LSU's Battle of the Bayou and Keyth Talley Invitational. He placed top-eight at the two previous Olympics. Ziemek will begin competing at 3:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
4. WHAT TO EXPECT AT WAKE FOREST: On Friday, the UW women will send two athletes to compete at the Wake Forest Invitational. Freshman Ruby Madden will compete in the 1500 meters at 1:10 p.m. CT, while Alexa Westley will represent the Badgers in the 10,000 meters at 9:25 p.m. Madden is coming off a personal best performance in the 1500 meters, crossing in 4:31.18 at the Bryan Clay Invitational last weekend. Westley goes into the 10,000 meters with a personal best time of 33:17.63 that she set last season. This time also ranks her eighth on UW's All-Time list.
On the men's side, Joe dosReis and Max Hartke will run in the 1500 meters. dosReis has run the 1500 meters twice this outdoor season, collecting one top 10 finish at the Stanford Invitational (March 29) in 3 minutes, 45.82 seconds. Hartke has also competed in the 1500 meters twice this season. As previously mentioned, he saw great success last weekend at the UW-Platteville Invitational, winning the race ahead of three fellow Badgers with a personal best time of 3 minutes, 46.19 seconds.
5. UP NEXT: The men and women will return to competition next weekend as they are scheduled to compete at three different meets. Select athletes will head east for the Penn Relays, whileother athletes compete at the Texas Invitational in Austin and the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
