Sports

Men’s track squad preps for nationals

Fresh off their fifth consecutive Big Ten Indoor Championship, the UW men’s track team will be sending 13 athletes to this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Ark.

The Badgers are currently No. 6 overall in the nation and have the opportunity to make an impact on the national scene.

“We’re very excited about the opportunity to take a large number of our athletes to compete at the national meet,” said UW coach Ed Nuttycombe. “It bodes well for having the opportunity to be a top-10 program.”

Speedy sophomore Demi Omole will be competing in the 60-meter dash. Despite pulling his hamstring in the finals at Big Ten Indoors, he recorded an NCAA-provisional qualifying mark of 6.62 during the indoor season and currently ranks fourth in the event.

Wisconsin’s distance runners appear to be the Badgers’ strong favorite to win any single event, as Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky take the track in the 3,000 meter event as well as the 5,000 meter event along with Simon Bairu and Tim Gregory, all of whom rank in the top 10 in their respective events.

Tegenkamp, who holds the top spot in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 13:36.48, has been preparing for the national meet all year, but doesn’t feel like his workout routine has changed at all in the past couple of weeks.

“I don’t think anything’s really changed from the season (in preparation), just dropping the mileage a little bit and trying to sharpen up the legs to get ready to run,” Tegenkamp said.

Bairu, who has been battling minor injuries all year and hopes to get back on track with a successful run at nationals, echoed Tegenkamp.

“I think we’re preparing the same way like any other race,” Bairu said. “We’re trying to go in and just relax as much as possible and personally I’m just trying to not put too much emphasis on the fact that it’s not a national meet and just run the best that I can.”

Solinsky, too, is simply trying to relax before finals, although he feels as if he is in tip-top shape to take on the national competition.

“(I’m) just trying to make sure that everything goes right and that I don’t overdo anything in practice,” Solinsky said. “My body’s feeling good and ready to roll and I’m in the right frame of my mind as well, trying to approach the races the best way possible so I don’t get too freaked out.”

While Tegenkamp, Bairu, Solinsky and Gregory recognize the heightened competition that comes with a national meet, their best, strongest rivals may, in fact, be themselves.

“It’s hard to say (who the biggest competition will be) because both races are pretty stacked,” Solinsky said. “Obviously you can’t leave Matt (Tegenkamp) out in either the five or the three and in the five we have four guys going and all four of those guys are good and have potential to be All-American. All-around both fields are, I think, the best I’ve ever seen them at the national meet so it’ll be good.”

The Badgers will also be sending Alonzo Moor and Rick Bellford in the triple jump, Joe Thomas in the shot put, Ben Roland in the heptathlon, and a distance medley relay team that consists of Dan Gregory, Joe Detmer, Dan Murray and Josh Spiker.

Head coach Ed Nuttycombe is ecstatic to be sending so many athletes and believes that all of them have the opportunity to gain points for the Badgers on the national level.

“You can’t score if you can’t get to the meet and anyone in the meet at this level has a chance to score,” Nuttycombe said. “We’re very excited to take our team to compete at the highest level of college track.”

The women’s team won’t be sending any athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships, although Katrina Rundhaug (5,000 meter run) and Erica Schoeller (pentathlon) were a mere 11 spots away from making the cut for the national meet.