This weekend the Wisconsin men's track and field team will try to add to the impressive legacy that head coach Ed Nuttycombe has built. Under Nuttycombe, the cardinal and white have won six straight Big Ten indoor championships as well as the past three Big Ten outdoor track titles. This weekend they are hoping to add a seventh-straight indoor title to their résumé when they head to Bloomington, Ind. for the two-day event.

"I think there's probably three teams that have a chance to win it," Nuttycombe said. "And we're fortunate to be one of those. It's on paper going to be very tough, and I know I say that every year, but it will be this year."

Nuttycombe expects Minnesota and Illinois to challenge his Badgers for the team title. Michigan, which features a number of strong athletes, could push all three teams.

Speaking of the Wolverines, if the Badgers won this weekend, they would tie the maize and blue as the only programs to win indoor titles seven consecutive years. Michigan accomplished it from 1934-1940.

This title, should the Badgers win, would also tie Nuttycombe for the all-time record of conference championships by a coach. Nuttycombe says he hasn't really thought of it, except the fact that it shows how long he has coached.

"It's saying I'm old," Nuttycombe said. "It's saying I've been here a long time. Yeah, that's quite an honor to be in that position."

With the caliber of runners Nuttycombe and Wisconsin have on their side, there is a good chance he will tie that record this weekend. Demi Omole (60 m.), Chris Solinsky (3,000m) and Joe Detmer (heptathlon) all head into the conference meet as the favorites in their respective events. Additionally, five other athletes are slated to finish in the top three. However, the lack of depth behind these eight runners concerns Nuttycombe.

"We've got some great athletes up front," Nuttycombe said. "But we're not quite as deep across the broad spectrum of events as we've been in the past. It's a little scary, because at the conference level, it's not about being able to score well in some events, but being able to score something in the vast majority of events.

"And so just a little bit of lack of depth this year concerns us."

While the men's team is riding high, the Wisconsin women's track and field team heads into this weekend's Big Ten Conference indoor championships crippled, as four top athletes are out with injuries. Even so, head coach Jim Stintzi still has hopes his team can better their fifth place finish from last year.

"We're excited about heading into the Big Ten championships this weekend," Stintzi said. "We are heading into the meet a little understaffed. But with that said, we've come quite a ways even since last year with the rest of the team. I think we're making some progress, but we definitely have some big shoes to fill or a big road ahead of us this weekend, so we'll see how it goes."

Blair Luethmers (pole vault) and Michelle Bellford (sprints, jumps) will both miss the meet with stress fractures. Katrina Rundhaug (distance) has a tendon injury stemming from cross country, and Lindsay Biel (hurdles, high jump) stepped off the track in a race earlier this season and broke her foot.

Those four losses, along with those who graduated from last year's team, have left some big shoes to fill for the Badgers. But Stintzi is trying to stay on the positive side.

"Going into the season, we lost a lot of points from our team last year, and then you lose these people," Stinzi said. "We thought we would be in the hunt for the top five for sure, and as I look at our team now, if we'd had those people back, I'd say we'd have a pretty good team.

"Honestly, I'm not sure where we'll end up. I don't know what is realistic."

Even with four top women out, there are still some big guns hoping to do well this weekend. The leader of that pack will be pentathlete Melissa Talbot, who currently holds the second best Big Ten indoor score in the event. Stintzi is hoping her performance in this five-event competition, as well as her performance in the 200 meter run, can set the tone for the weekend.

"It's a difficult thing (training for so many events)," Stintzi said. "And it's a difficult thing to do well and to stay healthy and then to be sharp for all those areas. … That's what we really try to do with Melissa, keep her healthy, not go crazy with her, keep her fresh. And I think she'll do really well this weekend."

As far as the rest of the team goes, there are a few others looking to set their own marks. Sophomore Jenny Soceka has the third-best mark for the pole vault in the Big Ten, and has already qualified for nationals. Elsewhere, 'A Havahla Haynes has the fourth-best time in the 3,000 meters. So despite the crippling injuries to Stintzi's squad, other competitors have stepped up. This weekend should be no different.

"A couple of these things happened before the season started, and then a couple just freak things happened. You have to kind of roll with it. I think that if we go into this meet with a positive outlook and we score the points we can score, I think we'll be all right."