As the 2001-02 UW men’s indoor track season winds down, competition in West Bend, Ind., this Friday and Saturday will be at full force. Notre Dame is playing host to the NCAA Last Chance meet, where teams from across the nation will come to compete and qualify for a trip to the NCAA Indoor Championship at Fayetteville, Ark.
The Badgers will be sending down 15 athletes to compete, including redshirt freshman standout Matt Tegenkamp, who has already qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championship in Arkansas with a time of seven minutes and 7.08 seconds in the 3000 meter run at the Iowa State Classic. This is not only the fastest time in the conference, but Tegenkamp has made Badger history by setting a new Wisconsin record with his 7:57:08 mark. Isaiah Festa and Adam Wallace also have NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the 3000-meter, and Wallace is also a provisional qualifier in the 5000-meter run.
Other Badgers that have also provisionally qualified are Jon Mungen, who received a time of 7.88 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, and Alonzo Moore, who qualified in the triple jump with the distance of 15.79 meters.
Freshman Jvontai Hanserd and senior Jabari Pride will also be making the trip to Notre Dame this Friday. Hanserd will race in the 400-meter along with Prid,e who will also try to leave his mark in the distance medly relay.
The DMR is a four-man relay, with each man running a different distance. Festa will run the first leg of 1200 meters and Pride will take the second run, a sprint of 400 meters. UW’s Dan Murray will run the 800-meter leg while Josh Spiker will be the anchor that runs the final 1600 meters of the race.
Hanserd has been an integral part of the team, showing an unyielding drive during indoor season. For Hanserd, going to the NCAA Last Chance meet is just seen as an extra bonus to top out his solid freshman year.
“My season overall went pretty well. I got after it and ran some good races and accomplished some personal bests,” said Hanserd. “This is my first time trying to make it to the NCAA championship, and I hope to run a personal best of 48 seconds flat in the 400 meters. To make it to the NCAA meet, I just want to run anything.”
For Hanserd to reach his goal of 48 seconds, he will have to shave 45/100ths of a second of his best time 48.45. However, Hanserd heads to the meet with realistic expectations.
“For some of us, this meet is just another race, but for others, the pressure is on,” said Hanserd. “If I don’t qualify, I’ll just get ready for the outdoor season.”
For Pride, though, the NCAA qualifying meet is not to be taken lightly. The senior’s season hasn’t been anything but mediocre. The disappointment has left him hoping to capitalize on the meet in Notre Dame in order to end the indoor season strong.
“This will be my first time going to nationals if I qualify, but since this is my last year this is my last chance. Besides the Big Ten Conference Championships, this is the most crucial meet of the year,” said Pride.
“I have yet to qualify for any event in the NCAA championships this season, so hopefully this weekend I will qualify in two, the DMR and 400 meters. To do this I will need to run about in 47 seconds flat for both races,” he added.
Hanserd, Pride and the rest of the Badger men’s track team have lofty goals and expectations heading into the weekends meet at Notre Dame. It is apparent that their dreams and goals are not out of reach — they are expected to be met.
