UW indoor track team hosts invitational
The No. 17 UW men’s track and field team won three events and the women’s track and field team won four events at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational against a field that included Illinois, Illinois State, Indiana State, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa.
Led by Freshman Chris Solinsky, who posted the ninth-fastest mile in school history (4:02.76) to earn an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, the men took the top four spots in the mile. Junior Matt Tegenkamp also earned an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, finishing second with a time of 4:03.73. Sophomore Bobby Lockhart took third at 4:08.05 and sophomore Simon Bairu grabbed fourth at 4:08.76.
“The mile was great,” coach Ed Nuttycombe said. “For those guys to run what they did — we had four guys under 4:08 with very little work done to get them ready to do that — they just did it on talent and the excitement of having to run the race.”
Junior Josh Spiker finished first in the 3000 meters at 8:14.98, sophomore Joe Detmer won the 600 meters with a personal-best time of 1:18.49 and Junior Darren Niedermeyer took second in the pole vault with a 16-0, which ties his personal best. Freshman Paul Hubbard, who was ranked the No. 1 prep triple jumper last year, took second place in the triple jump at 50-8, and grabbed third in the long jump at 24-1.
“I think overall it was a good stepping stone for us,” Nuttycombe said. “It wasn’t a perfect meet, but it was definitely an improvement. We showed improvement in a lot of areas.”
For the women, senior Hilary Edmonson blew away the competition in the mile with a personal best of 4:42.47. Edmonson posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time, finishing more than 20 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
Freshman Shuntia Lucas took the top spot in the 200 meters, finishing with the third-fastest time in school history (24.88 seconds). Lucas also posted a personal best of 7.72 to take second place in the 60-meter dash.
In a remarkable team effort, Wisconsin took the top six places in the 3000 meters with senior Michelle Lilienthal finishing first in 9:56.41. The Badgers also won the high jump, as senior Angie Kolanko recorded a personal best of 5-8.
Versatile sophomore Erica Schoeller posted a personal best in the 60-meter dash, finishing fifth at 8.00. Schoeller recorded another personal best to finish third in the long jump at 18-5, and matched her personal best (9.09) with a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.
“It’s been two weeks since our last meet and we’re probably two weeks in better shape,” coach Peter Tegen said. “It was a pretty good meet for us. We had some very nice performances and we’re looking to continue on that trail.”
–Compiled from staff reports
