This weekend, the Badgers’ track and field team will be sending eight athletes to the 77th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays held at Mike A. Myers Stadium, the home of the Texas Longhorns.
The Texas Relays event is one of the biggest outdoor competitions year in and year out as some of the nation’s best athletes from the high school, collegiate and amateur ranks lace up their spikes in Austin, Texas.
This year’s event is headlined by Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene. This will be the Olympic gold medalist’s ninth Texas Relays appearance.
While the Texas Relays provide strong competition in nearly every single track event, Wisconsin head coach Ed Nuttycombe has decided to send participants only for the decathlon and field events in an attempt to keep his team fresh for the remainder of the track season.
Joe Conway, Ashraf Fadel, Paul Hubbard, Alonzo Moore, Darren Niedermayer, Matt Novak, Joe Thomas, and Ryan Tremelling are the eight athletes the team has selected to represent the cardinal and red at Texas Relays. They will be seeking to improve their respective skills to start the outdoor track season with a bang and to begin to prepare for the Big Ten Championships.
Junior Darren Niedermayer and freshman Matt Novak will be competing in the pole vault and appear to both have a reasonable shot at surprising some people by coming out of the middle of the pack. During the indoor season, the two ranked first and eighth, respectively, in the Big Ten.
The Texas Relays, however, will have much stronger competition than the Big Ten. Powerhouse track and field programs such as Arkansas, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee will offer the Badgers a more stringent test than the two or three semi-elite teams such as the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Michigan Wolverines that the Big Ten has to offer.
On the other hand, the Badgers displayed a strong showing at the NCAA indoors this season with a 10th place finish, showing that they do have the talent to compete.
Freshman star Paul Hubbard of Colorado Springs, Colorado will be looking to fine tune his talents in the first big outdoor track and field event of his collegiate career. Hubbard will be doubling up in the long jump and triple jump events which are his two specialties. He was a two-time state Division 4A champion in those events during high school and also won at the 2002 and 2003 USATF Junior Olympics in both events.
Sophomore Joe Conway will be competing alongside Hubbard in the long jump and Alonzo Moore will be joining Hubbard in the triple jump. Moore will have a solid shot at placing high in his individual event; he recorded an 11th place finish at NCAA indoors this season. Moore and Hubbard will be looking to knock off LSU in the triple jump as the Tigers’ Lejuan Simon, John Moffitt, and Willie Bradley finished first, second, and third, respectively, at NCAA indoors.
Another freshman will be seeking to settle into the outdoor season with a solid performance. Joe Thomas, who also played on the football team’s offensive line this past fall, will be throwing in both the shot put and discus events. Thomas finished eighth in the shot put at Big Ten Indoors with a throw of 57-2 3/4, but will be seeking to match his personal best of 64-10 _, which he recorded in high school.
The decathletes got off to an early start in the Texas Relays. Decathlon events started this Wednesday and Thursday with Badger seniors Ashraf Fadel and Ryan Tremelling hoping to secure as many points as possible in the ten events which include the 100 meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meter run, 110 meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin throw, and the 1500 meter run.
Through eight events, with only the javelin throw and 1500 meters remaining, Tremelling is struggling ? currently in 17th place ? and is in search of a strong finish in the final two events. Fadel currently ranks 9th, putting him in good position to move up the standings. Both seniors are looking to finish their final Texas Relays on a strong note.
The remainder of the Badgers headed to Austin will compete Friday and Saturday. The Texas Relays will be a challenging and telling event for the team, setting the tone as UW prepares for the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.