Last spring when the men’s track team competed in the NCAA Indoor Championships, they made the best showing by a Wisconsin track and field team since 1979 by finishing in 10th place and setting a school record for the highest point total in an NCAA meet with 19. This season, already two weeks young, they will be faced with the daunting task of improving on that finish.

Besides winning the Big Ten Indoor Championship last season, the Badgers won the Big Ten outdoor championship as well, and went on to notch yet another 10th place finish at the NCAA outdoor championships.

With most of last year’s squad returning, including almost all of the NCAA point scorers, UW has a chance to score significant points at the national meet.

This season, as always, the track team will be led by its outstanding lineup of distance runners. At the forefront stands senior Matt Tegenkamp, a four-time All-American and the 2004 Big Ten champion in the 5000 meters. Tegenkamp finished third in the NCAA in the 3000 meters last spring and he will be a force to be reckoned with in both the 3000 and 5000 meters this season.

The Badger distance crew will also be aided by sophomore Chris Solinsky and NCAA cross-country champion Simon Bairu. At last weekend’s meet, Solinsky finished the mile in 4:05.19, good for first place and an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Bairu finished strong last season with a third place finish in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, improving on his eighth place mark in the Indoor Championships, and he is carrying some momentum from his successful cross-country season.

Leading the way at middle distance is senior Dan Murray. He redshirted 2004’s indoor season, but this year the two-time All-American will be a strong contender in the 800 meters at both the Big Ten and the NCAA level. Murray won the mile two weeks ago at the Badger Track Classic and the 800 meters last weekend.

While the Badgers are strong as ever at distance and middle distance, it will be up to the sprinters and jumpers to pick up the slack if the Badgers hope to finish better than 10th this year. Wisconsin will be bolstered by the added experience of sophomore Demi Omole, who holds the UW record in the 100 meters, previously held by Michael Bennett, with a time of 10.15 seconds. He also helped set a world junior record of 38.66 seconds in the 4×100 relay last July running the second leg for Team USA.

“Demi came in last year mid-year, so during the indoor season he never really had the base conditioning and strength that he needed,” said head coach Ed Nuttycombe of his young sprinter. “This year he is way, way ahead of where he was at any point last year. There’s no question that he’ll be one to step up and contribute at the national level.”

The Badgers will also look to their quartet of highly talented jumpers in Joe Conway, Rick Bellford, Alonzo Moore and Paul Hubbard. Conway leads the other three in the long jump while Bellford tops Moore and Hubbard for the best triple jump so far this season.

Wisconsin also has a very good heptathlete in junior Joe Detmer. Detmer won the event two weeks ago at Wisconsin’s first track meet and is tops on the team in the pole vault.

In the field events, football player Joe Thomas will carry the shot put. He will look to improve on an eighth place finish in the shot put at the Big Ten Indoor Championships of a year ago.

The Badgers’ season is already off to a promising start. Wisconsin has hosted two indoor track meets so far, and at last weekend’s Wisconsin Elite Invitational, the Badgers won eight events. Besides Solinsky’s first place finish in the mile, the Badgers also had the top two finishers in the 400-meters in junior Chad Melotte and sophomore Dan Goesch.

If Nuttycombe, last year’s Big Ten Coach of the Year, expects to improve on last year’s success, he agrees help will have to come from people other than the distance runners.

“The long distance crew will lead the way, but we have to have people chipping in from other areas, meaning the jumps, the sprints and some of the other areas if we’re going to accomplish what we want,” Nuttycombe said.