The fastest collegiate 1,500-meter race of the year led to two of the fastest 1,500 meters times in Wisconsin history Saturday.
Juniors Jack Bolas and Craig Miller were part of an elite field that lived up to its billing at Stanford’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, as all five of the collegians in Saturday’s race surpassed what had been the NCAA’s leading time heading into the weekend.
Bolas finished sixth in the extremely tight field, clocking a lightning-fast time of 3:37.64 to shatter his own personal-best mark and move up to No. 3 on the Badgers’ all-time list in the event. Miller was on his heels with an outstanding career-best time of 3:37.81, the fifth fastest in school history.
Both improved their NCAA regional qualifying marks, with Bolas now ranking fourth and Miller fifth among collegians this season.
The only runners ahead of them on that list are Saturday’s winner, Matthew Centrowitz of Oregon (3:36.92), third-place finisher Lee Emanuel of New Mexico (3:37.25) and fifth-place finisher Garrett Heath of Stanford (3:37.57). Four post-collegiate athletes also took part in the race.
Jakutyte leads Badgers with personal best in high jump
Winning the high jump at the Arkansas Twilight Friday night, waking up early Saturday morning and enduring a long flight to Madison did not faze Monika Jakutyte at the Wisconsin Open.
Jakutyte led the way for the Wisconsin women’s track and field team Saturday, winning her second high jump competition in as many days and doing so with a personal best and NCAA regional qualifying mark of 5 feet, 10 and three-fourths inches.
“Today I was just trying just to get 5′ 9″ because I was so close last night, and I did a little more than that,” said Jakutyte, whose mark is fifth best in the Big Ten Conference this season.
Jakutyte surpassed her previous personal best of 5 feet 7 inches, a mark she had been stuck on for a year and a half. She said she is not only glad to set a new lifetime best, but also that the regional qualifying mark might help her at the upcoming Big Ten outdoor championships.
“It gives me more confidence,” Jakutyte said. “I don’t have that much pressure now going into Big Tens trying to qualify. So I can just relax a little bit.”
Woltman, Badgers finish 10th at Big Tens
Wisconsin senior Dan Woltman struggled in the final round of the 2009 Big Ten Men’s Golf Championship but managed to finish in a tie for 10th place with a four-round total of 291 (+7).
Woltman shot a 78 on Sunday as the Badgers had their worst round of the tournament, carding a 306 as a team. That gave them a total of 1183 (+47), good for a 10th-place finish.
Woltman was actually one-under par for the day and the tournament after making a birdie on No. 13, his fourth hole of the day. He then bogeyed three of his next five holes, making the turn at 2-over par.
Woltman’s score of 291 for the tournament is the eighth-best 72-hole score in Wisconsin history. It was the 13th time in Woltman’s UW career that he has finished in the top 10 and his third top 10 in four spring events this season.
— UWBadgers.com
