It was a jam-packed weekend for both of Wisconsin’s track and field teams, who competed in two separate meets in California — the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Long Beach Invitational.
Middle-distance sensation Oliver Hoare dashed out of the blocks quickly and survived a late challenge from Arizona’s Carlos Villarreal to win the 1500 meters invitational section with a world-leading performance.
The junior from Sydney, Australia remained among the top four runners throughout the race before passing the finish line just a fraction of a second ahead of Villarreal in just three minutes, 37.20 seconds, setting a new personal record, Wisconsin men’s track and field record and world-best time for the 2019 outdoor season.
With a remarkable season debut for Hoare, who won the event at the 2018 National Championships, the quest to become a back-to-back champion could not have started any better.
Fellow Australian and teammate Morgan McDonald also made a big splash in his 5000 meters season debut. The redshirt senior cruised to victory with a time of 13 minutes, 50.92 seconds, a time that currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten and No. 10 in the NCAA this season.
Redshirt senior Trent Nytes finished seventh in the decathlon with 7,618 points, which ranks in the top ten performances in the country so far this season.
Meanwhile, three field athletes for Wisconsin closed out a strong weekend showing at the Long Beach Invitational. Most notably, redshirt freshman Austin Glynn posted the No. 4 discus mark in school history, tossing the discus 187 feet, 6 inches, which currently is tied for No. 19 in the nation and No. 6 in the Big Ten conference.
Glynn’s mark came just one day after an excellent performance in Friday’s hammer throw where he set the third-best mark in program history with a distance of 217 feet, 5 inches, also good for the third-furthest distance in the Big Ten this season.
In the pole vault, Rashid Coulibaly tied for 16th with a clearance of 16 feet, 5.5 inches, while sophomore Zach Dybul finished 19th overall in the high jump, clearing the bar set at 6-7.
On the women’s side, Rayce Albino tied for fourth place in the high jump at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a mark of 12 feet, 9.5 inches, while Jordan Hisbrunner took second place in the heptathlon with 5,369 points — the seventh-best total in program history.
Women’s track and field: Badgers set personal records at Stanford Invitational
Lucinda Crouch took ninth place in the 3000 meter steeplechase, finishing in 10 minutes, 22.14 seconds, the fifth-best time in school history.
At the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Thursday, Banke Oginni took home first place in the shot put before taking seventh place at the Long Beach Invitational Saturday.
Both men’s and women’s track and field teams will return to Madison before traveling to Philadelphia later this week for the historic Penn Relays. The event takes place at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from April 25-27.
