It was a big weekend for the Badger men’s indoor track team – the red and white won the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championship. This historic event marks the second time the Badgers have been crowned Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Champions in the last 10 years.
Starting off strong in the 60 meters, senior Lawrence Johnson took home the gold with a quick finish of 6.61 seconds. Junior Abdullahi Hassan placed fifth in the 800 meters in 1:48.11, and sophomore Adam Spencer achieved first place in the mile with a time of 4:13.03.
For the 3000 meters, there were four Badgers who landed in scoring places. Senior Jackson Sharp achieved first with a time of 7:51:53. His teammate, Bob Liking, finished in third place at 7:51.82, and Rowen Ellenberg came in fifth at 7:59.40. Finally, Evan Bishop earned sixth place with a time of 7:59.60.
In shot put, Andrew Stone landed in fourth place with a throw of 61’-1 ½. In the heptathlon, Cade Amborn finished in second with a total of 5818 points – a new best score for him, outsourcing his past score by 340 points. He got first in pole vault and the 1000 meters, while he scored third in 60-meter hurdles.
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For the All-Big Ten Men’s Indoor Track & Field honorees, the first team includes — Johnson, Sharp and Spencer. Second-team accolades include Amborn, Benjamin Nibbeling, Pierce Seigne and Jalen Williams.
NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will take place on March 10-11 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The team will be sending seven athletes who will be competing in six events where some Badgers have a good chance of taking home some new hardware. Sam Coil is ranked ninth for the weighted throw event, Adam Spencer is ranked 13th for the mile run and Jackson Sharp is placed at 14th.
The best chance for the team to medal would be in the distance medley relay and 60-meter sprint. The Badger distance medley relay, comprised of Spencer, Colin Enz, Hassan and Sharp, is tied for third place with North Carolina. Johnson is ranked in fourth place for the 60-meter sprint but with milliseconds differentiating the podium, he might be able to break through the top 3.
A week before the competition the top 5 ranked teams are Arkansas, Washington, Texas Tech, Texas and Alabama, respectively. Arkansas is favored to win it all in New Mexico. Last year they ended in seventh place with 24 points.
To empower their team, the coaches truly made the best of the transfer portal, and it came back in their favor. They have seven national top 5 finishers, 10 national top 10 finishers and a defending champion, with a Bowerman finalist nomination, in Ayden Owens-Delerme.
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Owens-Delerme is a force to be reckoned with — he is scoring within the top five in all of his events at the 2023 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Combining those factors with a top scoring 4×400 relay, Arkansas seems to be in an unwavering winning dispute.
Wisconsin’s current ranking is 18th — the highest ranking they have had all year. Last year at the 2022 Men’s NCAA Indoor Championship, Johnson finished fourth with a time of 6.56 seconds. The distance medley relay of Spencer, Enz, Hassan and Olin Hacker placed third. The men’s overall team rank ended in 15th place with 16 points.
