Five things to know: Badgers to compete at NCAA West Preliminary Rounds

Schedule of Events  |  Live Results  | Watch on ESPN+

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 23 Wisconsin men’s track and field team heads to Sacramento, California, for the NCAA West Preliminary Round this week. The Badgers are sending 14 athletes to compete with events beginning on Wednesday. Field events start at 12 p.m. CT and the running events will begin at 8 p.m. CT. Competition continues on Friday with field events starting at 3 p.m. CT and running events at 7:15 p.m. CT.

 

The top-12 finishers from each event from the NCAA West Preliminary Round qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championship on June 7-10, which will be held at the University of Texas-Austin in Austin, Texas.

 

You can follow along for live results and watch all events except the throws on ESPN+. Follow @BadgerTrackXC on Twitter and Instagram for live updates.

 

Here are the five things to know:

1. THROW B1G OR GO HOME: Redshirt junior Jason Swarens won bronze in the shot put at the Big Ten Outdoor championships, throwing a personal best of 67 feet, 4 ¾ inches, breaking the school record for the second time this season. Swarens ranks sixth in the nation and fifth in the West Region. Grad student Sam Coil competes in the hammer along with teammate Cole Hooper. Cole finished fourth in the Big Ten this season and ranks 20th in the West Region with a personal best throw of 219-10 this season. Hooper has a personal best throw of 207-9 this season, ranking 36th in the region. Andrew Stone competes in both the shot put and discus throw this season, ranking 13th in the shot put at 63-10 1/2 and 23rd in the discus with a personal best throw of 190-4.

2. SPEEDY SPRINTS:  Senior Lawrence Johnson is set to compete in the 100-meter dash. Johnson holds the school record in the 100 meters in 10.08 seconds after beating a 16-year-old record last year. Johnson is ranked 23rd in the West Region season, running a season’s best of 10.20. Making his regional debut will be freshman Giovanni Wearing, competing in the 110-meter hurdles. The Virginia native ran a best time of 13.95 this season, ranking 46th in the region.

 

3. MIDDLE DISTANCE MAYHEM: Australia native Adam Spencer ranks sixth in the 1500 meters, heading into the Preliminary Round. Last year, Spencer won bronze in the 1500 meters at NCAA West Prelims, qualifying for the NCAA Championship. Junior Abdullahi…