FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – UW men’s track and field junior Adam Spencer, sophomore Giovanni Wearing, freshman Andrew Casey and senior Jackson Sharp all booked their tickets to the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday during the West First Round in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
In the second track event of the day, Spencer toed the line in the 1500 meters and ran toward the front of the pack the entire race before ultimately finishing second in his section with a time of 3 minutes, 40.04 seconds to earn an auto-qualifier. The Australian national champion finished third in the entire field and will partake in his fourth track and field NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, Oregon.
Wearing got off the blocks strong in the 110-meter hurdles and ultimately picked up the auto-qualification mark, finishing third in his heat at 13.46. A native of Virginia, Wearing will become the first Badger since Nate Larkin in 2009 to compete in the 110 hurdles at the NCAA outdoor meet. The 2024 Big Ten runner-up will head to his first NCAA Championships, with next Wednesday’s semi-final set for 7:32 p.m. CT.
In the 800 meters, Casey found himself in a stellar heat with Yusuf Bizimana of Texas, the 2022 NCAA indoor champion, and Iowa’s Rivaldo Marshall, the 2024 NCAA indoor champion. Casey, a freshman, showed poise in the race, as he finished fourth in his section in a personal-best time of 1:47.41 to advance to the NCAA championships with a time-qualifying spot. Casey’s time ranks seventh in school history and is the fastest-ever run by a UW freshman.
Sharp rounded out the afternoon in the 5000 meters, just three hours after he raced in the 1500 meters. The Australian hung toward the back of the pack for the first half of the race, before making a move over half of the field. He eventually took hold of the fifth-place spot and finished out the race in that position to earn the auto-qualifier. He took sixth overall with a time of 13:47.95 to book his fifth trip to the NCAA track championships. In the 1500 meters, Sharp finished 13th overall in 3:41.12, missing the qualifying mark by .03 seconds.
In the steeplechase, Ben Nibbelink capped off his Badger career with a 25th-place finish, finishing 10th in his section in 8:59.91….
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