BOSTON — The Wisconsin men’s track and field duo of Bob Liking and Adam Spencer made history in Boston at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Saturday.
Spencer got things started in the first heat of the 3000 meters race, finishing sixth with a time of 7 minutes, 40.38 seconds. The Melbourne, Australia, native shattered the school record in the event and set an indoor personal record by more than 40 seconds. He broke Morgan McDonald’s school record of 7:42.76 set during the 2019 season.
Liking competed in the first heat of the 5000 meters, finishing 13th with a time of 13:22.80, shaving nearly three seconds off the previous school record of 13:25.51 set by Jackson Sharp in Boston last December. A native of St. Charles, Illinois, Liking now holds the UW school record in both the indoor and outdoor 5K.
Freshman standout Christian de Vaal continues to make his mark, racing into the record books with a time of 13:41.17. This performance not only secured him the 10th spot on the top-10 all-time UW performers list but also set a new New Zealand U-20 record.
Teammates Matan Ivri clocked 13:45.52, Micah Wilson finished with 13:45.83 and Johnny Livingstone cross the line at 13:46.36.
On the women’s side, Shea Ruhly inserted herself in the top-10 all-time UW performers in the 5000-meter race after finishing her race in 16:00.70. The Middleton native set her PR to kick off the 2024-25 indoor season.
Mya Bunke earned a personal best in the 3000-meter competition—turning in a time of 9:30.97, good for 14th place in her heat. Bunke’s previous best was back in 2022 when she ran a 10:15.26 at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational.
Leane Willemse and Fiona McLoughlin each competed in the 5000-meter race, too—completing the race in 16:28.30 and 16:50.44, respectively.
Straight from the Track
UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne
On Saturday’s showing
“Coming to a meet like this two weeks after the NCAA Cross Country Championships, you just never know how the student-athletes wil respond. We’ve done zero fast work since NCAA’s so the plan was to just go out there and have some fun and race. We had two school records and six PRs between the men and women, so I would say it was a very productive day here in Boston.”
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