In the second-to-last meet before the Big Ten Championships, the Wisconsin track teams will compete at the Iowa Musco Twilight in Iowa City, while the men's distance runners will race at Stanford this weekend.
The Iowa Twilight competition includes Big Ten rivals Iowa and Minnesota, as well as Drake and Northern Iowa.
The Badgers have yet to compete in good weather this outdoor season, making it difficult for running-event athletes to achieve fast times.
Unlike indoor track, a big part of outdoor track is governed by the weather,"" sprints coach Mark Guthrie said. ""We just haven't had decent weather. As soon as we can get good weather and a race, that's going to cure a lot.""
Two members of the women's team are on the verge of school records.
At Drake Relays last week, junior Chavon Robinson jumped 42 feet in the triple jump, one-half inch from the No. 2 all-time UW record. She has to add nine-and-a-half inches to her jump to tie the school record.
Also, senior Venus Washington ran 11.62 seconds in the 100-meter dash three weeks ago at the Sea Ray Relays, cutting nearly four-tenths of a second off her old personal best. She is seven hundredths of a second away from the UW record of 11.55.
So far, the women's team has qualified 13 individuals to the NCAA Regional or National Championships in 15 events.
Besides Washington and Robinson, four women's distance runners have qualified, as well as three throwers, two hurdlers and two field-event athletes.
The distance runners will be focusing on the 5,000 meters at Iowa.
""A lot of us are doing the 5k this weekend, and there's a chance that five of us will qualify for regionals,"" senior distance runner Katrina Rundhaug said. ""That would be really good if we could get that many.""
While distance and throws are UW strongholds, the sprinting squad is looking strong after sweeping all the sprinting and hurdling events at the Marquette Twilight last weekend.
Experience is beginning to kick in for junior and senior sprinters like Alexis Beecham, Caitlin Dodge, Kaitlyn Marsolek and Nicole Slaby, who each won events last weekend.
While team scores are not tallied until the championship meets, the team effort will matter most at the Big Ten Championships May 16 to 18.
""I think things are coming along real well for the team,"" Rundhaug said. ""Workouts are going real well and we're definitely gearing for the Big Ten meet.""
Men's preview
About half of the men's distance crew competed at Oregon last week, where three individuals earned Mideast Regional qualifying times, and this week, the other half will race at Stanford's Cardinal Invitational.
For his 8 minute, 48.66 second performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last weekend, sophomore Brandon Bethke was named Big Ten Athlete of the Week. Bethke currently ranks sixth nationally in the event, while sophomore Ryan Gasper is third.
Sophomores Craig Miller and Jack Bolas, along with freshman Evan Jager, will be looking to shave a second or so off their 1,500 meter bests, all of which put them in the top 15 nationally.
Also, freshman Landon Peacock and junior Christian Wagner will be making their outdoor debuts in the 10,000 meters.
The sprinters, hurdlers and field-event athletes will be able to refocus on their individual events after competing mostly in relays last weekend at the Drake Relays.
The 4x200 and 4x400-meter relays placed third last weekend, while the sprint medley took fifth and distance medley finished eighth.
Sophomore hurdler Nate Larkin took seventh place in the 110-meter hurdles, while sophomore Rayme Mackinson earned sixth place in the long jump at Drake.
Senior pole-vaulter Derek Thiel, sophomore thrower Rory Linder and senior middle distance runner Joe Pierre each placed in the top three for individual events at the Kip Janvrin Open outside of Des Moines, Iowa, last weekend.
So far this season, 13 individuals and the 4x400-meter relay have qualified for regionals, and after this weekend, there will be only two more chances to qualify.
Next weekend, the Badgers will compete at home in the Wisconsin Twilight, the final competition before Big Tens.
