The Wisconsin men's track and field team finished off a weekend in Des Moines, Iowa with sophomore Demi Omole sprinting to victory for the second year in a row.
Omole's first-place victory in the 100-meter dash, with a time of 10.48 seconds, was tops at the Drake Relays. He also helped the Badgers to a second-place finish, just .2 seconds behind Oregon, in the 4x100 relay with a season best time of 40.08. Sophomore Brian Calhoun, who will also be competing for a starting running back job next fall, teamed with Omole, freshman Jvontai Hanserd and sophomore Dan Goesch to lead the team to its second-place finish.
The Badgers picked up a couple of regional qualifiers as well. Sixth and eighth-place finishes in the triple jump by juniors Alonzo Moore and Rick Belford, respectively, were both qualifying marks.
Sophomore Joe Thomas' season-best throw of 60'5 3/4' was only good enough for seventh in the special shot put. Junior Brent Boettcher also picked up a seventh-place finish with his special high jump mark of 6'8 3/4'.
UW also picked up three wins in Dubuque at the Loras Open. Freshman Luke Hoenecke won the 400-meter race with a time of 49.25, and senior Scott Hogseth finished right behind him. Sophomore Nathan Probst won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.06.
Hoenecke and Probst were also members of the Badgers 4x400 meter relay, with a combined time of 3:21.58.
The women's team also competed at the two Iowa meets, but with less success. At the Drake relays, the sprint medley relay team of sophomore Shuntia Lucas, junior Lisa Oiakarinen, and freshmen Alex McCannel and Nicole Slaby finished in 13th pace in 4:03.7.
The women had more success in Dubuque. Junior Theresa Giorno racked up a first-place mark at the Loras Open in the high jump with a mark of 5'6'. Right behind her was senior Courtney Nuss with a jump of 5'4 1/4'. Also making a strong impression was freshman Sarita Thomas, who finished third in the 200 meter race with a time of 26.21.
