The Wisconsin track teams will try to rack up regional qualifying marks against the best competition they've faced this season at the Sea Ray Relays this weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Sea Ray Relays is a huge meet,"" men's head coach Ed Nuttycombe said. ""There's like 50 or 60 schools there.""
The competition includes Tennessee, Georgetown, Ohio State, Eastern Michigan and a plethora of other top-notch squads.
Men's squad
Last weekend, five men's distance runners qualified through to regionals at the elite Stanford Invitational along with the 4x400 meter relay at Auburn. The distance crew will take this weekend off.
""The distance guys ran really well,"" Nuttycombe said. ""The rest of the guys at Alabama, I think we made some strides. We had a hard week of training, so we weren't really geared to run real fast.""
The Sea Ray Relays - like most early season outdoor meets - is not scored, so most athletes are focused on qualifying through to the Midwest Regional Championships in individual events.
After running 14.36 and 14.38 seconds in his last two 110 meter hurdle competitions, sophomore Nate Larkin is just short of hitting the necessary 14.30 standard.
""I just try to run my race,"" Larkin said. ""It will come with time. Once you start worrying about marks and trying to hit a certain point, you kind of lose track of what you're doing.""
Last year, Larkin qualified in the 110 meter hurdles after running 14.26 seconds.
Big Ten indoor runner-up in the long jump Rayme Mackinson is about four inches off the 24 feet, 1 inch standard.
""We're trying to get as many guys regionally qualified in the next couple weeks as we can, and in Nate Larkin's case, he just needs to run a half step faster and he's qualified,"" Nuttycombe said.
Sophomore high jumper Pat Nichols and freshman middle distance runner Zach Beth, who each placed in the top three at Auburn, are potential regionals qualifiers along with a slew of others.
""Being in a big setting really helps get your adrenaline going, so it makes the race that much more fun, and when you're with guys that are running fast times in a fast race, you're going to run fast,"" Larkin said.
Women's squad
The top point-getters for the women's track team - especially the distance runners and throwers - will be in full-force at the Sea Ray Relays.
Most members of the distance team, except for senior Katrina Rundhaug who qualified for nationals in the 10,000 meters at Stanford last weekend, will make their debut.
Indoor standouts including juniors Ashley Benson, Maggie Hippman and Gwen Jorgensen will be looking for early qualifying marks along with senior Ann Detmer, who earned eighth place at the indoor NCAA championships in the mile.
Junior thrower Amanda Hoeppner, who qualified for regionals in the shot put last weekend, will be aiming to match her success in the hammer throw and discus this weekend. Senior Kayla Schultz and junior Joanne Verpil, who also placed well at Auburn, will get another chance at qualifying against stronger competition.
Senior pole vaulter Blair Luethmers, who took first place at Auburn, will also be competing in Knoxville.
UW's top jumper, junior Chavon Robinson, is looking forward to her first big meet of the season in the long and triple jumps.
""This is my first outdoor meet that I will be really performing at a high level,"" said Robinson. ""I have Drake and Big Tens if I don't qualify now, but I really want to get it done early.""
She said qualifying early will allow her to better focus on training and peaking for the end of the season. Robinson already hit the outdoor regional standard indoors but she has to go at least 40.4 feet, in the next several meets to get through.
""Everybody's pretty confident from indoor, so we just want to go out there and perform like we did indoor, but better,"" Robinson said.
