Wisconsin will continue its busy spring season this weekend by participating in the Bryan Clay Invitational, the Mt. SAC Relays and the VS Athletics Beach Invitational, all taking place in southern California.
The Badgers began their road trip April 11 with the Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Wisconsin did not send its complete squad to Des Moines, but that did not stop the Badger men's and women's teams from winning a combined three events.
Sophomore Chas DeMers took the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.75 seconds, beating out junior Troy Kimberlin of Drake, who ran a time of 49.27 seconds.
Freshman Grant Bughman won the 400-meter hurdles, clocking in at 54.11 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of runner-up junior Shawn Olorundami of Buena Vista, who ran a time of 54.86 seconds.
On the women's team, it was freshman Megan Rennhack who took home a first-place title. Rennhack won the javelin by throwing it a personal-best 142 feet and seven inches.
The Badgers failed to claim victory in any other events at the Jim Duncan Invitational, but they did put up some other successful results, including several second-place finishes.
Badger freshman Adam Hexum placed second in the 110-meter hurdles, just .32 seconds off the pace set by Olorundami.
Wisconsin junior Pat Nichols finished in second place in the high jump behind South Dakota State junior Ben Jasinski, and junior Rory Linder took second in the discus throw.
In the 1500-meter run, sophomore Luke Rucks ran a time of three minutes and 55.74 seconds, good for third place in the event.
On the Wisconsin women's side, freshman Jenna Severson finished third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 15.69 seconds, behind senior Natalie Olorundami of Buena Vista and senior Kelsey Steffens of Wartburg. Severson finished third in the 400-meter hurdles as well, with a time of one minute and 2.04 seconds.
Wisconsin junior Samantha Dehn took top-five finishes in the shot put and the discus throw, finishing fourth and fifth in each event, respectively.
Wisconsin's busy weekend began Thursday with the start of the Mt. SAC Relays in the Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif. Wisconsin sent 28 athletes to the competition, with most Badgers beginning their respective events on Friday.
The Bryan Clay Invitational will get going on Friday at the Cougar Athletic Stadium in Azusa, Calif. Only six Badgers will participate in this event, including DeMers, who took home a first place finish at the Jim Duncan Invitational earlier this week.
The Badgers' final scheduled event this weekend, the VS Athletics Beach Invitational, will begin on Saturday. Wisconsin plans to send 18 athletes to the event, including several participants who competed in the Mt. SAC Relays.
