A year ago, UW men's track coach Ed Nuttycombe and women's coach Jim Stintzi were thrown for a loss when their "throwers''  fell short of expectations in the Big Ten outdoor championships.
 
Both are confident that Dan Block and Taylor Smith have learned something from that experience and will put their painfully acquired knowledge to good use this weekend in the field events.
   
"It's the proverbial saying,'' Nuttycombe said, "you learn more from trying situations - from tough situations - than you do from other situations. I think that's absolutely the case with Dan.
   
"It was very uncharacteristic of him to not perform at that big setting (fifth outdoors in the shot put). I don't think there's any way that he will let that happen again. He'll be ready.
   
"His co-hort in the discus - Alex Thompson - will be ready to go, too. He has really come along and he's a big-time meet type of guy who has done well at international junior settings.
   
"Hopefully, we'll get a Top Three or Top Four in each one of those events (shot put and discus). That will be a good day. Maybe one or the other does better, and we'll see a surprise in one, or both.''

Stintzi has outlined similar objectives for Taylor Smith and Kelsey Card in those events.   
   
"I think the last couple of Big Ten meets, we've had throwers that have put a little bit too much pressure on themselves,'' Stintzi said. "Our motto is, 'This meet is no different than any other meet.'
   
"We can't approach it like it's the end of the world.''
   
The results this spring have encouraged Stintzi. "One of the things we're seeing is steady improvements in the throws,'' he said. "We're hitting our peak at the right time.''
   
How might the throws factor into the team competition for the men and women?
   
"Big at this meet,'' Stintzi said. "As a matter of fact, you don't want to say one area is going to matter more than another - but for both of our teams, it's just the direction that we've gone.
   
"Throws matter a lot to us. Ironically, everyone in the Big Ten got this idea at the same time and everybody is good at the same time.''
   
Nuttycombe cited an example.
   
"If you look at the rankings,'' he said, "I think the Big Ten has the vast majority of the best throwers in the entire western region of the country in the discus. It's super competitive.''
   
UW assistant coach Dave Astrauskas has seen a developing trend in the talent pool from the standpoint "throwers from the Midwest used to go to the coast, now they're staying in the Big Ten.''

"Last year at the junior championships,'' he went on, "it was dominated by kids who were already in the Big Ten and going to the Big Ten. So it's only going to get better.''

What are Astrauskas' expectations for his throwers in the Big Ten meet?

"I'm just expecting them to do what they've been doing all year and that's to throw well and throw near their competitive average,'' he said. "That's all I'm asking of them.''

Nuttycombe figures if the Badgers can maintain their status quo that they will be in the hunt. "But we have to hit on the events that we're ranked high in,'' he said, "and hope that's enough.''

The shot put and discus would qualify in Nuttycombe's context.

"I think Dan Block is going to throw well in both,'' he said. "He's coming on at the right time.''

On the 10th-anniversary of Wisconsin's dramatic, come-from-behind Big Ten men's outdoor track and field championship in Madison, coach Ed Nuttycombe had a snap shot in mind - "I still remember it vividly" he said - that matched a cherished photograph on his office desk at Kellner Hall.

Pictured are Isaiah Festa, Matt Tegenkamp, Josh Spiker and Nick Winkel following the 5,000 meters, the second-to-last track event on the final day of the meet. Because the Badgers trailed first-place Minnesota by 24 points going into the 5K, they almost didn't get a chance to run the race; the story within the story.

"It was very memorable," Nuttycombe said.

It was one of his most memorable Big Ten titles, he confided.

That covers a lot of ground (28 years) and championships (24).

But the final round didn't start out very memorable in the 2002 meet.

The Badgers had an early lead in the 400 relay but had to settle for third after a botched exchange. In the very next event - the 1,500 meters - Spiker was running third behind Michigan's Alan Webb and Indiana's John Jefferson when he stumbled and fell about 30 meters from the finish line. He ended up seventh.

Given this backdrop, Wisconsin looked like a long shot to catch the Gophers, although the Badgers had shown their resiliency the year before. In the 2001 Big Ten outdoor meet in Bloomington, Ind., they rallied past Ohio State, 135-117.5, for the team crown despite winning just two individual titles.

T.J. Nelson won the 110-meter hurdles and automatically qualified for nationals by running the third fastest time (13.49 seconds) in the country, while Festa outdistanced Ohio State's Rob Myers down the stretch to win the 1,500 meters. Festa also took a second and Jason Vanderhoof a third in the 5,000.

Clinching the overall title - the UW's fifth outdoors in seven years - on the strength of Festa and Vanderhoof combining for 14 points in a clutch situation, Nuttycombe said afterward, "Our 5,000- meter guys ran with a lot of heart."

Remember those words because they would resonate again in the very same event at the 2002 Big Ten meet on the McClimon Track; the last time that the UW played host to the outdoor track and field championships in Madison.

All the Badgers needed was a spark, according to Nuttycombe, to help reverse the momentum generated by Minnesota, which had been the only league program outside of Wisconsin to win outdoor titles since 1995. (The Badgers, in fact, were trying to pull off their second three-peat over an eight-year span.)

In order to put some pressure on the Gophers, the 1998 and 1999 team champion, someone had to "step up" and that's exactly what happened with Jon Mungen winning the 110 high hurdles and B.J. Tucker taking second in the 100. Len Herring also produced some valuable points with a second in the triple jump.

The real catalyst, though, was freshman Dan Murray who came out of the pack - fourth place - over the final 200 meters to win the 800. Murray not only set a track record (1:48.2), but posted a provisional NCAA qualifying mark. In the process, he seemed to inspire his teammates.

But the math still didn't add up.

Minnesota had the team lead - 135-110.5 - over Wisconsin.

Going into the 5,000-meters, Nuttycombe admitted, "We considered pulling some of the better guys out of the race to save their legs for nationals. We didn't want to extend them if there was no need to, and we told them that."

Nuttycombe and Jerry Schumacher, then the cross country and distance coach, merely attempted to paint a realistic picture for their 5K racers.

"After we told them what we were considering," Nuttycombe said, "they go, 'No way. We're not going to let you do that.'"

What followed was another reality check from Nuttycombe.

"Guys, we've got to do almost the impossible (to catch Minnesota)."

They responded by asking, "What do we need to do?"

Nuttycombe's answer?

"We need to go one, two, three, four in the 5,000."

Their response?

"Coach, we're going to do it."

Festa and Tegenkamp went out and finished one-two in the 5,000, while Spiker was fourth and Winkel was fifth. That was close enough to fulfilling Nuttycombe's challenge, and good enough to pick up 27 points in the event.

Then it came down to the final event, the 4 x 400-meter relay. Minnesota was the top seed and Nuttycombe instructed his runners, "If you can't win, you can't allow more than one team between us and them (the Gophs)."

Actually, the Badgers could have finished lower than third and still won the meet but Nuttycombe was determined to pull out all stops in motivating his relay team: Jvontai Hanserd, Ricardo Rodriguez, Gustin Smith and Jabari Pride.

It worked.

"We chased Minnesota around the track," Nuttycombe recounted fondly.

The Badgers finished second in the relay, and won the outdoor title.

"It was very memorable, not only for winning," Nuttycombe said.

But it was memorable, he observed, for not throwing in the towel on the 5,000 meters; memorable for not underestimating Festa, Tegenkamp, Spiker and Winkel; memorable for not denying them an opportunity to race.

Nuttycombe is reminded of that moment every day. "There's that picture right on my desk - one of my favorite pictures - of those four guys with their arms around each other right after the finish," he said. "That was awesome."

A 10-year anniversary worth celebrating this weekend in Madison.

The Wisconsin men's track and field team rose in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's rankings for the third week in a row with the release of the latest rankings on Tuesday, moving up to No. 15 in the country.

Ranked No. 17 in last week's poll, UW moved up two spots in the rankings and has now climbed six spots over the last three weeks.

UW continues to exceed its No. 19 preseason ranking and has yet to be ranked lower than No. 25 nationally this season.

Wisconsin also increased its lead atop the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region rankings, holding a score of 954.74 points this week, while No. 2-ranked Indiana has 781.29 points in the regional index.

So far this season, the Badgers have held the top spot in the Great Lakes for four of the six possible weeks.

Wisconsin hosts this weekend's 2012 Big Ten Outdoor Championships this weekend and welcomes four other conference teams ranked in the USTFCCCA top 25.

Indiana remained the highest ranked Big Ten team at No. 8, while Nebraska sits at No. 17, Iowa ranks No. 21 and Minnesota rounds out the list at No. 25.

Including those ranked in the top 25, a total of eight Big Ten teams rank in the top 50 of the USTFCCCA national rankings.

A week's work out west was enough to boost the Badgers in the Great Lakes.

After a number of athletes turned in personal-best performances at the Stanford Invitational over the weekend, the Wisconsin men's track and field team has ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Great Lakes Region, according to the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Regional Index.

In addition to holding down their spot atop the region, the Badgers held steady at No. 24 in the USTFCCCA national rankings.

Wisconsin is one of four Big Ten teams in the current Top 25, trailing No. 9 Indiana, No. 15 Nebraska and No. 17 Iowa.

After earning a No. 17 preseason ranking, the Badgers opened the season at No. 24 last week. UW's performance in its second competition of the outdoor season was enough to hold down the spot for a second-consecutive week.

The Badgers are back in action this week, making their second trip to the state of Mississippi in four weeks. UW competes in the Mississippi Open -- hosted by No. 12 Ole Miss in Oxford -- Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

USTFCCCA Men's National Rankings - Week 2
Team	Score	Last Week
1. Florida	268.56	1
2. Florida State	246.64	3
3. LSU	230.58	2
4. Texas A&M	223.97	6
5. Arkansas	216.70	4
6. Texas	216.56	5
7. Arizona State	186.60	10
8. Texas Tech	185.98	7
9. Indiana	181.96	11
10. Mississippi State	180.55	9
11. USC	178.02	8
12. Mississippi	153.70	14
13. Oregon	148.11	16
14. Arizona	146.26	12
15. Nebraska	143.75	15
16. Stanford	135.52	19
17. Iowa	132.58	20
18. Georgia	127.79	18
19. Baylor	125.41	13
20. Virginia Tech	120.16	17
21. Oklahoma	113.92	23
22. Auburn	99.56	21
23. Princeton	87.20	22
24. Wisconsin	83.68	24
25. Kansas	83.37	25

A big weekend for the Wisconsin women's track and field team has translated into a big jump in the rankings.

The Badgers moved all the way to No. 16 in this week's edition of the national rankings compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, which were released Tuesday.

UW leapt 13 spots from its No. 29 ranking last week largely on the strength of junior Taylor Smith's school-record effort in the weight throw. Smith, named Big Ten co-Field Athlete of the Week on Monday, launched a throw of 69 feet, 10 3/4 inches to win the event at Saturday's UW-Platteville Invitational.

The mark vaulted Smith to No. 5 nationally in the event and automatically secured her a spot in next month's NCAA indoor championships.

Because the USTFCCCA's rankings are based solely on athletes' national rankings, Smith's toss buoyed the Badgers.

Also supporting Wisconsin's rank is senior Monika Jakutyte, who ranks in a tie for fourth place nationally in the high jump with the clearance of 6 feet she recorded on Feb. 3.

In addition, senior and three-time All-American Dorcas Akinniyi is currently ranked No. 8 in the pentathlon after scoring 3,991 points on Feb. 3.

The Badgers' other top-25 ranked athletes include the trio of Smith (18th, 53-7 3/4), freshman Kelsey Card (17th, 53-6 1/2) and sophomore Jasmine Boyer (T-26th, 52-2 3/4) in the shot put.

Additionally, senior Caitlin Comfort is ranked 18th in the 5000 meters (16:07.90), while junior Jessica Flax stacks up No. 25 in the pentathlon (3,789 points).

Men slip out of rankings
On the men's side, the Badgers slipped out of the rankings after moving up to No. 17 last week. That's despite the effort of sophomore Dan Block, who threw 61-7 1/2 in the shot put to move up to the No. 10 spot nationally over the weekend.

Sophomore Japheth Cato, who is No. 3 in the heptathlon with his Big Ten-record total of 5,939 points, is UW's other top-10 ranked athlete.

The Badgers also picked up top-25 performances from sophomore Alex Hatz in the mile (13th, 3:58.68) and junior Maverick Darling in the 3000 meters (22nd, 7:54.70) over the weekend.

Last weekend, UW men's track coach Ed Nuttycombe headed to an invitational meet in Arkansas with the thought of escaping the inclement Midwest spring. Think again. It rained in Fayetteville.

Nonetheless, he was able to get a good read on his three decathletes - David Grezesiak, Derek Steinbach and Ian Jansen. Despite the conditions, they finished second, third and sixth, respectively.

Grezesiak fell just short of a personal-best. "It was raining while he was throwing the discus,'' Nuttycombe said, "and he couldn't keep his footing. There was standing water everywhere.''

While that was happening, UW freshman Dan Block was making another splash in the discus. Competing in San Diego, he got off a throw of 192 feet, 5 inches; the longest by a collegian in the meet.

Consider this: Block has broken the school record in the discus in each of the past three outings.

"He's had some warm-up throws that have been in excess of 200 feet,'' Nuttycombe said. "It's just a matter of time before he catches one of those. He's showing there's more there.''

Block, who also throws the shot put, has already shown that he can make the adjustment to a higher level of competition after excelling as a high school thrower in the state of Illinois.

"There are a few events that don't change from high school to college,'' Nuttycombe said. "The 100 is still the 100 and the mile is still the mile. But the throwing implements get heavier.''

Nuttycombe paid Block the ultimate compliment by comparing him athletically to Joe Thomas, the former UW offensive tackle and Outland Trophy winner. Thomas also loved to compete in track.

"He's basically the same type of athlete,'' Nuttycombe said, "in that he's a very large person but he moves like he's much smaller. It's rare when you have big guys who move like Joe and Dan.''

Nuttycombe cited UW assistant Dave Astrauskas for bringing the best out of Block. Astrauskas previously coached at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville where he mentored Scott Block -- Dan's brother.

"Dan is tall and lanky and now his strength is starting to show; he's going to be a real good one,'' Nuttycombe said. "In the discus, he's already the best we've ever had; by far, no question.''

Nuttycombe is not prone to hyperbole. So his words carry weight. Literally.

"When it's all said and done,'' he predicted, "Dan Block is going to be the best weight guy we've ever had here.''

The buildup to Sunday's New York City Marathon focused on the debuts of rookies -- and former University of Wisconsin All-Americans -- Simon Bairu and Tim Nelson.

In the end, it was Nelson and the much-less publicized Matt Downin that proudly carried the flag for the Badgers. Nelson was 13th overall in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 6 seconds -- a time that placed him an impressive fourth among U.S. finishers.

The 33-year-old Downin wasn't far back in 18th, finishing the 26.2-mile course in 2:20:41 to place seventh among Americans. During his time at UW, Downin was a four-time All-American and two-time Big Ten cross country champion.

Bairu won a pair of NCAA cross country titles for the Badgers, but did not find as much success in his marathon debut. The Canadian national record-holder at 10,000 meters dropped out of the race after 23 miles.

Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia won the race in 2:08.14.

Chris Solinsky, a training partner of fellow former Badger teammates Bairu and Nelson, is expected to eventually make the transition to marathons but was driven around the route of this year's NYC event by organizers in a truck.

Considered the "future" of the event by the race's director, Solinsky's experience was chronicled by George Vecsey of the New York Times.

Bairu and Nelson, meanwhile, had plenty of coverage of their preparation for the marathon. Follow the links below for the 'Rookies vs. the World' video series on the duo and training partner Shalane Flanagan, as well as Bairu's blog for the New York Times and both athletes' take on Twitter.

- Complete Results: New York City Marathon
- Rookies vs. the World video series
- Bairu's New York Times blog
- Twitter: Bairu (@SimonBairu)  |  Nelson (@ThatRunnerGuy)

After an extremely busy -- and record-setting -- start to his 2010 season, former Badger Chris Solinsky participated in a question-and-answer session with Flotrack.org.

The piece is lengthy and delves into a number of different topics. From his American-record 5,000 meters in May to details about his training habits (spoiler alert: He still uses the Badger Miles system), Solinsky covers a lot of ground.

If you have a few minutes, it's a good read with some great insight. Also, if you're not already, be sure to follow Solinsky on Twitter: @ChrisSolinsky.

Read: Q&A with Chris Solinsky

They have only been in the professional circuit for less than a month, but Jack Bolas and Craig Miller have wasted no time working  their way to the front of the field.

The former Wisconsin track and field athletes signed contracts with New Balance to begin their new careers as professional runners, following a season that saw both earn All-America honors in the 1,500 meters at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The pair continued their European tour Wednesday with the Morton Mile Meeting in Dublin, Ireland.

The summer continues to heat up for a number of athletes with ties to the Wisconsin men's and women's track programs.

• Incoming freshman Emily Sisson opened the 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships with a 10th-place finish in the 3,000 meters Monday. Her impressive time of 9:16.80 ranks No. 8 on the all-time list for high school athletes, according to Track & Field News.

To put that mark in perspective, Sisson's time would rank No. 9 on Wisconsin's all-time list. Consider the names of Badgers who have run faster and you get a list that reads like a who's-who of UW -- and collegiate track -- history:

1. Kathy Butler (8:48.61); 2. Cathy Branta (8:49.64); 3. Clare Eichner (9:03.06); 4. Mary Hartzheim; 5. Maureen Hartzheim (9:05.37); 6. Stephanie Herbst (9:08.64); 7. Suzy Favor (9:12.33); 8. Cindy Bremser (9:13.4); 9. Kelly McKillen (9:16.48).

That group -- which includes three Olympians -- accounts for a combined 64 individual Big Ten championships, 45 All-America awards and 24 individual NCAA titles.

Sisson won the U.S. junior title in the 3,000 meters last month to earn her spot on Team USA.

• Senior Jenny Soceka, who completed her collegiate eligibility with an All-America performance at the NCAA championships in June, has not slowed down since.

So far this summer, Soceka has set a Big Ten record in the pole vault by clearing 14-3 1/2 (4.35m), competed at the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships and, most recently, finished third at the 2010 Grand Haven Beach Vault last weekend in Grand Haven, Mich.

Soceka cleared 14-0 (4.26m) to match runner-up Mary Saxer, who took the second spot on the criteria of misses. Reigning NCAA champion Kylie Hutson won with a clearance of 14-6.

• On the men's side of the Beach Vault competition, UW volunteer assistant coach Joe Samaniuk cleared 17-5 (5.30m) to finish fifth.

• Across the pond, the duo of Jack Bolas and Craig Miller continue their initial European tour as professionals. Both signed with New Balance following the USA outdoor championships in June, where Bolas finished seventh in the 1,500 meters.

After getting off to a fast start in their first two professional races, the pair ran an elite 1,500 meters race as part of the Folksam Grand Prix stop in Karlstad, Sweden, on July 15.

Bolas led the charge by finishing sixth in 3:39.26, with Miller registering a season-best time of 3:40.16 to take ninth place. The pair were among five Americans in the field, including winner David Torrence, who clocked a 3:37.73 to take the top spot.

Both Bolas and Miller are expected to race Wednesday at the Morton Mile Meeting in Dublin, Ireland. The duo will represent two of the seven athletes confirmed for the event that have gone below the 4-minute threshold.