June 22, 2010
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Wisconsin men's and women's track and field programs will be well-represented at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as well as the accompanying national junior championship meet, when competition begins this week at Drake Stadium.
A total of 17 current, former and future Badgers are entered into the meets, which will run concurrently from Wednesday to Sunday.
ESPN and NBC each will air portions of the championships live.
Men's Qualifiers
Headlining things for the Badger men is the senior duo of Jack Bolas and Craig Miller in the 1,500 meters. Both were All-Americans two weeks ago at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships, with Bolas finishing fourth and Miller taking seventh.
Bolas enters the meet ranked No. 7 with his season-best time of 3:38.47, while Miller stands 14th after running a season-best 3:40.47 last week in Madison.
The pair will be joined by a pair of former Badgers in the event, as well.
Matt Tegenkamp, a member of the U.S. national team at 5,000 meters each of the past three years, is ranked fourth after running a 3:36.12 at the adidas Grand Prix two weeks ago. Evan Jager also ran in the IAAF Diamond League event in New York, and his performance of 3:38.73 has him ranked No. 8 heading into the USA championships.
Like Tegenkamp and Jager, former Badger Tim Nelson represented the U.S. at the 2009 IAAF World Championships. He will compete in the 5,000 meters this week and enters the USA championships ranked No. 3 at 13:24.87.
The Badgers also boast a pair of highly-ranked alums in the field events. Darren Niedermeyer returns to the site of the Drake Relays title he claimed in April as the No. 3 seed in the pole vault at 18 feet, 8 3/4 inches.
In his last appearance at Drake Stadium, Joe Detmer claimed the 2008 Drake Relays decathlon title. He enters the USA championships ranked No. 3 with the score of 7,892 points he used to finish runner-up while representing the U.S. at the 2009 Thorpe Cup competition in Marburg, Germany.
Detmer will compete in his fifth USA championships, having finished seventh in 2006, withdrawing after seven events in 2007, finishing 11th at the 2008 USA Olympic Trials and taking 12th in 2009.
The Badgers also will have freshman Casey Dehn competing in the shot put at the USA junior championships. Dehn enters the meet ranked 14th with a mark of 56 feet, 11 1/4 inches.
Women’s Qualifiers
On the women’s side, the Badgers have three athletes ranked among the top 10 in their respective events.
Senior Megan Seidl enters the championships ranked in a tie for sixth in the high jump with her career-best mark of 6-0 3/4.
Fellow senior Jenny Soceka moved her way up the rankings in the pole vault last week by clearing a school- and Big Ten Conference-record height of 14-3 1/2 in Madison. She stands No. 4 heading into the USA championships.
Soceka looks to build on a final collegiate season that already has seen her claim a Big Ten title and earn All-America honors with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA outdoor championships.
In the heptathlon, sophomore Dorcas Akinniyi ranks No. 8 with her career-best score of 5,584 points. She was the Big Ten champion in both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon this season, posting All-America performances in both events, as well.
On the junior side, the women’s program boasts three current Badgers and a pair of incoming athletes among the qualifiers.
Freshman Jameice DeCoster will race in the 400 meters after running a personal-best 55.60 earlier this month, with fellow freshman Jasmine Boyer (49-9 1/4) and Taylor Smith (49-5 1/2) competing in the shot put. Smith (161-9) will take part in the discus, as well.
In addition, Badger-to-be Emily Sisson will race in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. She is ranked No. 1 at 5,000 meters with a time of 16:20.44 and stands No. 3 in the 3,000 meters at 9:31.97.
Fellow incoming Badger Angela Boushea (47-8) will compete in the shot put.
