Represented by Jalen Williams and Giovanni Wearing, the Badgers men’s track and field team was once again in action this weekend in the New Mexico Collegiate Classic at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Wisconsin appeared at the meet for the second year in a row after making its inaugural appearance in 2023. In each of the Badgers’ appearances in this meet, just two athletes raced in the cardinal and white. Despite the low number of Badger competitors each of the past two years, the team has still seen solid individual results.
In 2023, Lawrence Johnson ran an impressive 6.6 seconds in the 60-meter dash during a season in which he won the event at the Big Ten Championships and earned All-American Honors. The other Badger, Colin Enz, earned a personal best at the time in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.24 seconds, a number he would surpass just weeks later.
The sophomore tandem of Jalen Williams and Giovanni Wearing built on Johnson and Enz’s success. Williams kicked things off Friday afternoon in the 400-meter dash, where he placed third with a personal best time of 47.21 seconds.
The split gave Williams the ninth-fastest indoor 400-meter dash time in program history. With a tough act to follow, Wearing managed to equal his teammate’s success.
He competed in the prelims for the 60-meter hurdles, where he ran a time of 7.9 seconds to qualify for the finals. He followed it up with a fourth-place finish in the finals with a time of 7.76 seconds, his second-best time of the season thus far.
The Badgers will be in action again this Friday and Saturday when they host the Windy City Invite at the Gately Indoor Track and Field Complex in Chicago.
