Wisconsin’s Georgia Ellenwood, Ollie Hoare win track and field national championships

It was a big weekend for the Wisconsin Badgers track and field program, as Georgia Ellenwood and Ollie Hoare claimed NCAA national championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

According to a Wisconsin release, it is “the first time the Badgers have had a men’s and women’s individual track and field champion at the same meet since the 1997 NCAA Outdoor Championships.”

On Saturday, Ellenwood claimed the NCAA women’s heptathlon title—the first in Wisconsin history to do so. A senior from Langley, British Columbia, she earned 6,146 points overall to hold off Georgia’s Louisa Grauvogel for the national championship.

As she told UWBadgers.com:

“I think I’m still processing the whole thing and it doesn’t really feel like I won yet. I think it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Ellenwood said. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m the first, because when I was recruited I knew about so many great heptathletes who have come through the program. To know that I’m one of them and I’m the best one that’s come through Wisconsin hasn’t really hit me yet.

“I have a lot to thank for that, coach Nate Davis, my parents. Nate training me to be mentally tough is a key for that.”

On Friday, Hoare earned the men’s 1500-meter national championship with a time of three minutes, 44.77 seconds.

As UW noted in its release earlier this weekend, Hoare’s title in this specific NCAA event is the first time a Wisconsin athlete has claimed the championship since Don Gehrmann earned three consecutive outdoor titles from 1948 to 1950.

“That’s extremely special, especially with the heritage and tradition that Wisconsin has with distance.” Hoare told UWBadgers.com. “I’ve been here, done my research on the past athletes who have come through and it’s incredible. To know that, it’s very humbling and it’s also very reassuring that I’m in the right place for me. That’s amazing, I didn’t realize it was 1948. I’m completely stoked and I’m just going to cherish this and enjoy the rest of the NCAA championships.”