Wisconsin track and field: Olin Hacker wins national championship; several other UW athletes earn All-America honors

This past weekend, the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place in Eugene, Ore. and several Wisconsin Badgers athletes had standout performances. While the teams overall didn’t necessarily have a successful weekend, the women finished tied for 37th place while the men ended up tied for 25th. The Florida Gators finished first in both the men’s and women’s team standings, while the Texas Longhorns finished second in both.

The most impressive showing for the Badgers came from distance runner Olin Hacker who won the 5,000-meter national championship, crossing the line in 13 minutes, 27.73 seconds for the win. Hacker was just continuing the family tradition of winning titles for the Badgers. His dad, Tim Hacker, won the NCAA Cross Country Championship back in 1985!

“Just to win was so unbelievable; I’m still in shock but it means so much. This program has given me so much. It’s just the fairytale ending that I knew was a possibility and I knew this could be an amazing day. It’s just unreal to me,” Hacker told UWBadgers.com. With the title, Hacker is now NCAA champion No. 30 for Wisconsin.

Australian freshman Adam Spencer finished eighth in the 1500 meters to earn first team All-America honors for the Badgers. He was the Big Ten champion in the same race and has a bright future ahead of him. Lawrence Johnson finished eleventh in the 200 meters, which was good for a spot as a second team All-American.

On the women’s side, Wisconsin native Alissa Niggemann broke her own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:39.96) and finished eleventh in the race to garner second team All-American honors.

Elsewhere on the track, Destiny Huven and Bianca Stubler were named first team All-Americans for hurdles. Huven, also a Wisconsin native, finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles at 12.92 seconds. Stubler also finished sixth, but in the 400-meter hurdles, with a time of 56.49. She broke her own school record in the semifinals with a time of 56.23.

As for the field portion of the competition, junior Josie Schaefer was a second team All-American in the shot put by heaving it 55 feet, 1.5 inches, which was good for No. 14 in the country.