MADISON, Wis. – Following the Wisconsin Twilight quad meet, where various UW seniors collected top marks and put up career-best performances, the Wisconsin women's track and field team is ready to kick off championship season with the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Bloomington, Ind.

Fans can follow Badger action on Twitter (@BadgerTrackXC) for live updates and follow up on UWBadgers.com for a post-meet recap.

1. GEORGIA HAS THE TROPHY ON HER MIND: Senior Georgia Ellenwood is a seven-time All-American and a two-time Big Ten champion indoors, but one thing that Ellenwood doesn't have in her collection is a Big Ten outdoor title. Ellenwood enters this weekend as the top seed in the heptathlon with a school-record score of 5,983 set last month at the Bryan Clay Invitational, which ranks No. 2 in the NCAA. The Langley, British Columbia also looks to break 6,000 points in the event and the Big Ten record of 6,016 points.


2. WHAT A DOUBLE FOR RIVERA: Freshman Sophia Rivera is in rare air in the NCAA this year as she is the only thrower that is ranked in the top 20 in both the shot put and javelin. Rivera is now No. 3 in program history in the shot put after her bomb of 55 feet, 5 1/2 inches at the Wisconsin Twilight, which also is the No. 3 mark in the Big Ten Conference and No. 17 in the NCAA. The Brentwood, Missouri native is No. 2 in the Big Ten in the javelin after her school-record toss of 175-2 in March. That mark also ranks No. 12 in the country.

Rivera was also named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week after her record weekend at the Wisconsin Twilight.

3. WE'RE SOARING, FLYING: UW has two of the top-three ranked pole vaulters in the Big Ten Conference in Taylor Amann and Rayce Albino. Amann, a two-time Big Ten indoor champion, leads the conference with her jump of 14-0. Albino is coming off of a tremendous showing at the Wisconsin Twilight as she finished runner up with a clearance of 13-7, a PR by four inches.

4. STRAIGHT FROM MICK'S MOUTH: "Both on the men's and women's sides, we have eight student-athletes, returning point scorers from last year's Big Ten Championships. On the women's side we currently have 19 marks that rank in the conference's top-ten, and on the men's side we have 17 marks. Right there, that's huge because that's where the bulk of the points are going to come from. We have a good crew of athletes, we always do. You don't do well at this championship with just your superstars, you need a great supporting cast, and I think across the board, we've got a lot of young athletes who are ready to step into that role and score some points for us, and we're going to need that." - UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne. 

5. PREPPING FOR PRELIMS: Following the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, the Badgers will head to Sacramento, California, for the NCAA West Prelims. Qualifying athletes will compete in California as they will ultimately aim to punch their ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.