WEEKEND PREVIEWS:
ACC | BIG12 | BIG EAST | BIG10 | IVY | MPSF | SEC | USATF
CONFERENCE RESULTS | USATF RESULTS

For the fourth year, the men's and women's Big Ten Indoor Championships will be held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. On the men's side, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska are all ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA, while the Wisconsin women are the lone ranked team from this major conference. Flotrack will be in Geneva covering the event, but here are six key events to keep an eye on this weekend.

6 EVENTS TO WATCH: Men’s 400m
The men’s 400m will be the best sprint event at the Big Ten Championships. Highlighted by three NCAA top-16 performers, No. 11’s Cody Rush of Nebraska and DJ Zahn of Illinois (46.32), and No. 16 Ali Arastu of Michigan (46.53). But watch out for the other Cornhusker Ricco Hall. Hall boasts the best 200m mark in the conference (20.90) and is No. 23 in the NCAA for 400m (46.78). On the flat 300m Spire Institute track, look out for one of these four men to dip under 46-seconds to solidify their NCAA qualifying mark.

Women’s Triple Jump
Michigan State’s Tori Franklin is No. 4 in the NCAA going into the post season with her 13.38m mark and won two conference titles in the event in 2014. After a disappointing 13th-place at NCAA Outdoors, no doubt she’s back to prove she’s the best with er 13.56m personal-best. No. 12 Ellie Ewere of Nebraska and No. 14 Thea LaFond are sitting pretty in the NCAA top-16 right now and could try and crash her party. Ewere was fifth at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor meet. LaFond could go the Pentathlon route, however, and sit out from the triple jump. But her 13.27m PB still makes her a threat.

Men’s Weight Throw
Michael Lihrman of Wisconsin set (and broke, multiple times) the NCAA Division I weight throw record with his 24.91m mark. He’s still chasing the NCAA All-Time throw, though, and will have excellent competition. No. 2 Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Purdue is the country’s next best thrower with his 24.39m launch. No doubt these two, along with No. 8 Michigan State’s Antonio James and No. 10 Davis Fraker of Illinois will have a swell time competing for the conference title. But with Lihrman’s eyes on the ultimate prize, we think he’s got this in the bag.

Women’s DMR
The Michigan Wolverines have won the Big Ten distance medley relay 11 years in a row. They hold records for the Big Ten Conference, Big Ten Championship meet, and Spire Institute. Is this the year their fun is spoiled? Could be. No. 12 Purdue surprised with their 11:07.20 at the Alex Wilson Invite, where Michigan posted their No. 6-ranked 11:03.23. The team who has consistently finished second to Michigan, however, is none other than the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Champions, Michigan State. With standout runners like Leah O’Connor and Rachele Schulist, the Spartans have the potential on paper to pull out the upset, though their season best 11:23.15 doesn’t agree. One thing’s for sure, a record may go down at Spire on Friday evening.

Men’s Mile/800m
A pair like Brannon Kidder and Robby Creese may be rare for some schools, but not for middle-distance powerhouse Penn State. With these two sitting at the top of the NCAA in three different events (Kidder: No. 13 800m, No. 3 mile; Creese: No. 10 mile, No. 7 3000m) it’s no mystery that these two will distribute their talents with the hopes of bringing a team title back to State College. These two should take the victories in these events and lead their up-and-coming superstar teammates to major points.



Women’s 3k
We hyped her a few weekends ago, and here we go again. Sarah Disanza of Wisconsin still has the No. 1 NCAA ranking for 5000m after posting a 15:20 back in December. She’ll be on the starting line Friday evening going against No. 13 Rachele Schulist. These two finished second and fourth at the 2014 NCAA Cross Country Championships, respectively. There should be a strong battle for the third-place medal, however. Last year’s winner Tori Gerlach of Penn State, Michigan’s Shannon Osika, and the Spartan clan of All Americans Lindsay Clark and Julia Otwell should put up a solid fight.

Men’s Team Battle
This should be a close match-up between No. 9 PSU and No. 15 Wisconsin. If PSU can distribute their middle distance stars and get a victories from some of their top-ranked field event players, they could spoil the Badgers chances of making it three indoor titles in a row.

Women’s Team Battle
Though it’ll be hard to disagree with the sprint depth of Ohio State, or the field event depth in Nebraska, No. 11 Wisconsin could be running home with the championship. They’ll need big performances from Disanza, Molly Hanson in the mile, and top-ranked thrower Kelsey Card if they want to bring the trophy back to Madison.