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2017-18 ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
WALT MIDDLETON
ERIC MILLER
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OLLIE HOARE
GEORGIA ELLENWOOD
Ollie Hoare enjoyed a great 2017-18 season for the Badgers as he won the NCAA title in the 1500 meters, earned three first-team All-America honors and won four Big Ten titles. Hoare started out his sophomore season by putting his name on the map when he won the 2017 Big Ten Cross Country meet. He followed that performance with a third-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet and earned an at-large bid to compete at the NCAA Championship meet. During the indoor track season, the sophomore swept the 3000 and 5000 meter events, earning two more Big Ten titles to his name. Hoare was named the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships for his efforts. Hoare earned two firstteam All-America finishes after competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships meet in the 3000 meters and as the anchor leg of the record-setting distance medley relay. Hoare made headlines when he ran 3:37.84 in his debut 1500-meter race of the season before winning the 1500 at Big Tens. Hoare made history at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, becoming the first Badger to capture an NCAA title in the 1500 meters since UW legend Don Gehrmann won a trio of NCAA outdoor titles from 1948-50.
The Big Ten record holder in the heptathlon, Georgia Ellenwood capped off her final year with the Cardinal and White with an NCAA title in the heptathlon, becoming the first Badger to win a national championship in the event. The Langley, British Columbia, native was the lone Big Ten Conference female athlete to win a national title at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships and captured UW’s second individual NCAA title in the last three years. An eight-time All-American, Ellenwood shined at the conference level, winning Big Ten titles in both the pentathlon and heptathlon. Her heptathlon score at the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships of 6,173 points was not only a conference record, but ranks No. 10 in NCAA history and was the top score by a Canadian athlete this year. Ellenwood was named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year for her efforts. Ellenwood also earned international recognition, becoming the 2018 Canadian National Champion and the Pan-American Combined Events Champion in the heptathlon.
Men’s Track & Field
Women’s Track & Field