The Butler track and field team are headed to the BIG EAST Indoor Championships in Chicago, Ill. on Friday and Saturday. 
 
The Bulldog men are looking to build after finishing sixth at the indoor conference championships last season. This year, the team will be led by grad students William Zegarski, Eli Fullerton and Jesse Hamlin alongside sophomore Brendan Thomas, who are looking to get the Bulldogs back to being the 5,000-meters titleholder. 
 
Zegarski will also be competing in the men's 3,000-meters alongside junior David Slapak, junior Matteo Rosio, and Redshirt freshman Seth Mahony. In the men's mile, grad students Austin Gabay and Hamlin, will lead the way alongside freshman Owen Whitney. 
 
The Dawgs are sending sole runners for three events. Sophomore Joe Pierro will be the competitor for the Dawgs in the 200-meter race. Junior Troy Larrison will be the 400-meter representative and grad student Ryan Elston will be competing in the 800-meter race. 
 
The Bulldogs are competing in three relays during this competition. These relays will not be finalized until event day.
 
The distance medley relay could consist of Slapak, Gabay, Hamlin, Whitney, junior Aedan Rendek, Pierro, or Larrison. The 4x800- meter relay could include Hamlin, Gabay, Rendek, Slapak, Elston, or Whitney. The 4x400-meter relay will possibly be run by Larrison, junior Ethan Falconer, senior Mason Steinbraker, Pierro, junior Lairden Rogge, freshman Edward Mumford, Whitney, or Elston. 
 
Butler will also look to have some success in the field led by junior Cabott Craft and Mumford. Craft will be competing in long jump and triple jump. Mumford will be competing in the high jump event. 
 
In the multis, Butler will have one competitor on each side with senior Sean Davies hoping to earn some points as the sole Bulldog in the men's heptathlon. The heptathlon consists of the 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter run, 800-meter run, 1000-meter run, high jump, long jump, shot put, and pole vault. Junior Lily Wharton leads the way for the women in the pentathlon, which consists of the 60-meter hurdles, 800-meter run, high jump, long jump, and shot put. 
 
On the women's side, freshman Anna Niebrugge has emerged as one of the Bulldog's top runners holding the top mark in the 60-meter race, where she currently holds the school record. Junior Jocelyn Davis and grad student Lauren Doerr will also be competing in the 60-meter event. 
 
Niebrugge will also be part of the 200-meter race alongside Davis and sophomore Jenna Plank. 
 
Niebrugge will be part of the 4x400-meter relay team with senior Grace Stedge, Plank, and Davis while the Bulldogs look to claim the top spot. Freshman Poppy Healy, freshman Cameron Kirtley, Stedge, sophomore Camille El Baghlouli, or freshman Carys Glyn-Jones will possibly be on the Bulldog team for the distance medley relay. The possible representation for the Bulldogs in the women's 4x800-meter relay could be the team of Healy, Kirtley, El Baghouli, Glyn-Jones, or sophomore Hannah Moore. These relays will also not be finalized until event day.
 
The Lady Bulldogs will have sole runners in the 800-meter and 5000-meter events. Healy will make her BIG EAST Indoor debut in the 800-meter race. Moore will be leading the Dawgs in the 5000-meter competition. 
 
The first event will be the women's pentathlon beginning on Friday at 11:30 ET with the women's pole vault kicking off at 1 PM. The track events will start with the women's 5,000 meters at 1:45pm.
 
Saturday's slate will begin with field events starting with the women's shot put at 11 AM and the races will begin at 11:05 AM starting with the women's 3000-meter. The Men's Heptathlon will be inserted in the track event portion of the schedule where appropriate. 
 
You can stream the event both days on ESPN+ at https://www.espn.com/search/_/appearance/dark/o/watch/q/big%20east%20track. Live results will be available at https://results.lakeshoreathleticservices.com/meets/61998. Any additional information can be found on Championship Central at https://www.bigeast.com/tournaments/?id=208.