On the surface, the indoor and outdoor seasons for University of Wisconsin men's and women's track and field teams don't seem very different.

The same athletes compete against many of the same opponents. They're also vying for conference and national championships.

But many of UW's athletes see the indoor and outdoor seasons as quite different. The Badgers will host the Wisconsin Twilight Saturday at McClimon Track. It's the final meet before next weekend's Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships in Champaign, Ill.

Hurdler Nate Larkin, a sophomore from Glen Ellyn, Ill., calls the two seasons "night and day." Sprinter James Groce, a junior from Milwaukee, prefers to use "free" versus "limiting."

An indoor track is 200 meters, compared to 400 outdoors. Extra turns, shorter straightaways and permission to pole (break the order of lane running in favor of pack running at the start of the second lap) makes starting fast imperative.

"The outdoor season is about running your own race, whereas indoor, you're restricted more to where you're positioned in the pack," Groce said, whose personal best of 45.89 seconds in the 400 came outdoors and is more than 2 seconds better than his top indoor time. "You don't have as much time with all the turns to make up lost time."

Larkin runs a 110-meter race over 10 hurdles outside and a 60-meter race over five hurdles inside.

"I like the idea of being a competitive racer," said Larkin, a two-time NCAA regional qualifier in the 110. "You don't really get a chance to compete indoors because it's just so fast."

The UW men's track and field team has excelled in both areas. The Badgers have won eight consecutive Big Ten indoor titles (the 2002 meet was canceled) and also won last year's NCAA Championships. UW has won four straight outdoor titles.

But the transition isn't easy. Ideally, when the indoor season ends in mid-March, the team starts practicing outdoors. Due to the inclement weather, that didn't happen on a consistent basis until a few weeks ago, leaving athletes like Larkin insufficient time to train for their outdoor events.

"We're kind of just thrown into the outdoor meets. There's only so much you can do on our indoor track as far as hurdles go," Larkin said.

"There's an art to making sure the athletes are ready indoors for the outdoor season," said UW men 's coach Ed Nuttycombe, winner of 23 Big Ten championships.

Larkin will use Saturday's meet, the team's lone outdoor home meet of the season, to tune up for the Big Ten and NCAA meets because while the starts matter during the indoor season, the overall goal every year is a strong finish.

"Track and field is all about running fast when you're supposed to run fast," Nuttycombe said.

"Football doesn't use all of its offensive plays in the first game of the year; this is the same thing. You always leave a little something for the championship part of the season and that's what's coming."

WISCONSIN TWILIGHT

What: The UW track and field teams' only home meet of the outdoor season.

When, where: 2 p.m. Saturday, McClimon Track.

Teams: In addition to the Badgers, teams from Edgewood College, Marquette, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater are scheduled to compete.

Admission: Free, with free parking in Lot 60.