Captains Named, Team Honors Given at Season-Ending Banquet
12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Michigan men's track and field program gathered to celebrate the successes of the 2016 calendar year last Sunday (Dec. 4), handing out 12 team awards and also naming the 2017 team captains.
The 2016 track and field seasons were the best of the Jerry Clayton era so far. U-M tied for fourth at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, just two points shy of second place, and did earn that runner-up Big Ten finish during the outdoor season. The team tied for 13th in the country at the NCAA Outdoor Championships behind the program's first national champion since 2007 in Mason Ferlic (3,000-meter steeplechase). The Wolverines also celebrated this past cross country season, when the team was fifth at the Big Ten Championships.
Four team-elected captains, one from each event group, will represent the Wolverines in 2017: Steven Bastien (multi-events), Grant Cartwright (throws), Ben Flanagan (distance) and Taylor McLaughlin (sprints/hurdles).
A senior/junior, Cartwright was a team captain last season, and his classmate Flanagan has already served three years as a captain with the cross country program. Fifth-year senior Bastien and true sophomore McLaughlin, both first team All-Americans last year, will be captains for the first time.
Below is a breakdown of the 2016 track and field and 2016 cross country team awards:
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jarred Bratley
Most Improved Award
Indoor Track and Field
Kevin Stephens Jr.
Most Improved Award (Co-)
Outdoor Track and Field
Grant Cartwright
Ben Flanagan
Most Improved Award
Cross Country
Billy Bund
Leadership Award
Track and Field
Phil Washington III
Leadership Award
Cross Country
Jordy Hewitt
Newcomer of the Year
Track and Field
Taylor McLaughlin
Newcomer of the Year
Cross Country
Connor Herr
Track and Field MVP
Indoor
Steven Bastien
Outdoor
Mason Ferlic
Track and Field Athlete of the Year
Both Indoor and Outdoor Seasons
Mason Ferlic
Cross Country Athlete of the Year
Aaron Baumgarten
• Indoor Season in Review
• Outdoor Season in Review
• Cross Country Season in Review
The Maize and Blue opens up the 2017 track and field season with a split weekend. Several athletes will head to Nashville, Tennessee, for the Vanderbilt Invitational (Jan. 13-14), while other members of the Wolverine roster will compete at the U-M Indoor Track Building in the final hosted event in the building's history: the Simmons-Harvey Invitational (Jan. 14).
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
