Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Cartwright, Willig Headline Final Day of Big Ten Championships
5/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 14, 2017
» The men finished tied with Indiana for eighth in the team race with 64 points.
» Grant Cartwright extended his discus career best by nearly three meters en route to a third-place finish in the discus, his third top-four finish of the weekend
» Ned Willig finished fourth at 1,500 meters before coming back an hour later for a fifth-place showing at 800 meters. Brennan Munley was eighth at 800 meters.
» Taylor McLaughlin, Connor Mora and Brennan Munley also all scored in their respective events.
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Site: State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion Outdoor Track)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 3)
U-M Team Score: Tie-8th Place of 13 (64 points)
Next U-M Event: Thu-Sat., May 25-27 -- at NCAA East Preliminaries (Lexington, Ky.)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- A third top-four finish for thrower Grant Cartwright and a pair of top-five mid-distance finishes in the span of an hour for Ned Willig headlined the final day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships as the University of Michigan men's track and field team tied for eighth Sunday (May 14) at Nittany Lion Outdoor Track.
Cartwright posted a nearly three-meter career best in the discus to finish third -- adding six points to the 10 he already scored with a pair of fourths in the hammer and shot put earlier this weekend -- while Willig was fourth at 1,500 meters and fifth at 800 to spearhead the final-day push to Michigan's 64 total team points.
That total -- which also included day-three contributions from fourth-place 400-meter hurdler Taylor McLaughlin, sixth-place 5,000-meter runner Connor Mora, and eighth-place half-miler Brennan Munley -- was good enough to tie with Indiana. Penn State won the team title with 117 points.
Cartwright was the first scorer of the day for the Wolverines as he three times improved his career best en route to a third-place finish at 58.23m (191-0), nearly three meter better than her pre-meet PR of 55.40m (181-9).
Another BIG PR for Grant to move up to 3rd on his last throw! He goes 58.23m (191-0) to improve his PR by nearly 3 meters today! pic.twitter.com/Ltj18YLZj5
-- Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) May 14, 2017
His first of three PRs came in the third round with a mark of 55.85m (183-3) and added three feet to that mark on his fourth throw at 56.76m (186-3) to move to fourth. After a fifth-throw foul, he capped the day with his third-and-final PR of the afternoon to clinch the bronze medal.
His Sunday marked the third day in a row of top-four finishes in the throws. He threw a career best in the hammer to finish fourth on Friday (May 12) and tossed a season's best shot put mark yesterday (May 13) to take fourth.
His 16 points led all Wolverines on the weekend, ahead of the 10 each posted by Friday hammer throw champion Joe Ellis and Saturday decathlon winner Steven Bastien.
Later in the afternoon, Willig posted top-five finishes at both 1,500 meters and 800 meters to score nine points in the span of an hour.
In the 1,500 meters at 2:05 p.m., Willig was patient throughout much of the race before making a move late. He came through the bell for the final lap in 10th place but closed the final 400 meters strong with a 54.86 split -- the second-fastest last quarter-mile of anyone in the field -- to cross the line in 3:51.21.
Ben Hill finished ninth in 3:54.97.
It was much the same story for Willig at 800 just after 3 p.m., as he came through the first of two laps in ninth place. Summoning the same late-race surge as an hour earlier, he closed the final 400 in 54.00 to run down four opponents, including a few on the home straightaway.
@WilligNed does it again! Another great final-lap kick to finish 5th an hour after taking 4th at 1500! @BMunley 8th! pic.twitter.com/LnH6r49QsM
-- Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) May 14, 2017
Behind winner Isaiah Harris of Penn State, the remaining eight finalists all finished within a second-and-a-half of one another, with WIllig right in the middle at 1:51.14. Munley finished eighth in 1:51.56.
Though he did not defend his 400-meter hurdles title, McLaughlin scored five points with a fourth-place finish in 51.73.
Mora was the last Wolverine on the track in the 5,000-meter final, and he closed the meet out with a scoring performance in sixth place -- his second such finish of the weekend dating back to Saturday's steeplechase final.
He steadily worked his way up through the field as the race progressed, moving from the low 20s at the mile to top-13 by the two mile and fifth -- on the heels of third -- at the bell lap. He ultimately held on for a sixth-place finish in 14:25.98.
Next up for the Wolverines will be the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds May 25-27 at Kentucky. The top 48 entries in the East Region will earn berths to the meet, which serves as the opening rounds of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, next month.
The final qualifiers for the East Preliminaries will be announced this week.
Tweet of the Day 
4th in hammer on Fri ✔
4th in shot put on Sat ✔
Now 3rd in the discus on Sun ✔@gwcartwright improves his PR by nearly 3 meters to take 3rd pic.twitter.com/GHSNu3MdnV-- Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) May 14, 2017
• Previous Results: Day 2 | Day 1
Communications Contact: Kyle Terwillegar
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