NCAA Postseason to Begin for Wolverines at East Prelims
5/23/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 23, 2017
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THIS WEEK
Thu-Sat., May 25-27 -- at NCAA East Preliminaries (Lexington, Ky.), Noon/4:30 p.m./2 p.m.
Meet Information | Live Results
• WatchESPN Streams: Thursday | Friday | Saturday
On the journey to the NCAA Outdoor Championships next month in Eugene, Oregon, the road to qualification for select members of the University of Michigan men's track and field team first runs through Lexington, Kentucky, and the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds this Thursday through Saturday (May 25-27).
Returning outdoor NCAA Championships qualifiers Joe Ellis, Steven Bastien, Taylor McLaughlin and Ben Flanagan lead a contingent of 14 Wolverines to the East Prelims at the University of Kentucky's Outdoor Track and Field Facility with berths to nationals at stake.
The Wolverines' 16 entries into the meet -- Grant Cartwright is entered in three events -- run the full gamut of sprints, distance, jumps and throws events.
Fans can tune in to a live stream of the meet the meet online via WatchESPN on all three days. Live results are also available for all three days at the link above, and up-to-the-minute updates will be provided on the @UMichTrack twitter account.
THE MEET
Men's action at Kentucky's Outdoor Track and Field Facility begins Thursday at noon with Stephen Burk in the javelin, followed by a 4:30 p.m. start for U-M on Friday and a 2 p.m. start on Saturday.
No finals will be contested over the course of the three days, as the meet serves as the opening qualifying rounds for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships (June 7-10) final site in Eugene, Oregon. Instead, the top 12 finishers in each individual event will secure berths to the national meet in Eugene.
Events on the track through 1,500 meters will have first-round and quarterfinal sessions to whittle the field -- composed of the top 48 declared athletes in each event -- down to two, with semifinal and final rounds taking place in Eugene.
The 3,000-meter steeplechase will contest a quarterfinal this weekend with semis and finals at Oregon, and the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs will conduct their semifinals on Thursday and Saturday, respectively, with only finals in Oregon.
Field events will also be conducted differently. In the throws and horizontal jumps, each competitor will only get three attempts to log their best marks. In the pole vault and high jump, the competition ends when only 12 men remain alive.
It is not a team-scored event.
THE LINEUP
Ellis, seeking his second consecutive NCAA Championships berth in the hammer throw, spearheads a throws corps that accounts for six of Michigan's 16 entries into the prelims.
Along with Ellis, Cartwright is one of only 13 men in the East attempting the hammer throw/shot put/discus trifecta, while Andrew Liskowitz and Burk will be going for bids in the shot put and javelin, respectively.
Bastien, who has already sewed up a spot at NCAAs in the decathlon, will also be attempting to make it to Eugene in the long jump.
McLaughlin begins his quest for back-to-back first team All-America honors in the 400-meter hurdles to start his collegiate career, joined from the sprints stable by Khoury Crenshaw at 100 meters. McLaughlin is hoping to replicate a freshman season that saw him finish fifth at NCAAs, first at the USATF Junior Championships and runner-up at the IAAF World Junior Championships.
A strong distance corps will also represent U-M in the Bluegrass State, paced by indoor sub-four milers Ned Willig and Connor Mora -- both of whom scored in two events apiece at the Big Ten Championships. Willig will contest the 1,500 meters, while Mora will take a run at the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
They will be joined by returning second team All-American Flanagan -- running only his second race of the season -- at 10,000 meters, Aaron Baumgarten and Micah Beller at 5,000 meters, Austin Benoit in the steeplechase and Brennan Munley at 800 meters.
Ellis enters as the highest-ranked Wolverine in the East at No. 5 in the hammer throw. Also ranked inside the 12-man bubble for qualifying entering the weekend are No. 9 Liskowitz and No. 12 Cartwright in the shot put, No. 11 McLaughlin in the 400 hurdles and No. 12 Mora in the steeplechase.
THE SCHEDULE
| Time | Name | Event | Seed |
| Thursday, May 25 | |||
| Noon | Stephen Burk | Javelin | #17 |
| 4 p.m. | Grant Cartwright | Hammer | #26 |
| 4 p.m. | Joe Ellis | Hammer | #5 |
| 4:30 p.m. | Steven Bastien | Long Jump | #35 |
| 5 p.m. | Taylor McLaughlin | 400H* | #11 |
| 6 p.m. | Ned Willig | 1,500m* | #36 |
| 6:55 p.m. | Khoury Crenshaw | 100m* | #39 |
| 8:35 p.m. | Brennan Munley | 800m* | #20 |
| 9:40 p.m. | Ben Flanagan | 10,000m | #47 |
| Friday, May 26 | |||
| 4:30 p.m. | Grant Cartwright | Shot Put | #9 |
| 4:30 p.m. | Andrew Liskowitz | Shot Put | #12 |
| 6:15 p.m. | Khoury Crenshaw | 100m | #39 |
| 6:45 p.m. | Brennan Munley | 800m | #20 |
| 7:15 p.m. | Taylor McLaughlin | 400H | #11 |
| 9 p.m. | Connor Mora | Steeple | #12 |
| 9 p.m. | Austin Benoit | Steeple | #45 |
| Saturday, May 27 | |||
| 2 p.m. | Grant Cartwright | Discus | #15 |
| 6 p.m. | Ned Willig | 1,500m | #36 |
| 8:45 p.m. | Aaron Baumgarten | 5,000m | #32 |
| 8:45 p.m. | Micah Beller | 5,000m | #34 |
* First round, with a quarterfinal to follow
Scheduled time for quarterfinal, pending first-round qualifying
WOLVERINES IN THE RANKINGS
• The Wolverines have 10 performances ranked top-50 in the nation so far this year, including three in the top 20. Sprinters, hurdlers, distance runners and throwers are all represented.
| Name | Event | Rank |
| Joe Ellis | Hammer | #6 |
| Steven Bastien | Decathlon | #12 |
| Andrew Liskowitz | Shot Put | #17 |
| Connor Mora | Steeplechase | #21 |
| Grant Cartwright | Shot Put | #23 |
| Grant Cartwright | Discus | #23 |
| Taylor McLaughlin | 400 Hurdles | #26 |
| Stephen Burk | Javelin | #31 |
| Brennan Munley | 800m | #37 |
| Grant Cartwright | Hammer | #42 |
| Ned Willig | 800m | #44 |
Tweet of the Week 
A big crew is taking off for the #NCAATF East Prelims today! Here's the squad that'll be battling for nationals berths on Thu-Sat pic.twitter.com/Yt1tUN0NWi
-- Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) May 23, 2017
Communications Contact: Kyle Terwillegar
Players Mentioned
