Final Pre-Big Ten Championships Tune-Up On Tap

May 3, 2017

» The Toledo Invitational (May 4-5) is the final tune-up for select members of the team before it attempts to repeat or improve upon its runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships a year ago.
» The group competing this weekend is comprised of throwers, jumpers and mid-distance runners.

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THIS WEEK
Thu-Fri., May 4-5 -- at Toledo Invitational (Toledo, Ohio), 1 p.m./10:30 a.m.
Meet Information

The 2017 outdoor track and field regular season comes to a close this weekend as select members of the University of Michigan men's team cross the border for the Toledo Invitational on Thursday and Friday (May 4-5).

With the Wolverines preparing to make a run at repeating or improving upon last year's runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships -- to be held this year at Penn State on May 12-14 -- this week's meet is a chance for some of the team's younger or less championship-seasoned members to get one final tune-up.

Thursday's action for the Maize and Blue will come exclusively in the form of Ben Hester in the discus at around 2 p.m., with several sprinters, distance runners and jumpers in competition starting at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

The pole vault duo of Kevin Haughn and Nick Burkhalter headline the U-M delegation, with both coming off career-best weekends at the Longhorn Invitational. Both men cleared 16 feet for the first time in their respective outdoor seasons, with Burkhalter surpassing that height for the first time ever in competition.

The freshman sprints quartet of Roland Amarteifio, Stephen Hagen, Desmond Melson and Desmond Nicholas will all combine for the 4x100 relay and at least one individual sprint event each.

Jacob Branch, Billy Bund, Garrett McPeek and Keenan Rebera will all run the 1,500 meters, with Kevin Hall contesting the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Alex Klemm will look to build on a career-best weekend at Texas in the high jump, alongside Max Wagner.

Hester, coming off a decathlon at the Gina Relays, will also compete in the long jump.

News & Notes

• With just two more weeks left in the regular season, the Wolverines have nine performances ranked top 50 in the nation so far this year, including three in the top 15. Sprinters, hurdlers, distance runners and throwers are all represented.

Name	Event	Rank
Joe Ellis	Hammer	#10
Connor Mora	Steeplechase	#13
Taylor McLaughlin	400 Hurdles	#18
Stephen Burk	Javelin	#24
Grant Cartwright	Shot Put	#35
Grant Cartwright	Hammer	#39
Brennan Munley	800m	#41
Grant Cartwright	Discus	#42
Andrew Liskowitz	Shot Put	#44

• The Wolverines are in position to send a big contingent to the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds May 25-27 in Lexington, Kentucky, in hopes of qualifying to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June in Eugene, Oregon. Fifteen performances are currently ranked in the top 48 in the East Region, which is the cutoff to make the meet. The top 12 finishers in each event at the Prelims advance to Eugene.

Name	Event	Rank
Connor Mora	Steeplechase	#7
Taylor McLaughlin	400 Hurdles	#9
Joe Ellis	Hammer	#9
Stephen Burk	Javelin	#13
Grant Cartwright	Shot Put	#19
Andrew Liskowitz	Shot Put	#23
Grant Cartwright	Discus	#23
Brennan Munley	800m	#26
Grant Cartwright	Hammer	#26
Khoury Crenshaw	100m	#33
Steven Bastien	Long Jump	#33
Aaron Baumgarten	5,000m	#34
Micah Beller	5,000m	#38
Austin Benoit	3,000 Steeple	#39
Ned Willig	1,500m	#41

• The Wolverines return 60.5 points from the 90.5 scored by last year's Big Ten Outdoor Championships runner-up team, headlined by reigning 400-meter hurdles winner McLaughlin and defending 10,000-meter champ Ben Flanagan. The Wolverines also return big points from 3,000-meter steeplechase runner-up Connor Mora and decathlon runner-up decathlete Steven Bastien.

• Leading the Wolverines' newcomers is mid-distance runner Ned Willig, a graduate transfer from Brown set to make an impact in his final semester of collegiate eligibility. Willig was the fastest of the Wolverines' three sub-four-minute milers from this past indoor season, and was a second-team All-American in the mile at the NCAA indoor Championships.

• The Wolverines' roster features 17 true freshmen -- and four more redshirt freshmen -- for the 2017 outdoor season, including eight who represented the Block "M" at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.

Tweet of the Week

We're so proud that our own @SarahZieve will speak at the @UMichAthletics Student-Athlete Graduation on Friday!https://t.co/HB8iiRSek0 pic.twitter.com/jm1nGMBL8g

-- Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) April 25, 2017