Wolverine Men Set for Big Ten Indoor Championships

Friday, February 23

Geneva, Ohio

12:20 PM

Michigan

Big Ten Indoor Championships

Taylor McLaughlin

2/21/2018 3:03:00 PM | Men's Track & Field

By: Kyle Terwillegar

» All-Americans Grant Cartwright and Joe Ellis will look to repeat their 1-2 podium sweep in the weight throw from a year ago.
» Cartwright and Ellis are among the six returning scorers from last year's seventh-place team.
» Ben Flanagan is looking to follow up on his historic cross country season to win the first Big Ten Indoor title of his career at 5,000 meters.

THIS WEEK
Friday, Feb. 23 -- Big Ten Indoor Championships (Geneva, Ohio), 12:20 p.m.
Meet Information | Live Results | Watch Live on Flotrack Pro / BTN Plus
Saturday, Feb. 24 -- Big Ten Indoor Championships (Geneva, Ohio), 11 a.m.
Meet Information | Live Results | Watch Live on Flotrack Pro / BTN Plus

• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The postseason has finally arrived for the No. 22-ranked University of Michigan men's track and field team, as the Wolverines will battle for the conference team title and individual crowns at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 23-24) at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Led by reigning Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year Grant Cartwright and national weight throw leader Joe Ellis, numerous Wolverines are either contenders for individual titles or potential scorers in their respective events as Michigan battles for the team crown.

Michigan was seventh in the team standings a year ago, but returns student-athletes who scored a combined 42 of the squad's 51 points from individual events (to go along with three from the distance medley relay). With each of them projected to approach, equal or improve upon their point totals this season -- and with the projected addition to the scoring of several high-profile returners or newcomers -- the Wolverines should be in the midst of the team race.

Cartwright and Ellis are the top returners for the Wolverines, who look to defend their historic 1-2 weight throw finish from 2017 in which the school record fell a combined three times.

Also returning as 2017 scorers for Michigan are Aaron Baumgarten (third at 3,000 meters and sixth at 5,000 meters), Taylor McLaughlin (sixth at both 200 and 400 meters), Khoury Crenshaw (fourth at 60 meters), and Kevin Stephens Jr. (fifth in the triple jump).

After missing much of the 2017 indoor season and coming off a historic cross country season, Ben Flanagan should contend for the win at 5,000 meters, while Andrew Liskowitz and Cartwright should be factors in the hunt for the shot put title after neither scored in the event a year ago.

Joining Stephens as a triple-jump contender will be Daniel Butael, an international transfer from Israel in his first collegiate season at Michigan.

Fans can attend both days of the championships -- located just a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Ann Arbor to Geneva, Ohio -- in person for $20 or $8 for children, students from Big Ten schools and senior citizens (65+).

Those who cannot attend can watch the meet live on FloTrack Pro or BTN Plus with subscriptions to those services. Live results through Lightning Timing will also be available, and Michigan track & field's official social media channels will be providing updates throughout the weekend.

WHEN TO WATCH THE WOLVERINES

Friday, February 23

Name	Event	Round	Time
Jack Aho	3000 meter run	Final (Unseeded)	12:20 PM
Chase Barnett	Mile	Prelims	1:00 PM
Anthony Berry	Mile	Prelims	1:00 PM
Connor Mora	Mile	Prelims	1:00 PM
Vail Hartman	400 meter dash	Prelims	1:45 PM
Taylor McLaughlin	400 meter dash	Prelims	1:45 PM
Desmond Melson	400 meter dash	Prelims	1:45 PM
Blake Washington	400 meter dash	Prelims	1:45 PM
Khoury Crenshaw	60 meter dash	Prelims	2:30 PM
Desmond Nicholas	60 meter dash	Prelims	2:30 PM
Kevin Haughn	Pole Vault	Final	3:30 PM
Roland Amarteifio	60 meter hurdles	Prelims	3:50 PM
Noah Caudy	60 meter hurdles	Prelims	3:50 PM
Sierra Hendrix-Williams	60 meter hurdles	Prelims	3:50 PM
Daniel Butael	Long Jump	Final	4:45 PM
Grant Cartwright	Shot Put	Final	5:30 PM
Andrew Liskowitz	Shot Put	Final	5:30 PM
Manning Plater	Shot Put	Final	5:30 PM
Aaron Baumgarten	3000 meter run	Final	6:10 PM
Billy Bund	3000 meter run	Final	6:10 PM
Michigan	Distance Medley Relay	Final	6:50 PM

Saturday, February 24

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Name	Event	Round	Time
Daniel Butael	Triple Jump	Final	11:00 AM
Kevin Stephens	Triple Jump	Final	11:00 AM
Jacob Lee	5000 meter run	Final	12:55 PM
Finalists TBD	Mile	Final	1:30 PM
Grant Cartwright	Weight Throw	Final	1:45 PM
Joe Ellis	Weight Throw	Final	1:45 PM
Manning Plater	Weight Throw	Final	1:45 PM
Finalists TBD	400 meter dash	Final	1:50 PM
Alex Klemm	High Jump	Final	2:00 PM
Brandon Piwinski	High Jump	Final	2:00 PM
Finalists TBD	60 meter dash	Final	2:10 PM
Finalists TBD	800 meter run	Final	2:30 PM
Finalists TBD	60 meter hurdles	Final	2:50 PM
Aaron Baumgarten	5000 meter run	Final	4:05 PM
Micah Beller	5000 meter run	Final	4:05 PM
Benjamin Flanagan	5000 meter run	Final	4:05 PM
Michigan	4x400 relay	Final	4:35 PM

TOP WOLVERINE CONTENDERS

• Cartwright and Ellis will look to reprise their historic 2017 Big Ten Championships performances in the weight throw (Saturday, 1:45 p.m.), when they swept the top-two spots on the podium and announced themselves as one of the greatest weight throw duos in collegiate history. With Ellis and Cartwright ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the conference, a repeat could very well be in the works. Now that both men have thrown farther than 23 meters in their careers in separate meets (23.31m/76 feet, 5.5 inches) for Cartwright at last year's Big Tens and 23.30m/76-5.5 for Ellis two weekends ago), they have a legitimate shot at becoming the first pair of teammates to throw 23 meters or farther in the same Big Ten Championships. Providing the biggest challenge for the duo will be Penn State's David Lucas, ranked No. 2 in the nation.

• Cartwright will team up with Liskowitz in the shot put competition (Friday, 5:30 p.m.) as they go for the Wolverines' first Big Ten title in the event since the late Steve Adams won in 1974. Liskowitz is ranked second in the Big Ten at 19.36m (63-6.25) and ready to contend against Ohio State's Nicholas Demaline for the win after a breakthrough 2017 outdoor season as the nation's top freshman. Third-ranked Cartwright (19.20m/63-0) also has a chip on his shoulder after missing the nine-man final by one spot in this event a year ago.

• Flanagan's 13:48.58 run over 5,000 meters at Iowa State two weekends ago positioned him as one of the favorites in the Big Ten title race (Saturday, 4:05 p.m.), though the field will be a tough one with five other men having broken the 14-minute barrier so far in 2018. He will be in contention for his first Big Ten Indoor title to go along with his 2016 Big Ten Outdoor 10,000-meter crown, while Baumgarten will be looking to score in the event for a second consecutive year. He has not yet raced this distance in 2018. Baumgarten also will be a contender for big points in the 3,000-meter final (Friday, 6:10 p.m.) as he looks to score for the third year in a row at that distance.

• Between indoors and outdoors, McLaughlin has scored at every Big Ten Championship meet since arriving in Ann Arbor in 2016. After taking sixth both at 200 and 400 meters a year ago for six total points, he will be focusing his efforts on getting big points in the 400 (Friday, 1:45 p.m. prelims/Saturday, 1:50 p.m. final) as the conference's fourth-ranked sprinter over that distance in 2018. He set his school record of 46.42 two years ago at this meet while focusing exclusively on the quarter-mile.

• Kevin Stephens Jr. has been a mainstay in the Michigan scoring for the past two years, taking triple jump runner-up honors in 2016 and fifth a year ago. Heading into the 2018 competition (Saturday, 11 a.m.), he will be joined by teammate Butael as they both go for top-eight scoring finishes. Historically, Stephens' biggest jumps have come at Big Tens, which could bode well as he has established a new career-best at 15.57m (51-1). He and Butael (15.50m/50-10.25) are the only pair of teammates in Michigan history to have jumped 15.50m or farther in the same season and are looking to make history Saturday as the first to do it in the same meet.

• Here's the full list of competing Wolverines who enter the conference championships among the top-20 in their respective events in the Big Ten rankings:

Name	Event	Rank
Khoury Crenshaw	60m	9
Desmond Nicholas	60m	19
Taylor McLaughlin	400m	4
Chase Barnett	Mile	5
Connor Mora	Mile	13
Anthony Berry	Mile	16
Aaron Baumgarten	3000m	8
Billy Bund	3000m	12
Ben Flanagan	5000m	1
Micah Beller	5000m	9
Sierra Hendrix-Williams	60H	13
Roland Amarteifio	60H	14
4 x 400m Relay		5
Distance Medley Relay		5
Brandon Piwinski	High Jump	9
Alex Klemm	High Jump	17
Kevin Haughn	Pole Vault	19
Kevin Stephens, Jr.	Triple Jump	5
Daniel Butael	Triple Jump	7
Andrew Liskowitz	Shot Put	2
Grant Cartwright	Shot Put	3
Joe Ellis	Weight Throw	1
Grant Cartwright	Weight Throw	3
Manning Plater	Weight Throw	20

WOLVERINES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

• The Wolverines checked in at No. 22 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Rankings, down five spots. Among Big Ten teams, only No. 14 Penn State, No. 15 Indiana and No. 19 Ohio State are ranked higher. It is important to note that the national rankings do not indicate how a team might fare in a conference championship scenario, but rather how a team might fare at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

• Heading into the final weekend of qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships next month, here are where the Wolverines stand in the national NCAA rankings (top 16 advance to NCAAs in individual events, top 12 relay teams qualify)

Name	Event	Rank
Taylor McLaughlin	400m	38
Ben Flanagan	5000m	18
4 x 400m Relay		29
Distance Medley Relay		26
Kevin Stephens, Jr.	Triple Jump	42
Andrew Liskowitz	Shot Put	13
Grant Cartwright	Shot Put	17
Joe Ellis	Weight Throw	1
Grant Cartwright	Weight Throw	6