Michigan
Penn Relays
Top-Tier Competition Awaits U-M at National Relay Championships, Penn Relays
4/25/2018 4:29:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
» A small group of distance runners will compete Thursday at the Penn Relays while the remainder of Michigan's top athletes take on the nation's best at Arkansas' National Relay Championships on Friday and Saturday.
» Among those in action in Arkansas are All-Americans Joe Ellis, Taylor McLaughlin, Grant Cartwright and Andrew Liskowitz.
THIS WEEK
Thursday, April 26 -- Penn Relays (Philadelphia, Pa.), 9:25 p.m. & 11:05 p.m.
Meet Information | Live Results | Live Stream
Fri-Sat., April 27-28 -- National Relay Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.), 2:10 p.m. CDT / 10:45 a.m. CDT
Meet Information | Live Results | TV: SEC Network
SEC Network+ Online Streams: Friday | Saturday Early Session | Saturday Evening Session
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The last major weekend of the outdoor regular season has arrived as the University of Michigan men's track and field team is preparing for a pair of competitions at the Penn Relays on Thursday (April 26) and Arkansas' National Relay Championships (April 27-28).
With the Big Ten Championships just two weekends away -- May 11-13 in Bloomington, Indiana -- this week's contests at Penn and Arkansas represent the Wolverines' final opportunities to sharpen up against national-caliber competition ahead of the conference meet.
While only a small contingent of distance runners will make the trip to the Penn Relays, the remainder of Michigan's top athletes will take on an elite field at the inaugural National Relay Championships at Arkansas, which brings together many of the premier programs from across the "Power Five" conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC).
In addition to the host Razorbacks, Michigan will also square off with athletes and relay teams from Baylor, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.
Field event action begins Friday at 2:10 p.m. CDT with a session containing all the individual events on the track getting underway for the men at 3:15 p.m. A pair of relay events conclude the evening, starting at 8:25 p.m.
Saturday's schedule also begins in the field at 10:45 a.m. CDT, with field events throughout the day leading up to a relay-event-only evening session that begins for Michigan at 7:35 p.m. CDT.
The meet will be a scored competition, but not in the traditional sense. Instead of scoring every event -- individual and relay -- a "relay champion" will be determined by scoring the results of the seven relay events.
Relays will be scored through eight places, with the winning earning 10 points toward its overall team score. The runner-up will earn eight points, third gets six, fourth earns five, fifth gets four, sixth earns three, sevenths gets two and eighth earns one (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1).
In addition to the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays that are considered official NCAA events, the meet will also feature the distance medley relay -- which is an official NCAA indoor event -- along with 4x200-meter, 4x800-meter, 4x1,500-meter and sprint medley relays.
The distance medley relay, totaling 4,000 meters, consists of legs measuring 1,200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters and 1,600 meters; the sprint medley relay, totaling 1,600 meters, consists of two 200-meter legs, a 400-meter leg and an 800-meter leg.
Live results for the meet will be available from Record Timing as the meet approaches, and fans can follow the latest updates directly from the program's official social media channels.
WHEN TO FOLLOW THE WOLVERINES
| Wolverines Competing This Weekend | ||
| THURSDAY, APRIL 26                         at the Penn Relays                         |
||
| Name | Event | Time (ET) |
| Jack Aho | 5000 meter run | 9:25 PM |
| Aaron Baumgarten | 5000 meter run | 9:25 PM |
| Billy Bund | 5000 meter run | 9:25 PM |
| Isaac Harding | 5000 meter run | 9:25 PM |
| Christian Hubaker | 5000 meter run | 9:25 PM |
| Jacob Lee | 5000 meter run | 9:25 PM |
| Jacob Branch | 10,000 meter run | 11:05 PM |
| FRIDAY, APRIL 27 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â at the National Relay Championships (Arkansas) |
||
| Name | Event | Time (ET) |
| Grant Cartwright | Discus | 3:10 PM |
| Andrew Liskowitz | Discus | 3:10 PM |
| Manning Plater | Discus | 3:10 PM |
| Roland Amarteifio | 110 meter hurdles | 4:15 PM |
| Noah Caudy | 110 meter hurdles | 4:15 PM |
| Sierra Hendrix-Williams | 110 meter hurdles | 4:15 PM |
| Vail Hartman | 400 meter dash | 4:40 PM |
| Desmond Melson | 400 meter dash | 4:40 PM |
| Alex Schwedt | 400 meter dash | 4:40 PM |
| Alex Klemm | High Jump | 4:45 PM |
| Brandon Piwinski | High Jump | 4:45 PM |
| Max Wagner | High Jump | 4:45 PM |
| Daniel Butael | Long Jump | 5:00 PM |
| Khoury Crenshaw | 100 meter dash | 5:15 PM |
| Desmond Nicholas | 100 meter dash | 5:15 PM |
| Matt Plowman | 800 meter run | 6:13 PM |
| Tanner Schwannecke | 800 meter run | 6:13 PM |
| Roland Amarteifio | 400 meter hurdles | 6:35 PM |
| Noah Caudy | 400 meter hurdles | 6:35 PM |
| Sean Marshall | 400 meter hurdles | 6:35 PM |
| Taylor McLaughlin | 400 meter hurdles | 6:35 PM |
| Chase Barnett | 1500 meter run | 7:07 PM |
| Anthony Berry | 1500 meter run | 7:07 PM |
| Jordy Hewitt | 1500 meter run | 7:07 PM |
| Connor Mora | 1500 meter run | 7:07 PM |
| Ryan Wilkie | 1500 meter run | 7:07 PM |
| Josiah Carpenter | 200 meter dash | 7:45 PM |
| Beller, McPeek, Â Wallace Benoit |
4x1500 relay | 8:25 PM |
| Melson, Schwedt, Â Â Â Marshall Carpenter |
Sprint Medley Relay | 8:45 PM |
| SATURDAY, APRIL 28 Â Â Â at the National Relay Championships (Arkansas) |
||
| Name | Event | Time (ET) |
| Grant Cartwright | Hammer Throw | 11:45 AM |
| Joe Ellis | Hammer Throw | 11:45 AM |
| Manning Plater | Hammer Throw | 11:45 AM |
| Nick Burkhalter | Pole Vault | 2:30 PM |
| Kevin Haughn | Pole Vault | 2:30 PM |
| Daniel Butael | Triple Jump | 4:00 PM |
| Grant Cartwright | Shot Put | 4:30 PM |
| Andrew Liskowitz | Shot Put | 4:30 PM |
| TBD Michigan | 4x800 relay | 8:35 PM |
| Nicholas, Amarteifio, Marshall, Carpenter |
4x200 relay | 8:51 PM |
| McLaughlin, Berry, Mora, Hewitt |
Distance Medley Relay | 9:14 PM |
| Hartman, Schwedt, McLaughlin Melson |
4x400 relay | 9:43 PM |
THE WOLVERINES' TOP COMPETITORS
• Michigan will be fielding squads in six of the seven relay events comprising the National Relay Championships team competition. Listed below in order of events are the pools for each relay:
» 4x1,500: Beller, McPeek, Wallace, Benoit
» Sprint Medley: Melson, Schwedt, Marshall, Carpenter
» 4x800: McPeek, Plowman, Schwannecke, Wallace, Wilkie
» 4x200: Nicholas, Amarteifio, Marshall, Carpenter
» Distance Medley: McLaughlin, Berry, Mora, Hewitt
» 4x400: Hartman, Schwedt, McLaughlin, Melson
• Coming off a school-record performance in the hammer throw, Joe Ellis will look to keep the momentum going and win his sixth straight regular-season hammer competition. Entering with his mark of 71.00m (232 feet, 11 inches) from the Texas Invitational, the national No. 10-ranked Ellis will get his first big test of the season as he squares off with the Florida duo of Anders Eriksson and Thomas Mardal, and Miami's Kevin Arreaga. Eriksson and Mardal are ranked third and seventh ahead of Ellis on the national descending order list at 73.58m (241-5) and 71.88m (235-10), respectively, with Arreaga just behind at No. 11 with a best of 70.64m (231-9).
• Liskowitz may not own the school record in the shot put like Ellis, but he put the record book on notice in his debut with a 19.13m (62-9.25) showing -- marking the first time a Michigan Wolverine shot putter has exceeded 19 meters during the month of April. Ranked No. 16 in the country, Liskowitz -- as well as No. 41-ranked Grant Cartwright -- will have plenty of competition. The field is headlined by ninth-ranked Adrian Piperi of Texas, and includes 11 men who have surpassed 18 meters so far this season.
• Taylor McLaughlin, off to the best start of his career in his signature 400-meter hurdles event with back-to-back sub-51-second races, will take on a field that closely resembles the caliber of field he will face this postseason as he makes a run for a third straight All-America award. With a best of 50.86 seconds this year, the national No. 11-ranked junior is among six men who have cracked 51 seconds this season, including former NCAA champ-turned-professional Eric Futch and four top-10 hurdlers in Cory Poole of Florida, Kemar Mowatt of Arkansas, Jayson Baldridge of Baylor and Gregory Chiles of Virginia Tech.
MICHIGAN IN THE NCAA EAST RANKINGS
Listed below are all the Wolverine men who are currently ranked among the top-48 individuals in their respective events. Why top-48? That is the cutoff for qualifying to the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Tampa, Florida, next month. The NCAA East Prelims serve as the gateway to qualifying for June's NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Athletes currently ranked top-25 in their events at this point in the season are near-locks to advance to the NCAA East Prelims. Those ranked from that cutoff through No. 40 are on the fence of advancing at this point as marks will continue improving around the nation as the spring progresses, but they would be best served to improve their mark to secure a spot. From there through No. 48, an improved mark will be required to hold on to their top-48 positioning.                                                                            Â
| Name | Event | Mark | Rank |
| Taylor McLaughlin | 200m | 20.95 | 43 |
| Micah Beller | 5000m | 14:07.20 | 43 |
| Ben Flanagan | 10,000m | 29:33.07 | 26 |
| Taylor McLaughlin | 400H | 50.86 | 5 |
| Roland Amarteifio | 400H | 52.41 | 37 |
| Connor Mora | Steeplechase | 8:59.99 | 26 |
| Anthony Berry | Steeplechase | 9:05.34 | 38 |
| Kevin Haughn | Pole Vault | 5.00m (16-4.75) | 44 |
| Andrew Liskowitz | Shot Put | 19.13m (62-9.25) | 9 |
| Grant Cartwright | Shot Put | 18.19m (59-8.25) | 21 |
| Joe Ellis | Hammer | 71.00m (232-11) | 9 |
| Grant Cartwright | Hammer | 65.47m (214-9) | 19 |
Players Mentioned
