Michigan Advances 13 to NCAA East Prelims

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Twelve men from the University of Michigan track and field program with a combined 13 entries have been selected to continue their 2018 outdoor seasons into national postseason competition as they were among the qualifiers announced Thursday (May 17) for next week's NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Tampa, Florida. The University of South Florida will host the meet Thursday through Saturday, May 24-26.

Reigning and former Big Ten Outdoor champions Aaron Baumgarten, Joe Ellis, Ben Flanagan and Taylor McLaughlin will lead to the Wolverines into the NCAA postseason among those who qualified to the NCAA East Prelims by ranking among the top 48 athletes who declared for the meet in their respective events.

Joining Baumgarten and Flanagan from the distance corps will be Micah Beller and Connor Mora. Ellis leads a throws group that includes two-event qualifier Grant Cartwright, Andrew Liskowitz and Manning Plater, and Roland Amarteifio will join McLaughlin in the 400-meter hurdles. Michigan also advanced a pair of jumpers in Kevin Stephens Jr., and Brandon Piwinski.

The three-day meet serves as the qualifying meet for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, which will take place June 6-9 at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The top-12 finishers in each individual event from the East Region -- in which Michigan competes -- and the top 12 from the West Region will comprise the 24-person fields in Eugene.

First-round and quarterfinal races will be contested in track events ranging from 100 meters through 1,500 meters, with semifinals and finals scheduled for June in Eugene. A single quarterfinal round will be contested in the steeplechase, and a single semifinal round will be run for the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races.

In the throws and horizontal jumps, competitors will get only three attempts to record their best marks, and the high jump and pole vault will continue until only 12 competitors remain.

Michigan's qualifiers are listed below by event, along with their seed mark, rank and scheduled day of competition.

400-Meter Hurdles | First round -- Thursday, May 24, at 4:30 p.m. / Quarterfinal -- Friday, May 25, at 7 p.m.
Taylor McLaughlin -- 49.65, No. 2 seed [third NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Roland Amarteifio -- 51.73, No. 29 seed [first NCAA East Prelims appearance]

3,000-Meter Steeplechase | Quarterfinal -- Friday, May 25, at 8:20 p.m.
Connor Mora -- 8:59.99, No. 37 seed [fourth NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]

5,000 Meters | Semifinal -- Saturday, May 26, at 8:05 p.m.
Aaron Baumgarten -- 14:00.22, No. 21 seed [third NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Micah Beller -- 14:07.20, No. 34 seed [third NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]

10,000 Meters | Semifinal -- Thursday, May 24, at 9:00 p.m.
Ben Flanagan -- 29:33.07, No. 22 seed [third NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]

High Jump | First round -- Saturday, May 26, at 4:15 p.m.
Brandon Piwinski -- 2.14m (7-0.25), T-No. 32 [first NCAA East Prelims appearance]

Triple Jump | First round -- Saturday, May 26, at 7:30 p.m.
Kevin Stephens Jr. -- 15.66m (51-4.5), No. 23 [first NCAA East Prelims appearance]

Shot Put | First round -- Saturday, May 26, at 8:00 p.m.
Andrew Liskowitz -- 20.28m (66-6.5), No. 4 seed [second NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Grant Cartwright -- 19.30m (63-4), No. 9 seed [third NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]

Hammer Throw | First round -- Thursday, May 24, at 11:30 a.m.
Joe Ellis -- 72.72m (238-7), No. 5 seed [third NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Grant Cartwright -- 68.28m (224-0), No. 13 seed [second NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Manning Plater -- 61.21m (200-10), No. 42 seed [first NCAA East Prelims appearance]

Of note, Cartwright is one of just two men in the meet ranked top-15 in the region both in the shot put and the hammer throw.

He will be looking to return to the NCAA Championships in June, as will Ellis, McLaughlin, Liskowitz and Flanagan. Both Ellis and McLaughlin are going for their third NCAA Championships berths in as many years, while Liskowitz and Cartwright are looking for return trips in the shot put after qualifying for the first time a year ago.

Flanagan will look to return to the national meet for the first time since 2016.

After winning his first career Big Ten title at 5,000 meters this past weekend, Baumgarten is among those trying to make it through to NCAAs for the first time in their careers. Also looking to book their first tickets to nationals are Amarteifio, Beller, Mora, Piwinski, Plater and Stephens.