Michigan
Can-Am International
Michigan Men Splitting Up Between Boston, Eastern Michigan
1/24/2019 1:53:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
» Michigan men's track and field hits the road for the first time this weekend with competitions on Saturday (Jan. 26) at the Boston U. John Thomas Terrier Classic and the Eastern Michigan Can-Am International.
» In Boston, the top distance runners will chase fast times in the mile and 3,000 meters.
» At Eastern, sprinters will get some extra competition against teams from around the region.
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Jan. 26 -- Boston U. John Thomas Terrier Classic (Boston, Mass.), 3 p.m.
Live Results | Watch on FloTrack Pro
Saturday, Jan. 26 -- Eastern Michigan Can-Am International (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1:15 p.m.
Live Results
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After spending two successful weekends at home to start the 2019 campaign, the University of Michigan men's track and field team will hit the road for the first time on Saturday (Jan. 26) with select student-athletes splitting up between Boston University and Eastern Michigan.
The Wolverines' top distance runners will chase fast performances in either the mile or the 3,000 meters against some of the nation's top competitors at the Boston U. John Thomas Terrier Classic, while several Michigan sprinters will make the trip across town to Ypsilanti, Michigan, for Eastern Michigan's Can-Am International for additional race experience.
Action in Ypsilanti gets underway first for Michigan with the 60-meter hurdles going off around 1:15 p.m., while the Wolverines' day in Boston gets underway at 3 p.m. Live results will be available for both meets via A2 Race Management and Lancer Timing, respectively, and updates will be posted throughout the day on the @umichtrack Michigan track and field Twitter account.
In Boston, a contingent of six men will chase the four-minute barrier in the mile at 3 p.m., with four others looking to dip under eight minutes at 3,000 meters.
Of the six milers -- Chase Barnett, Jordy Hewitt, Ben Hill, Ryan Wilkie, Cole Johnson and Andrew Lorant -- Barnett has come the closest to three-minute territory with his 4:02.75 from last year. Hill is the top Wolverine miler so far in 2019 with a career-best 4:05.64 last weekend.
It will also be the collegiate mile debut of the true freshman Johnson, who was the New Balance Nationals outdoor mile champion in 2017 as a high school junior.
Those half-dozen Wolverines will all look to join the 11 men in school history who have run sub-four-minute miles, including current distance coach Kevin Sullivan. Michigan last had a sub-four miler in 2017 when Ned Willig, Will Sheeran and Connor Mora all crossed that threshold in the same race at Boston.
Four others -- Jack Aho, Will Landowne, Jacob Lee and John Tatter -- will race at 3,000 meters at 5:05 p.m. After running a career-best 4:06.46 mile this past weekend, the cross country All-American Aho will look to approach eight minutes.
The club of sub-eight-minute runners in school history is only slightly more inclusive than the sub-four-minute mile club; only 16 Wolverines have ever dipped below that time.
Meanwhile, action will be well underway for the Wolverines at the Eastern Michigan Can-Am Classic. Start times for all events at EMU are estimates, as the meet will utilize a rolling time schedule. Rather than having fixed start times for each event on the track, each event will simply begin as soon as the previous one has finished.
Hurdlers Noah Caudy and Job Mayhue will look to build on their quick starts to the 2019 season in the 60-meter hurdles starting around 1:15 p.m. Both men have made the finals in both home meets at U-M so far this season, but this meet will contest the hurdles as sections-against-time, meaning they have just one race to prove themselves.
The same goes for the contingent of Michigan sprinters at 60 meters later in the afternoon, including Stephen Hagen, Joe McCarthy, Desmond Melson and Blake Washington.
Melson and Washington will be joined by Sean Marshall to close out Michigan's day in Ypsilanti in the 400 meters.
Wolverine Bites
• Michigan's hurdle crew might be young -- no one older than a junior -- but it is one of the nation's best in the early goings of this 2019 season. Led by No. 65-ranked junior Roland Amarteifio at 8.03 and No. 78 sophomore Sierra Hendrix-Williams at 8.06, the Wolverines' corps has four men who have run 8.15 or faster. They are joined by sophomore Noah Caudy (8.14) and true freshman Job Mayhue (8.15) to give Michigan a bright present and an even brighter future in the event.
• The 2018 recruiting class making its debut this 2019 season is showing why it was one of the more acclaimed classes in the nation. Shot putter John Meyer is the top-ranked freshman in the country in his signature event, Cole Johnson and Derrick Simmons are No. 8 and No. 10 at 800 meters among freshmen and Cassidy Henshaw is No. 9 in the high jump. Last Saturday, Meyer set the Michigan freshman record in the shot put at 18.74m (61 feet, 5.75 inches) and sprinter Asani Hampton ran 6.81 to tie the Michigan record for the fastest debut for a freshman at 60 meters.
• Michigan has built a reputation of being one of the best throws schools in the country, and is upholding it in 2019. The Wolverines are one of three teams in the country with men ranked top-10 nationally in both the shot put and weight throw. Joe Ellis is ranked No. 3 in the weight throw, with Andrew Liskowitz checking in at No. 7 in the shot put. Liskowitz is joined in the top-20 nationally by the freshman Meyer at No. 17.
• Led by seven-foot high jumper Brandon Piwinski and the freshman Henshaw, Michigan is one of just nine schools with multiple men over 2.10m (6-10.75). In the Big Ten, only Nebraska matches or surpasses Michigan's total with three men over that height; Piwinski beat all of them head-to-head this past weekend.
Team Outlook & Notes
• The Wolverines, led by head coaches Jerry Clayton and James Henry, entered the season ranked No. 35 nationally in the first regular-season edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Track and Field Rating Index (TFRI).
• The Wolverines finished sixth at the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships, scoring 57 to finish 13 behind fifth-place Wisconsin. Headlined by reigning weight throw champion Joe Ellis, Michigan returns four individuals -- Ellis, Taylor McLaughlin, Anthony Berry and Andrew Liskowitz -- who combined to score 25 of those points. Michigan also returns the full 4x400 and distance medley relay teams that combined to score an additional five points.
• Led by first team All-American Ellis in the weight throw, Michigan finished in a tie for 45th at the NCAA Indoor Championships with four points. Ellis finished fifth in the weight throw, while shot putter Liskowitz and now-volunteer coach Grant Cartwright in the weight throw were second team All-Americans.
• Returning All-Americans: Ellis (weight throw, outdoor hammer throw); Liskowitz (indoor and outdoor shot put); McLaughlin (outdoor 400-meter hurdles); and Jack Aho (cross country)
• Returning Big Ten Indoor Championships scorers: Berry (mile); Ellis (weight throw champion), Liskowitz (shot put), McLaughlin (400 meters), and all four members of both the 4x400 and distance medley relays
• Current school record-holders: Chase Barnett (distance medley relay); Ellis (weight throw, outdoor hammer throw), Liskowitz (outdoor shot put); McLaughlin (400 meters, distance medley relay)
When to Watch the Wolverines
| Wolverines Competing on Saturday | |||
| Simmons-Harvey Big Ten Invitational | |||
| Name | Event | Meet | Time (ET) |
| Noah Caudy | 60 meter hurdles | EMU | 1:15 PM * |
| Sean Marshall | 60 meter hurdles | EMU | 1:15 PM * |
| Job Mayhue | 60 meter hurdles | EMU | 1:15 PM * |
| Stephen Hagen | 60 meter dash | EMU | 2:30 PM * |
| Joe McCarthy | 60 meter dash | EMU | 2:30 PM * |
| Desmond Melson | 60 meter dash | EMU | 2:30 PM * |
| Blake Washington | 60 meter dash | EMU | 2:30 PM * |
| Chase Barnett | Mile | Boston U. | 3:10 PM |
| Anthony Berry | Mile | Boston U. | 3:10 PM |
| Jordy Hewitt | Mile | Boston U. | 3:10 PM |
| Ben Hill | Mile | Boston U. | 3:10 PM |
| Cole Johnson | Mile | Boston U. | 3:10 PM |
| Andrew Lorant | Mile | Boston U. | 3:10 PM |
| Ryan Wilkie | Mile | Boston U. | 3:10 PM |
| Sean Marshall | 400 meter dash | EMU | 3:30 PM * |
| Desmond Melson | 400 meter dash | EMU | 3:30 PM * |
| Blake Washington | 400 meter dash | EMU | 3:30 PM * |
| Jack Aho | 3000 meter run | Boston U. | 5:05 PM |
| Will Landowne | 3000 meter run | Boston U. | 5:05 PM |
| Jacob Lee | 3000 meter run | Boston U. | 5:05 PM |
| John Tatter | 3000 meter run | Boston U. | 5:05 PM |
* = Estimated Time
