Michigan Men Ready to Battle for NCAA Glory

THIS WEEK
Fri-Sat., March 11-12 -- at NCAA Indoor Championships (Birmingham, Ala. / Birmingham CrossPlex)
TV: ESPN3 | Meet Central | Live Results
Friday: 4:25 p.m. CST | Live Stream
Saturday: 4:20 p.m. CST | Live Stream

• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A contingent of four individual entries and a relay team are set to represent the University of Michigan men's track and field team this Friday and Saturday (March 11-12) at the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held inside the confines of the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

Miles Brown and Cole Johnson will be the first pair of Michigan teammates to represent the Block "M" in the same NCAA Indoor 800-meter competition, Joshua Zeller will look to add national accolades to his Big Ten 60-meter hurdles title, and Dubem Amene could further drive down his 400-meter school record in pursuit of All-America honors.

Additionally, the distance medley relay squad will aim to follow up on its school record from last month as it pursues a fourth national title in program history in the event.

They are set to compete in what may be the highest-quality NCAA Indoor Championships ever assembled. In 12 of the 17 events on the championships schedule, the seed time/mark for the lowest-seeded entrant is the best-ever final qualifying time/mark in meet history.

All of Michigan's competitors will take to the track on Friday's day one session during a 95-minute window. In back-to-back-to-back semifinal qualifying events, Amene will look to advance in the 400 meters at 4:25 p.m. CST, Brown and Johnson seek 800-meter qualification at 4:45 p.m., and Zeller will race the hurdles at 4:55 p.m.

The distance medley relay will close out the day for the Wolverines at 5:45 p.m.

Should the Michigan entries advance from Friday's semifinals, Amene would run the 400-meter final at 4:20 p.m., Brown and/or Johnson would toe the line in the 800-meter final at 4:30 p.m. and Zeller would get in the block for the 60-meter hurdles final at 4:40 p.m.

Women-only sessions will follow both days at 7 p.m., featuring Michigan qualifiers Aurora Rynda (800 meters) and Jessica Mercier (pole vault) who both get underway in their respective events at 7:45 p.m. on Friday and potentially at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday for Rynda pending qualification.

The team champion will be determined based on which school accumulates the most points from the results of each event on the track and in the field. Event champions will garner 10 points for their teams, with diminishing point values awarded to each successive finisher through eighth place. Runners-up will earn eight points, third-place finishers earn six, with one less point awarded for each place through eighth (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1).

In addition to battling for national titles, all student-athletes will be in contention for All-America honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The top eight finishers in each event will be bestowed first-team honors, and finishers nine through 16 will be named second-team All-Americans. Those who do not finish, are disqualified or otherwise do not record a result will be named honorable mention.

The subscription ESPN3 streaming service will carry two feeds of the championships on each of the two days, with one dedicated to track events and the other to field events. Live results will be available through Flash Results, and updates will be posted throughout the day on the official social media channels of Michigan track and field.

Entry Details

Men's 400 Meters - Dubem Amene (No. 12 seed)
Semifinals - Friday, 4:25 p.m. CST / Final* - Saturday, 4:20 p.m. CST
* Eight fastest performers from the semifinals advance to the final

• Amene is peaking at the right time, as he recorded back-to-back school records at the Big Ten Indoor Championships en route to the silver medal at 400 meters. He ran 46.34 to break a six-year-old record held by multiple-time All-American Taylor McLaughlin in the prelims, and followed it with a 46.04 performance in the final.

• That time made him the sixth-fastest collegian in the country last weekend when nearly all of the top contenders were in action at their respective conference championships.

• A sixth-place effort would match Omar Davidson's finish from 1985, the last time a Michigan man competed in this event at NCAAs. Michigan's best finish in the event (or it's 440-yard equivalent) is second by both Kim Rowe and James Grace in 1973 and 1978, respectively.

Men's 800 Meters - Miles Brown (No. 10 seed) and Cole Johnson (No. 13 seed)
Semifinals - Friday, 4:45 p.m. CST / Final* - Saturday, 4:30 p.m. CST
* Top three finishers in each of the two semifinal heats plus the next two fastest times advance to the final

• Brown and Johnson will mark Michigan's return to the NCAA Indoor 800-meter competition for the first time since Andrew Ellerton won the silver medal in 2007, which itself capped a five-year span that also featured national titles from Nate Brannen in 2003 and 2004 and an additional fourth-place finish for the future Olympian in 2005.

• Brown toppled Brannen's school record in this event earlier this season -- one of three school records he owns at least a share of along with the 600 meters and distance medley relay -- at 1:47.37 and Johnson came within a tenth of a second of eclipsing it at 1:47.60.

• Both men are coming off medal-winning performances at Big Tens, with Brown claiming silver at 600 meters in a school-record 1:15.87 and Johnson the narrow bronze medalist at 800 meters in 1:49.52.

• As it relates to the true freshman Brown, only 15 freshmen have scored in the NCAA 800 meters dating back to 1998.

Men's 60 Meter Hurdles - Joshua Zeller (No. 9 seed)
Semifinals - Friday, 4:45 p.m. CST / Final* - Saturday, 4:30 p.m. CST
* Top three finishers in each of the two semifinal heats plus the next two fastest times advance to the final

• Zeller will be looking to join a select club of Michigan men who have won national titles in the indoor hurdles. Two-time Olympian and school record-holder Jeff Porter is the most recent with his 60-meter hurdles title in 2007 when he set the Michigan standard at 7.64. Neil Gardner claimed the 55-meter hurdles crown in 1997 and Thomas Wilcher won it in 1986.

• The Englishman Zeller has both a run at the title and the school record in his sights. After a less-than-ideal start in the Big Ten Championships final -- he was about .1 of a second faster to the first hurdle in his prelims race in an inferior 7.79 performance -- he roared back to win in a career-best 7.67. That time ranked him as the fifth-fastest collegian nationwide during conference championships weekend.

• He currently ranks No. 15 in Big Ten history and No. 15 in British history, and will be looking to move up on both lists.

Men's Distance Medley Relay (No. 8 seed)
Final - Friday, 5:45 p.m. CST

• Relay structure: Four teammates combine to carry the baton around the track for 4,000 total meters with legs of varying distances. The race begins with a 1,200-meter carry, followed by distances of 400 meters, 800 meters and 1,600 meters.

• Three of the four members of the school-record squad that ran 9:23.78 for the No. 2 time in Big Ten history and the No. 10 spot on the all-time collegiate list will also be competing individually at nationals in Johnson (1,200-meter leg), Amene (400-meter leg) and Brown (800-meter leg). Anchor Nick Foster will be fresh and ready, and the remaining three legs will be determined based on the results of their semifinal competitions. Also making the trip to Alabama as alternates will be All-American miler Tom Dodd, sub-four miler Oli Raimond and two members of the fifth-place DMR at Big Tens in Lawrence Gilliam and Austin Remick.

• The Wolverines are one of two teams in the field with three of its qualifying relay legs also competing in individual events and one of eight with at least one. In the crucial 1,600-meter anchor leg, Michigan will be fresh while three other teams ranked ahead of it have anchors who will either be replaced or doubling back, and two others have anchors who will also either be replaced or have an additional individual race to come later in the meet.

• Michigan has won this event at nationals three times: in 1994 with a team that included current director of track and field / cross country and multiple-time Olympian Kevin Sullivan and in both 2004 and 2005 with squads that included Olympians Nick Willis and Brannen, as well as Ellerton. Only Villanova (six), Oregon (five) and Stanford (four) have more NCAA titles in this event. Michigan has finished top-10 an additional 10 times, most recently with an eighth-place finish in 2016.