Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Amene, Zeller Advance to Event Finals on Day Two of B1G Outdoor Championships
5/13/2023 10:02:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Billy Hayes Track & Field Complex)
Event: 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships (Day 2 of 3)
U-M Result: T-Eighth of 13 teams (21 points) after Day 2
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 14 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships - Day Three (Bloomington, Ind.), 11 a.m.
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Dubem Amene and Joshua Zeller advanced to their respective event finals as the University of Michigan men's track and field team closed day two of action at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships Saturday (May 13) at the Billy Hayes Track & Field Complex on the campus of Indiana.
Amene proved his 400-meter expertise, winning the event preliminary in a Michigan top-ten time of 46.09 to advance to the finals on Sunday (May 14). The junior handled the race like a seasoned professional, outrunning Iowa's Connor Belkin comfortably. Amene took second in the 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Championship 400-meter final and showed up ready to fight for first this season. Having won the 400-meter dash this season indoors, he looks to take both titles. Amene was joined by teammates Jacob Koerner, Lawrence Gilliam, and Jack Juds in the preliminary round. Koerner continued on a trend of upward growth, hitting a career-best time of 47.52 to finish eleventh overall. Gilliam took nineteenth in a time of 48.25 while Juds took twenty-fifth in 50.50.
Defending 110-meter hurdle champion Zeller returned to the track Saturday and proved his dominance in the event. Having missed the beginning of the outdoor season, Zeller entered the event preliminary with only two meets under his belt. However, the Big Ten and school record holder won his heat and took second overall with a time of 13.50 -- the second-best mark in program history. Zeller advances to the event final Sunday (May 14)looking to bring home another title.
In the steeplechase, Jack Spamer and Caleb Jarema grabbed points for the Wolverines, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. Spamer and Jarema were able to hold onto the front of the back early, running side by side for the beginning laps. As the race spaced out, the two still held their positions with Spamer's finish (9:01.34) earning three points and Jarema's (9:03.66) earning one. It was a massive accomplishment for Jarema, who was competing in his first ever Big Ten Outdoor championship as a freshman, as well as an improvement for Spamer, who finished seventeenth in the event in 2022. The pair was also joined by Colton Yesney and Michael Hancock in the event; Yesney finished sixteenth with a time of 9:29.86 while Hancock finished nineteenth in 9:56.96.
In the 800 meters, Cole Johnson, Henry Johnson, Thomas Shilgalis and Derrick Simmons all competed in trials for a chance at event finals. Henry Johnson just missed the final qualifying spot after a photo finish with Penn State's Oliver Desmeules. After review, the final spot went to Desmeules by three-thousandths of a second, barring the Wolverine from advancing. Cole Johnson finished eleventh, also running a strategic race and finishing in 1:50.20. Shilgalis and Simmons took eighteenth and twenty-fourth, respectively, with Shilgalis running 1:51.10 and Simmons running 1:51.74.
Mason Mahacek finished fourth overall in the decathlon. After a grueling ten events. Mahacek's final score was 7,560 points -- a career-best and the number five all-time mark for Michigan. The finish gained five points for the Wolverines' team score. His pole vault performance was a career-best as he cleared 4.90 meters (16 feet, 0.75 inches). In the 1,500 meters, the senior finished in 4:34.94, coming within tenths of a second behind Wisconsin's Quinn Lansill. He also saw a career-best in the 110-meter hurdles, where he finished in 15.42 seconds, taking seventh place.
In the field, Zane Forist and Aiden Felty competed in the shot put. They finished in eighteenth and twenty-third, respectively. While neither advanced to finals, Forist's performance in his Big Ten Outdoor Championship debut saw the freshman throw 16.98 meters (55 feet, 8.5 inches) on his best throw of the day. Felty also saw progress with a best throw of 17.55 meters (57 feet, 7 inches), which set a new career-best for the senior.
Freshmen Luke Stowasser and Jake Wall also made their outdoor championship debuts. While their performances did not go as hoped, Stowasser cleared 1.95 ( 6 feet, 4.75 inches) meters in the high jump to take twenty-second. Unfortunately, Wall fouled out in the long jump. Ryan McCloskey closed out his Michigan career in the 100-meter preliminary, running a time of 10.77 to take twenty-second.
The Wolverines enter the final day of the 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Championships tomorrow (May 14), with action beginning at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
