Ben Hester

Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Kentwood, Mich.
High School:
East Kentwood
Position:
Decathlon

Last Updated: May 8, 2017

At Michigan
• U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award Winner (2015)

Junior (2017)

Outdoor
• Threw 42.47m (139-4) in the Discus to finish 4th at the Toledo Invitational (May 4-5)
• Scored 5502 points in the Decathlon to finish 6th at the Gina Relays (Apr. 27-28), despite not scoring points in the pole vault.

Indoor
• Tied his all-conditions career-best in the pole vault at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational (Jan. 14) with a mark of 3.70m (21-1.5) and came within a tenth of a second of his 60m hurdles PR in 9.09.

Sophomore (2016)
Outdoor
• Did not compete
Indoor
• Finished 18th in the high jump at the SPIRE NCAA D1 Invitational (Feb. 13) with a jump of 1.91 meters (6-03.25 ft.)
• Finished tenth in the heptathlon at the Akron Invitational (Feb.6), setting five new individual PR's and a total PR of 4464 points
• Ran in the 60 meter hurdles finishing fourth in his heat with a PR of 9.09 at the Notre Dame Invitational (Jan.23). Also set a new PR in the high jump with a jump of 1.85 meters (6-0.75 feet), and competed in the long jump, finishing eighth with a jump of 6.32 meters (20-9 feet)
• Competed in three events at the Doug Raymond Invitational (Jan. 16), the long jump finishing fourth (6.51m, 21-04.25 ft.), the 60m hurdles finishing seventh (9.29) and the 4x400m relay finishing first (3:36.67)
• Jumped 6.25 meters (20-6.25 ft.) in the long jump event finishing 13th at the GVSU Holiday Open (Dec. 4)

Freshman (2015)

Outdoor
• Competed in five events of the decathlon at the Big Ten Championships (May 15-17), but did not finish the competition due to injury
• Set PR's in two events but did not complete the decathlon at Hillsdale's 'Last Chance Classic' (May 6-7)
• Participated in his first decathlon as a Wolverine at UVA Challenge (April 17-18), finishing 18th (5.969 points)
• Competed in the 100m dash, 110m hurdles, long jump and javelin at the CAL-UVA Tri Meet (April 3-4)
• Made his outdoor debut in the discus, high jump and long jump at the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge (March 27-28)

Indoor
• Competed unattached at U-M's Silverston Invitational (Feb. 21), setting new PR's in the shot put (35-3 ft.; 10.74m), high jump (5-10 ft.; 1.78m) and long jump (20-8 ft.; 6.30m)
• Made his Wolverine debut at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational (Jan. 17), finishing fourth in the long jump after jumping 20-3 ft. (6.17m)

Prep
• Graduated from Kentwood High School with Honors
• National Achievement Award Semi-Finalist
• Commencement Speaker

Track and Field
• All-Academic Team
• Two-time first-team All-Conference (2013-14)
• Conference Champion (2014) in discus
• All-State (HM) in Basketball, winning back-to-back conference titles (2012-13)

Personal
• Born November 15, 1996
• Son of Harvey and Jackie Hester
• Sister, Charity was a member of Western Michigan University track and field team (2009-12)

High School Personal Bests
110-meter -- 11.63
100-meter Hurdles -- 17.50
400-meter -- 55.82
1,500-meter -- 5:20
High Jump -- 6-6 ft.
Long Jump -- 21-4 1/2 ft.
Pole Vault -- 11 ft.
Javelin -- 99-8 ft.
Shot Put -- 44-7 ft.
Discus -- 147-9-ft.
Decathlon -- 5,858

Event	Time	Date
60m (I)	7.41 H	2-5-16
60m Hurdles (I)	9.08 H	2-6-16
100m (O)	11.76 (-1.0m/s)	4-27-17
110m Hurdles (O)	16.31	4-4-15
400m (O)	54.99	4-17-15
1000m (I)	3:10.30 H	2-6-16
1500m (O)	5:14.54	4-18-15
High Jump (I)	1.95m (6-4.75)	2-5-16
High Jump (O)	1.92m (6-3.5)	4-27-17
Pole Vault (I)	3.70m (12-1.5)	1-14-17
Pole Vault (O)	3.70m (12-1.5)	4-18-15
Long Jump (I)	6.51m (21-4.25)	1-23-16
Long Jump (O)	6.84m (22-5.25, +0.5m/s)	4-27-17
Shot Put (I)	11.51m (37-9.25)	2-6-16
Shot Put (O)	11.58m (38-0)	4-27-17
Discus (O)	45.09m (149-1)	4-28-17
Javelin Throw (O)	45.09m (147-11)	4-4-15
Heptathlon (I)	4464	2-6-16
Decathlon (O)	5969	4-18-15