Ellis Again Breaks His Own U-M Hammer Throw Record
6/12/2018 3:49:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
• Results
ASHLAND, Ohio -- After a disappointing showing at the NCAA East Preliminaries that prevented his advancement to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, thrower Joe Ellis bounced back last week to break his own school record in the hammer at the Ashland Summer Series on June 5.
Ellis heaved a titanic 73.80m mark (242 feet, 1 inch) on his fifth throw of the day to top his previous school record of 72.72m (238-7) by more than three feet.
Only five collegians have thrown farther during the 2018 season, and the mark would have placed him runner-up at the NCAA Championships contested the following morning.
Ellis twice more topped 71 meters on the day, with an additional throw farther than 70 meters.
Ellis, an American and British dual citizen who competes internationally for the United Kingdom, is looking to turn the letdown of not making the NCAA meet -- he was 14th at Prelims as only 12 men advanced -- into a deep run into the British and European Championships.
He will compete in the British Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, on Saturday, June 30, at 10:52 a.m., and is currently ranked No. 3 among Britons in the event.
While in Birmingham, he will look to surpass the 74.00m (242-9) qualifying standard that would go a long way to ensuring his participation in the European Athletics Championships hammer competition in Berlin, Germany, on Aug. 6-7. As many as three athletes per country can compete in each event.
If Ellis does not meet the European Championships standard at the British Championships, he could still qualify if too few men meet the mark. In that case, the field would be completed by selecting the best remaining throwers in Europe while keeping in mind the three-athlete-per-country maximum.
Ellis currently ranks 28th among European hammer throwers.
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