Michigan
NCAA East Preliminaries
Hammer Thrower Ellis Advances to NCAAs on Day 1 at East Prelims
5/23/2019 10:51:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Jacksonville, Fla. (Hodges Stadium)
Event: NCAA East Preliminaries (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event:Â Friday, May 24 -- at NCAA East Preliminaries - Day Two (Jacksonville, Fla.), 4 p.m.
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After his performance on the first day of the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds on Thursday (May 23), University of Michigan men's track and field thrower Joe Ellis will finish his storied Michigan career in the most fitting way possible: at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Earning some measure of redemption after not qualifying for the NCAA Championships a year ago, Ellis clinched his third career trip to the national meet in the hammer throw with a seventh-place finish in his signature outdoor event.
His effort headlined a day that saw all three Wolverine men who had a chance to advance from first-round competition into the quarterfinals -- where more NCAA berths will be on the line -- do so.
Between the six Michigan men in action on Thursday, they combined to outperform their pre-meet seeds by 10 spots.
Ellis got that trend off to its start with a two-spot improvement on his pre-meet No. 9 seed.
After getting off to a slow start on his first throw that put him in 13th -- one spot outside the 12-man roster qualifying to nationals -- his best mark of the day came on a second-round heave of 68.79m (225 feet, 8 inches).
With no improvement in the third round for Ellis, he would have been left on the outside looking in once again if not for his penultimate throw, which vaulted him up into seventh for good.
Ellis now has an opportunity to close out his storied Michigan career with another first team All-America honor, which would be his second in the hammer throw and his fifth when also including his indoor weight throw collection.
Looking to join Ellis as a multi-time NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifier is Taylor McLaughlin, who -- along with teammate Roland Amarteifio -- made a big step toward that goal on Thursday.
The two-time first team All-American 400-meter hurdler McLaughlin ran his best race of the year to date, clocking 50.29 to win his heat by more than 10 meters over the next-closest competitor.
He will be joined in Friday's quarterfinal by Amarteifio, who had his second career-best performance in his last three races, dating back to the Big Ten Championships. Amarteifio led for about 395 meters of his 400-meter race, just being overtaken at the line but still posting a personal-record 51.12 for second in the heat and a quarterfinals berth.
Overall, McLaughlin claimed the second-fastest time of the first round, with Amarteifio checking in at No. 14 -- both in good position to claim one of the 12 NCAA Championships berths up for grabs in Friday's quarterfinals at 7:15 p.m.
Also advancing to quarterfinalist status was Ben Hill in the 1,500 meters. While McLaughlin and Amarteifio ran from the front to secure their bids, Hill was the final qualifier in his event, clocking 3:47.85 for the fourth-and-final non-automatic bid into the quarterfinals.
Hill had the advantage of running in by far the fastest heat of the day, pulling him along to seventh place in the heat and 14th overall.
He will run again on Saturday at 6:45 p.m., with NCAA Championships qualification on the line.
Competition at the NCAA East Prelims will continue Friday starting at 4 p.m. with Plater making a return appearance in the discus. Action on the track begins at 5 p.m. with Job Mayhue in the 110-meter hurdles first round. A full schedule of events for the remainder of the weekend can be found at the bottom of this story.
Collegiate Career-Best Performances
Career debuts in events not included; indoor career bests are considered separate, even for the same event; wind-aided performances (greater than +2.0m/s) are not included.
Roland Amarteifio -- 51.12 / 400m Hurdles (O)
Full Michigan Results by Event
Q = Automatic qualifier into quarterfinal; q = non-automatic qualifier into quarterfinal; w = wind-aided performance (Wind readings greater than +2.0m/s are considered "wind-aided" and are not eligible for record purposes.)
1,500 Meters
PRELIMS (Quarterfinals to be contested Saturday)
14. Ben Hill / 3:47.85q
5,000 Meters
Semifinals to be contested Saturday
10,000 Meters
SEMIFINAL
32. Devin Meyrer / 30:31.82
110-Meter Hurdles
First round to be contested Friday; Quarterfinals to be contested Saturday
400-Meter Hurdles
PRELIMS (Quarterfinals to be contested Friday)
2. Taylor McLaughlin / 50.29Q
14. Roland Amarteifio / 51.12Q
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
Quarterfinals to be contested Friday
4x400-Meter Relay
Quarterfinals to be contested Saturday
High Jump
To be contested Saturday
Shot Put
To be contested Saturday
Discus Throw
To be contested Friday
Hammer Throw
7. Joe Ellis / 68.79m (225-8) [Advanced to NCAA Championships]
22. Manning Plater / 61.30m (201-1)
Updated Timetable of Michigan Competitors (Friday and Saturday)
| Friday (May 24) | Event | Round | Time (EDT) |
| Manning Plater | Discus | First Round* | 4:00 PM |
| Job Mayhue | 110-meter hurdles | First Round | 5:00 PM |
| Roland Amarteifio | 400-meter hurdles | Quarterfinal* | 7:15 PM |
| Taylor McLaughlin | 400-meter hurdles | Quarterfinal* | 7:15 PM |
| Joost Plaetinck | Steeplechase | Quarterfinal* | 9:00 PM |
| Lewis Tate | Steeplechase | Quarterfinal* | 9:00 PM |
| Saturday (May 25) | Event | Round | Time (EDT) |
| Andrew Liskowitz | Shot Put | First Round* | 2:45 PM |
| Max Wagner | High Jump | First Round* | 4:00 PM |
| Ben Hill | 1,500-meter run | Quarterfinal* | 6:45 PM |
| Job Mayhue | 110-meter hurdles | Quarterfinal* | 7:20 PM |
| Jack Aho | 5,000-meter run | Semifinal* | 8:45 PM |
| Isaac Harding | 5,000-meter run | Semifinal* | 8:45 PM |
| Michigan | 4x400 relay | Quarterfinal* | 9:45 PM |
Players Mentioned
