Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Big Ten Indoor Championships on Deck for Michigan Men
2/26/2020 5:45:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sat., Feb. 28-29 -- at Big Ten Indoor Championships (Geneva, Ohio)
Meet Central
Friday, Feb. 28 -- at Big Ten Championships, 11 a.m.
TV: BTN+ / FloTrack | Live Results | Live Video:Â BTN+ / FloTrack
Saturday, Feb. 29 -- at Big Ten Championships, 11 a.m.
TV: BTN+ / FloTrack | Live Results | Live Video: BTN+ / FloTrack
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 2020 indoor postseason has arrived for the University of Michigan men's track and field team, beginning with the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 28-29).
Led by reigning Big Ten Indoor shot put champion Andrew Liskowitz and eight other returning scorers from the 2019 indoor squad, Michigan will look to improve on its eighth-place showing in 2019 and battle for a spot among the conference's best.
Action at the SPIRE Institute -- which features an oversized, flat 300-meter track -- will begin Friday at 11 a.m. with the heptathlon, followed by track events starting at 12:20 p.m. and field events beginning for Michigan at 4 p.m. The full Friday program, which includes preliminary rounds for individual races measuring a mile or shorter plus finals in select field events and the 3,000-meter and distance medley relay events, is expected to conclude by 7 p.m.
Saturday is a finals-only schedule, beginning with the second day of the heptathlon at 11 a.m. Events on the track will get rolling at 12:55 p.m. with field events kicking off shortly after at 1 p.m. Finals for all remaining events will be contested through the scheduled conclusion of the meet at 4:45 p.m.
In each final, points will be awarded to athletes based on their finish order. Those points make up the basis for the team scoring that will be used to determine the overall team champion and the final standings. Event winners are awarded 10 points for their team, with each placer through eighth also accruing team points (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1).
The Wolverines are in a strong position to pick up points across the board, with athletes ranked top-10 in nine of 18 events heading into the weekend.
Big Ten Network's online BTN Plus service and FloTrack's subscription platform will live stream the meet on Friday and Saturday.
Updates will be provided throughout the weekend from the men's and women's meets on the team's official Twitter account, @umichtrack.
For those planning to attend in-person, tickets are available both in single-day and all-session options. Single-day tickets are $15 for general admission and $8 for Big Ten students with ID. All-session passes are $25 for general admission and $15 for Big Ten students with ID. All active military and children under the age 6 are free.
Wolverine Bites
• The Wolverines, led by head coaches Jerry Clayton and James Henry, checked in at No. 35 nationally in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Track and Field Rating Index (TFRI) that was released Monday (Feb. 24).
• Liskowitz is aiming to become the sixth man in school history to win consecutive Big Ten Indoor titles in the shot put, and the first since Steve Adams in 1973-74. Also on that list are former world record-holder Charles Fonville and former NCAA champion Dave Owen. Liskowitz is ranked second in the conference and sixth nationally at 20.29m (66 feet, 7 inches). He will have stiff competition for the title in what is arguably the nation's deepest shot put conference from the likes of national No. 3 Jonathan Tharaldsen of Minnesota, former conference champ No. 7 Willie Morrison of Indiana, No. 10 Burger Lambrechts of Nebraska and reigning outdoor conference winner No. 15 Jalil Brewer of Purdue.
• Joining Liskowitz as returning scorers from last year's eighth-place team are Roland Amarteifio, Sierra Hendrix-Williams and Job Mayhue (60-meter hurdles); Anthony Berry (800 meters); Daniel Butael (triple jump); Asani Hampton (60 meters); Ben Hill (mile); and Will Landowne (3,000 meters).
• After moving to No. 9 on the all-time Michigan indoor 5,000-meter list with his 13:56.80 run earlier this month, cross country All-American Devin Meyrer will now attempt to become the eighth man to win an indoor conference title at 5,000 meters (or three miles). His time currently ranks him fourth in the conference.
• Michigan enters the weekend with the longest active win streak in a field event with three consecutive wins in the weight throw by Grant Cartwright (2017) and Joe Ellis (2018-19). Stretching the streak to four in a row is a task for 2020 breakthrough star Manning Plater, who is ranked fourth in the conference and 12th nationally at 21.81m (71--6.75). Though he is ranked behind national No. 3 Kieran McKeag of Minnesota, 2018 national champion No. 5 David Lucas of Penn State and No. 9 Kaleb Siekmeier of Minnesota and just ahead of No. 13 Jon Nerdal of Minnesota, Plater has beaten all but Lucas in head-to-head competition in 2020.
• The Wolverines' 60-meter hurdles corps is one of the best in the nation -- ranked No. 5 nationally as a group by the USTFCCCA -- and is in contention to score multiple times. Amarteifio, Hendrix-Williams and Mayhue all scored in the final a year ago and are joined in 2020 by newcomer Josh Zeller. All four men are at 8.00 or faster this winter -- with Zeller and Amarteifio at 7.86 and 7.94, respectively -- as part of a field featuring as many as 16 men who have broken 8.00 this season. They will need to be on top of their games to make it to the nine-man final in what might be the deepest hurdles conference in the country, with Zeller entering at No. 6, Amarteifio at No. 8 and both Hendrix-Williams and Mayhue tied at No. 13 with two others.
• Headlining the jumps crew is high jumper Max Wagner, who is part of a four-way tie at sixth in the conference heading into the championships at 2.10m (6-10.75). Wagner will be looking for a reprisal of his 2019 Big Ten Outdoor Championships performance, where he jumped a career-best 2.11m (6-11) to finish tied for eighth.
• Michigan also has an opportunity to pick up points in the heptathlon with a pair of promising first-year heptathletes in Mason Mahacek and Heath Baldwin. Currently ranked eighth and ninth in the conference, respectively, Mahacek and Baldwin have only ompeted in a single heptathlon. Mahacek scored 5,242 points in the seven-event competition to establish a new Michigan freshman record, just ahead of Baldwin's 5,171-point total. Now with their debuts in the event out of the way, the duo could be on track to post even bigger scores on Friday and Saturday. As it stands, they are the seventh- and ninth-highest-ranked freshmen in the nation.
Michigan Student-Athletes Ranked Top-50 Nationally
| Name | Event | Rank |
| Ian Davis | 600m | 36 |
| Devin Meyrer | 5,000m | 32 |
| Josh Zeller | 5,000m | 37 |
| Andrew Liskowitz | Shot Put | 6 |
| John Meyer | Shot Put | 25 |
| Manning Plater | Weight Throw | 12 |
| Mason Mahacek | Heptathlon | 29 |
| Heath Baldwin | Heptathlon | 35 |
When to Watch the Wolverines
Times are subject to change as final schedules are published.
| Friday - Big Ten Indoor Championships | |||
| Name | Event | Round | Time (ET) |
| Heath Baldwin | 60 meter dash | Heptathlon | 11:00 AM |
| Mason Mahacek | 60 meter dash | Heptathlon | 11:00 AM |
| Heath Baldwin | Long Jump | Heptathlon | 11:45 AM |
| Mason Mahacek | Long Jump | Heptathlon | 11:45 AM |
| Nick Foster | Mile | Prelims | 1:00 PM |
| Ben Hill | Mile | Prelims | 1:00 PM |
| Cole Johnson | Mile | Prelims | 1:00 PM |
| Heath Baldwin | Shot Put | Heptathlon | 1:30 PM |
| Mason Mahacek | Shot Put | Heptathlon | 1:30 PM |
| Ian Davis | 400 meter dash | Prelims | 1:45 PM |
| Vail Hartman | 400 meter dash | Prelims | 1:45 PM |
| Desmond Melson | 400 meter dash | Prelims | 1:45 PM |
| Asani Hampton | 60 meter dash | Prelims | 2:30 PM |
| Heath Baldwin | High Jump | Heptathlon | 2:45 PM |
| Mason Mahacek | High Jump | Heptathlon | 2:45 PM |
| Anthony Berry | 800 meter run | Prelims | 3:10 PM |
| Roland Amarteifio | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:50 PM |
| Sierra Hendrix-Williams | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:50 PM |
| Job Mayhue | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:50 PM |
| Josh Zeller | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:50 PM |
| Manning Plater | Weight Throw | Final | 4:00 PM |
| Alex Schwedt | 600 meter run | Prelims | 4:35 PM |
| Isaac Harding | 3,000 meter run | Final | 6:10 PM |
| Will Landowne | 3,000 meter run | Final | 6:10 PM |
| Gabe Mudel | 3,000 meter run | Final | 6:10 PM |
| Colton Yesney | 3,000 meter run | Final | 6:10 PM |
| Michigan A | Distance Medley Relay | Final | 6:50 PM |
| Saturday - Big Ten Indoor Championships | |||
| Name | Event | Round | Time (ET) |
| Heath Baldwin | 60 meter hurdles | Heptathlon | 11:00 AM |
| Mason Mahacek | 60 meter hurdles | Heptathlon | 11:00 AM |
| Heath Baldwin | Pole Vault | Heptathlon | 12:00 PM |
| Mason Mahacek | Pole Vault | Heptathlon | 12:00 PM |
| Daniel Butael | Triple Jump | Final | 1:00 PM |
| * Nick Foster | Mile | Final | 1:30 PM |
| * Ben Hill | Mile | Final | 1:30 PM |
| * Cole Johnson | Mile | Final | 1:30 PM |
| Andrew Liskowitz | Shot Put | Final | 1:45 PM |
| John Meyer | Shot Put | Final | 1:45 PM |
| * Ian Davis | 400 meter dash | Final | 1:50 PM |
| * Vail Hartman | 400 meter dash | Final | 1:50 PM |
| * Desmond Melson | 400 meter dash | Final | 1:50 PM |
| Max Wagner | High Jump | Final | 2:00 PM |
| * Asani Hampton | 60 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Heath Baldwin | 1,000 meter run | Heptathlon | 2:30 PM |
| Mason Mahacek | 1,000 meter run | Heptathlon | 2:30 PM |
| * Anthony Berry | 800 meter run | Final | 2:30 PM |
| * Roland Amarteifio | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 2:50 PM |
| * Sierra Hendrix-Williams | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 2:50 PM |
| * Job Mayhue | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 2:50 PM |
| * Josh Zeller | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 2:50 PM |
| * Alex Schwedt | 600 meter run | Final | 3:10 PM |
| James Gedris | 5,000 meter run | Final | 4:05 PM |
| Isaac Harding | 5,000 meter run | Final | 4:05 PM |
| Jacob Lee | 5,000 meter run | Final | 4:05 PM |
| Devin Meyrer | 5,000 meter run | Final | 4:05 PM |
| Joost Plaetinck | 5,000 meter run | Final | 4:05 PM |
| Michigan A | 4x400 relay | Final | 4:35 PM |
* = Pending advancement from previous round
Players Mentioned
