Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Liskowitz Defends Title to Close Out Big Ten Indoor Championships
2/29/2020 7:29:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Geneva, Ohio (SPIRE Institute)
Event: Big Ten Indoor Championships (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Result: 8th of 12 teams (41 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., March 13-14 -- at NCAA Indoor Championships (Albuquerque, N.M.)
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
GENEVA, Ohio -- On the University of Michigan men's track and field team's final day of competition at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday (Feb. 29), Andrew Liskowitz defended his conference shot put crown in spectacular fashion.
The redshirt senior broke his own school record and took the national lead in the shot put with his 21.02m (68 feet, 11.5 inches) performance to win his second consecutive Big Ten title in the event.
His performance was one of 11 different scoring performances for the Wolverines on the last day of competition as they racked up 41 total points for an eighth-place finish. Michigan was just nine points shy of seventh-place Wisconsin and 12 points back of sixth-place Purdue. Indiana finished first in the team standings with 120.5 points.
Liskowitz was dominant by any measure in winning his second consecutive shot put title, becoming just the sixth man in school history to win multiple consecutive Big Ten indoor shot put crowns.
He surpassed runner-up Burger Lambrechts of Nebraska by more than five feet, and any of his four best throws would have been enough to win the competition. The crown jewel of the best series of his life was his fifth-round school record, which made him the first NCAA man over 21 meters this winter.
He also launched a second-round 20.30m (66-7.25) attempt that stood as the school record for a stretch of the early afternoon, and a final-round 20.57m (67-6) that would have otherwise been the new program record if not for his fifth-round throw.
As things stand at publication, Liskowitz's mark is not only the NCAA leader but also ranks him tied for 14th in the world in 2020.
Liskowitz was joined in the scoring by teammate John Meyer, who posted a career-best of 19.06m (62-6.5) in the final round to earn him fourth place.
The Wolverines also picked up two scoring performances in the 60-meter hurdles as Roland Amarteifio clocked a career-best 7.83 for fifth place and Josh Zeller went 7.92 for seventh, good for six points total.
Amarteifio's performance was especially impressive, improving on his then-career-best 7.86 in Friday's prelims. Only one other man in school history -- two-time Olympian Jeff Porter -- has ever gone faster. Zeller capped a season in which he broke eight seconds 10 different times.
Job Mayhue just missed out on the scoring, taking ninth in a career-best 7.98.
Ben Hill emerged with perhaps the four most hotly contested points earned by any Wolverine this weekend as he took fifth in the mile final in 4:11.20. Running mid-pack throughout a tactical race, Hill found himself amidst a packed-up field battling for fifth. Hill crossed first in that group, with the runners through 11th place all within three-quarters of a second. Among them was teammate Cole Johnson, who just missed the scoring in 10th by a third of a second.
Ian Davis added three points to the Michigan effort with his second personal-record performance over 400 meters in as many days. In the first of two sections in the final, Davis clocked 46.85 to finish third in his section and sixth overall.
With the time, Davis became just the fourth Michigan man to dip below 47 seconds at 400 meters indoors.
Davis and Amarteifio -- along with Desmond Melson and Alex Schwedt -- were back to close out the meet as part of Michigan's eighth-place 4x400 relay, which clocked 4:11.99 to put a point on the board for the team score.
Elsewhere in the field, Max Wagner cleared a career-best 2.13m (6-11.75) on his first try to secure a sixth-place finish and three additional team points. Wagner was perfect through his first four heights before bowing out on attempts at 2.18m (7-1.75). It marks the second straight Big Ten Championships in which he has now scored, dating back to the 2019 outdoor meet.
True freshman heptathletes Mason Mahacek and Heath Baldwin both scored in their collegiate postseason debut, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, in the grueling seven-event competition. Mahacek broke his own U-M freshman record with a score of 5,343 points, while Baldwin also posted a career best at 5,210 points.
Michigan also got a point in the triple jump from eighth-place Daniel Butael, who jumped a season's best 14.66m (48-1.25) on his first attempt. That mark held up throughout the competition, even though Butael passed on his final four attempts.
Throwers Liskowitz and Manning Plater most likely will qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while the remainder of the squad will now shift its focus to the outdoor season.
Michigan Collegiate Career-Best Performances
Career debuts not included
Roland Amarteifio -- 7.83 / 60m Hurdles (I)
Heath Baldwin -- 5210 points / Heptathlon (I)
Heath Baldwin -- 2:51.91 / 1000m (I)
Ian Davis -- 46.85 / 400m (I)
Isaac Harding -- 14:14.46 / 5000m (I)
Andrew Liskowitz -- 21.02m (68-11.5) / Shot Put (I)
Mason Mahacek -- 8.95 / 60m Hurdles (I)
Mason Mahacek -- 5,343 points / Heptathlon (I)
Job Mayhue -- 7.98 / 60m Hurdles (I)
John Meyer -- 19.06m (62-6.5) / Shot Put (I)
Max Wagner -- 2.13m (6-11.75) / High Jump (I)
Michigan Results by Event
Q = Automatic qualifier into final based on place; q = non-automatic qualifier into final based on time
60 Meters
Prelims [FRIDAY]
16. Asani Hampton / 6.88
400 Meters
Final
6. Ian Davis / 46.85
Prelims [FRIDAY]
6. Ian Davis / 47.00q
17. Desmond Melson / 48.79
--. Vail Hartman / DNF
600 Meters
Prelims [FRIDAY]
11. Alex Schwedt / 1:19.52
800 Meters
Prelims [FRIDAY]
11. Anthony Berry / 1:53.29
Mile
Final
5. Ben Hill / 4:11.20
10. Cole Johnson / 4:11.71
Prelims [FRIDAY]
6. Ben Hill / 4:09.17Q
9. Cole Johnson / 4:08.62q
15. Nick Foster / 4:14.49
3,000 Meters [FRIDAY]
11. Isaac Harding / 8:22.09
19. Colton Yesney / 8:34.71
20. Will Landowne / 8:35.22
21. Gabe Mudel / 8:36.83
5,000 Meters
14. Devin Meyrer / 14:13.90
18. Jacob Lee / 14:30.71
19. Joost Plaetinck / 14:31.38
15. Isaac Harding / 14:14.46
22. James Gedris / 14:38.30
60-Meter Hurdles
Final
5. Roland Amarteifio / 7.83
7. Josh Zeller / 7.92
9. Job Mayhue / 7.98
Prelims [FRIDAY]
3. Roland Amarteifio / 7.85Q
6. Josh Zeller / 7.86Q
t-9. Job Mayhue / 7.99q
12. Sierra Hendrix-Williams / 8.03
4x400 Relay
8. Melson, Amarteifio, Schwedt, Davis / 3:11.99
Distance Medley Relay [FRIDAY]
9. Foster, Melson, Simmons, Berry / 9:50.94
High Jump
6. Max Wagner / 2.13m (6-11.75)
Triple Jump
8. Daniel Butael / 14.66m (48-1.25)
Shot Put
1. Andrew Liskowitz / 21.02m (68-11.5)
4. John Meyer / 19.06m (62-6.5)
Weight Throw [FRIDAY]
3. Manning Plater / 21.97m (72-1)
Heptathlon (Final)
7. Mason Mahacek / 5,343 points
8. Heath Baldwin / 5,210 points
60 Meters [FRIDAY]
11. Mason Mahacek / 7.24 (799 points)
14. Heath Baldwin / 7.37 (755 points)
Long Jump [FRIDAY]
7. Heath Baldwin / 6.72m (22-0.5) (822 points)
7. Mason Mahacek / 6.72m (22-0.5) (767 points)
Shot Put [FRIDAY]
6. Heath Baldwin / 12.75m (41-10) (652 points)
11. Mason Mahacek / 11.26m (36-11.25) (562 points)
High Jump [FRIDAY]
1. Heath Baldwin / 2.09m (6-10.25) (887 points)
3. Mason Mahacek / 2.03m (6-8) (831 points)
60 Meter Hurdles
5. Heath Baldwin / 8.28 (913 points)
13. Mason Mahacek / 8.95 (757 points)
Pole Vault
2. Mason Mahacek / 4.70m (15-5) (819 points)
12. Heath Baldwin / 3.60m (11-9.75) (509 points)
1,000 Meters
3. Mason Mahacek / 2:44.23 (828 points)
10. Heath Baldwin / 2:51.91 (747 points)
Players Mentioned
