Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Wolverines Off to Strong Start on Day One of Big Tens
2/25/2021 3:39:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Geneva, Ohio (SPIRE Institute)
Event: Big Ten Indoor Championships (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Team Standing:Â 8th Place of 12 Teams (7 points) after Day 1
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 26 -- at Big Ten Indoor Championships - Day Two (Geneva, Ohio), 10:30 a.m.
• Complete Results (PDF)
GENEVA, Ohio -- Scoring in two different events, the distance crew kick-started the opening day for the University of Michigan men's track and field team at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Thursday (Feb. 25) at the SPIRE Institute.
The Wolverines scored in both of the finals contested on the track on this first of three days of competition at SPIRE, taking fourth place in the distance medley relay and getting a seventh-place effort from Nick Foster in a hotly-contested 3,000-meter final.
Additionally, Michigan positioned itself well for more points in the two remaining days of competition with a strong qualifying effort in the 60-meter hurdles and an impressive opening day in the heptathlon.
With four of 18 total events complete, Michigan sits eighth in the team standings with seven points. Iowa is the early leader with 30 points.
The quartet of Derrick Simmons, Dubem Amene, Thomas Shilgalis and Tom Dodd posted the top performance of the day for the Wolverines, combining for the fourth-place distance medley effort in 9:38.14.
Michigan was near the front of the race throughout, but things got interesting midway through Dodd's anchor 1,600-meter leg when nearly the entire field re-congealed after earlier legs had separated the field out. With a sprint to the finish in order, Dodd rallied from sixth to fourth over the final laps to give Michigan its four points in the event.
Foster put Michigan on the team scoreboard thanks to a strong kick over the final lap of the oversized 300-meter oval at SPIRE. Passing by the bell outside of the top 10 in what had been a packed-up race for most of the way, Foster closed hard to secure two points for the Wolverines.
The Ann Arbor native finished in 8:06.55, right in the middle of a group of 11 runners who crossed the line between 8:05 and 8:10. Also among that group for Michigan was 10th-place Devin Meyrer in 8:08.17 and 11th-place Christian Hubaker in 8:09.98.
The Wolverines advanced two of their three preliminary-round competitors into Saturday's final, as 60-meter hurdlers Josh Zeller and Ayden Owens punched their tickets to contend for the conference crown.
Zeller ran a career-best 7.85 seconds, tied for the second-fastest time on the day and eclipsing the 7.86 he ran in the preliminaries of the 2020 edition of the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Owens clocked in with a 7.88 performance, just .01 seconds off his season's best.
Both will compete in Saturday's (Feb. 27) final at 11:45 a.m.
With the first of two days of competition in the heptathlon in the books, the duo of Heath Baldwin and Mason Mahacek are in position to repeat as Big Ten scorers after equaling or nearing personal bests in each of the first four events. Baldwin sits in fourth place with 3,113 points, while Mahacek is fifth at 2,928 points with a couple strong events left on Friday.
Both men literally got off to a fast start as Mahacek logged a season's best 7.22 seconds over 60 meters, followed by a career-best 7.26 for Baldwin. In the long jump, Baldwin missed his career best by four centimeters at 6.71m (22 feet, 0.25 inches), while Mahacek again got a season's best at 6.61m (21-8.25).
Baldwin was the top shot-putter in the heptathlon competition, coming up just six centimeters shy of his career best in that event at 13.80m (45-3.25). Mahacek missed his personal best in the shot by a mere one centimeter, tossing 11.37m (37-3.75).
They closed out the day with a 1-2 finish in the high jump, as Baldwin leapt over a season's best 2.06m (6-9) and Mahacek tied his career best at 2.03m (6-8).
The duo will compete in the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run to complete the heptathlon on Friday (Feb. 26).
The Big Ten Indoor Championships continue Friday at 10:30 a.m.
Full Michigan Results by Event
Q = automatic qualifier to final; q = at-large qualifier to final
3,000-meter run
Final
7. Nick Foster / 8:06.55
10. Devin Meyrer / 8:08.17
11. Christian Hubaker / 8:08.98
13. Tom Brady / 8:12.19
23. Austin Remick / 8:22.70
60-meter hurdles
Prelims
3. Ayden Owens / 7.88Q
4. Josh Zeller / 7.85q [New PR]
13. Job Mayhue / 8.22
Distance Medley Relay
Final
4. Simmons, Amene, Shilgalis, Dodd / 9:38.14
Weight Throw
Final
18. Eli Winter / 17.51m (57-5.25)
Heptathlon
Heath Baldwin - 4th, 3,113 points
60 meters / 7.26 [New PR] / 792 points
Long Jump / 6.71m (22-0.25) / 746 points
Shot Put / 13.80m (45-3.25) / 716 points
High Jump / 2.06m (6-9) / 859 points
Mason Mahacek - 5th, 2,928 points
60 meters / 7.22 806 points
Long Jump / 6.61m (21-8.25) 723 points
Shot Put / 11.37m (37-3.75) 568 points
High Jump / 2.03m (6-8) [New PR] / 831 points
Players Mentioned
