Michigan
NCAA East Preliminaries
Liskowitz, Meyer Advance to NCAAs on Day 1 of East Prelims
5/26/2021 10:28:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Jacksonville, Fla. (Jax Track at Hodges Stadium)
Event: NCAA East Preliminary Rounds (Day 1 of 2)
U-M Result: No team scoring
Next U-M Event: Friday, May 28 -- NCAA East Preliminary Rounds - Day 2 (Jacksonville, Fla.), 1 p.m.
• Complte Results (PDF)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan men's track and field team excelled on the first day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds on Wednesday (May 26) at Jax Track at Hodges Stadium, advancing two competitors on to nationals and setting the stage for a big Friday.
Shot putters Andrew Liskowitz and John Meyer qualified to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 9-12, and the Wolverines advanced seven of their nine entrants in first-round track events on to Friday's decisive quarterfinals to potentially set up more to join them.
Thanks to strong performances on Wednesday, Michigan will have two quarterfinalists in both the 110-meter hurdles with Josh Zeller and Job Mayhue, and the 1,500 meters with Tom Dodd and Nick Foster. Additionally, Roland Amarteifio (400-meter hurdles), Dubem Amene (400 meters) and Derrick Simmons (800 meters) all advanced in their respective events.
Eight of Michigan's 14 entrants on the day met or exceeded their pre-meet seeding, including Simmons by 22 spots and Dodd by 14.
Liskowitz technically clinched what will be his seventh-and-final appearance at the NCAA Championships between indoors and outdoors -- and his fourth in a row outdoors -- on his opening throw of 19.63m (66 feet, 6.5 inches), but he put an exclamation point on it with his final two throws. His second-round 20.28m (66 feet, 6.5 inches) winner and third-round 20.22m (66 feet, 4.25 inches) were the only 20-meter throws of the 48 athletes in the field.
Liskowitz is just the second man in the 12 years of the East Prelims to throw farther than 20.20m multiple times, and his 20.28m moved him to No. 7 in East Prelims history. Between both the East and West Prelims on Wednesday, only Arizona State's Turner Washington (20.74/68 feet, 0.5 inches) threw farther and matched his two 20-meter throws.
In some small measure of trouble entering the third-and-final round, Meyer improved from 18.73m (61 feet, 5.5 inches) -- just six centimeters better than the eventual best mark of the 12th-and-final qualifier -- up to 19.33m (63 feet, 5 inches) for fifth place overall.
With Liskowitz and Meyer advancing to Eugene, this will mark the third time in the past four editions of the NCAA Outdoor Championships the meet will feature multiple Michigan men in the shot put.
They are the second pair of Michigan teammates to qualify for nationals, joining decathletes Ayden Owens and Heath Baldwin, whose berths were announced last week. The decathlon is not contested at the NCAA East Preliminaries, and the top 24 nationally, regardless of region, are selected for NCAAs.
Despite a slower start that put him behind most of the field early, Zeller stormed back over the later hurdles to run 13.68 seconds (+2.2m/s) in his heat for second and an auto berth into Friday's quarterfinals. He was preceded in clinching a spot in the quarters minutes earlier with a career-best 13.79 seconds(+1.4m/s). They finished with the ninth- and 17th-fastest times of the prelims, putting them in contention for the 12 qualifying spots to Eugene at stake on Friday.
Mayhue moved up to No. 6 in school history, and the duo of Zeller and Mayhue appear to be the first teammates in school history to both break 13.80 seconds in the same competition.
In the next event on the track, Dodd and Foster gave the Wolverines another pair of teammates through to Friday's quarterfinals as they, too, secured automatic berths.
In the first of four heats, Dodd came through the bell lap charging hard into third place and moved up in the final 150 meters to comfortably finish second in 3:43.85. Foster also advanced automatically, but his finish was far more dramatic as he took fourth in a fourth-and-final heat in which the top seven finishers were all separated by two-thirds of a second. He emerged from the crowd fourth in 3:44.76.
They will enter the quarterfinals with the eighth- and 20th-fastest times on the day, respectively, but seeds are less relevant in distance racing as anything can happen in tactical championship settings.
While Zeller, Mayhue, Dodd and Foster all comfortably secured their berths automatically, Amene had to wait until the last minute -- and beyond -- to secure his trip to the 400-meter quarterfinals. He clocked 46.71 seconds for fifth-place in his heat, charging past Isaiah Palmer of North Carolina by 0.01 seconds at the line. Amene teetered on the edge of at-large qualification for the next few heats before ultimately being pushed out two races later.
He would ultimately finish 25th overall, just one spot and 0.05 seconds out of the 24th-and-final spot in Friday's quarterfinals. He was thrown a lifeline as the event was under official review, meaning any one athlete above him in the standings receiving a disqualification would get him through. That, combined with his late usurpation of Palmer, was enough to earn a chance to compete for a nationals berth.
The quarterfinals qualifying train rolled on for the Wolverines through the 800-meter distance, as Simmons earned an at-large ticket to Friday's action with his 1:49.74 for 18th overall. Though he came up short in a late surge to crack the top-three in the heat for an automatic spot in the quarterfinals -- and was overtaken and pushed to fifth as a result -- he closed just hard enough to get the at-large bid. The first man out of the quarterfinal ran just 0.11 seconds slower in a later heat.
By the slimmest of margins, Amarteifio clinched both his spot in the 400-meter hurdles quarterfinals and the impressive feat for Michigan of advancing at least one person in all five first-round track events it contested on Wednesday.
In the third of six heats, Amarteifio clocked 51.90 seconds to take fourth -- one spot outside of automatic qualifying, leaving his advancement to fate over the next three races. He slid all the way down to the final at-large spot with one race remaining, but no one outside the top three surpassed his 50.91 as he earned the final berth by 0.01 seconds over the next-best athlete.
In the only other race with NCAA Championships berths at stake, Devin Meyrer finished 31st in the semifinals of the 10,000 meters and Tom Brady did not finish.
Thursday (May 27) is a women-only session at the East Prelims, with men's action set to resume Friday at 1 p.m.
Full Michigan Results by Event
Q = automatic qualifier to quarterfinals; q = at-large qualifier to quarterfinals
400 meter dash
First Round
24. Dubem Amene / 46.71q
800 meter run
First Round
18. Derrick Simmons / 1:49.74q
44. Thomas Shilgalis / 1:53.52
1500 meter run
First Round
8. Tom Dodd / 3:43.85Q
20. Nick Foster / 3:44.76Q
30. Oli Raimond / 3:46.54
10,000 meter run
Semifinals
31. Devin Meyrer / 30:07.89
--. Tom Brady / DNF
110 meter hurdles
First Round
9. Josh Zeller / 13.68Q (+2.2m/s)
17. Job Mayhue / 13.79Q (+1.4m/s) [New PR]
400 meter hurdles
First Round
24. Roland Amarteifio / 51.90q
Pole Vault
First Round
31. Henry Sheldon / 5.00m (16-4.75)
Shot Put
First Round
1. Andrew Liskowitz / 20.28m (66-6.5) [NCAA Qualifier]
5. John Meyer / 19.33m (63-5) [NCAA Qualifier]
Players Mentioned
