Michigan
Rod McCravy Memorial
Brady, Amene Lead Wolverines on Final Day at Kentucky, Indiana
1/29/2022 5:08:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
The University of Michigan men's track and field team concluded its first split-squad road weekend of the 2022 indoor season Saturday (Jan. 29) with national-caliber performances at both competitions.
Dubem Amene came within hundredths of a second of the 400-meter school record at the Kentucky Rod McCravy Memorial and Joshua Zeller was runner-up in a strong 60-meter hurdles field to headline the sprinters, jumpers, throwers and multi-event athletes.
Tom Brady and Cole Johnson posted some of the fastest times in school history at 3,000 meters and 800 meters as the distance squad performed well at the Indiana Relays.
Select Wolverines will hit the road again Friday and Saturday (Feb. 4-5) for the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational.
Kentucky Rod McCravy Memorial
Site: Lexington, Ky. (Nutter Fieldhouse)
Event: Rod McCravy Memorial (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Result: No team scoring
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., Feb. 4-5 -- at Notre Dame Meyo Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), TBA
• Complete Results (PDF)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Led by standout performances from Big Ten title contenders Dubem Amene and Joshua Zeller, the University of Michigan men's track and firld team turned in multiple performances on the final day of the Rod McCravy Memorial on Saturday (Jan. 29) that rank among the nation's and conference's best.
Running in the fastest heat of the 400 meters, Amene came within .04 seconds of the school record as he surged late to run 46.46 for second overall. Sitting in fourth of four runners entering the final bend, Amene picked one off early in the turn and swung by another on the final straightaway to move into second.
Not only did he just miss Taylor McLaughlin's 46.42 school record from 2016, he moved himself to No. 2 in the Big Ten this year and will likely be top-15 nationally after the conclusion of this weekend's meets.
He also ran a leg of Michigan's sixth-place 4x400 relay in 3:15.93, along with Lawrence Gilliam, Jack Juds and Jacob Koerner.
In a field of the same caliber he will see at the Big Ten Championships next month, Zeller clocked 7.80 seconds for runner-up honors. The performance was his fastest of the meet, all three of which were faster than 7.90.
In the semifinals, Zeller was the fourth man over the first hurdle but crossed the finish line first in 7.88 to win his heat and advance to the final automatically. Job Mayhue ran 8.09 in the same race to get the last spot in the final by .01 seconds, but was disqualified in the final.
Mason Mahacek concluded the heptathlon with two personal bests and another near-miss as he scored 5,531 points to finish third and move up to No. 4 in school history. The score also puts him near the conversation of NCAA Championships qualifying, as the cutoff for the meet has been around 5,600 points, give or take depending on the year.
After posting a career-best day-one total of 2,994 points on Friday, Mahacek picked up Saturday where he left off with a new personal record 8.70 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles -- .14 seconds faster than his previous best -- and a 4.90m (16 feet, 1 inch) effort in the pole vault.
Mahacek survived a third-and-final attempt at 4.70m (15-5) and added 20 more centimeters -- and, most crucially, 90 more points to his total -- before he was through. The 4.90m clearance was the best-ever by a Michigan heptathlete in program history.
Mahacek came within steps of another personal best in the culminating 1,000-meter event, crossing the finish line first in 2:42.63 just a half-second off his previous best -- but it was enough for 844 points and to clinch a new best heptathlon score by 132 points.
Elsewhere in the field events, Bera Ajala had his best day yet in a Michigan uniform as he leapt to 15.68m (51 feet, 5.5 inches) on his sixth-and-final attempt to move into fifth in the competition and No. 5 on the all-time U-M indoor list in the event.
The performance likely will rank him top-five in the conference and inside the top-35 nationally.
Michigan Results by Event
 q = qualified for final
200 meter dash
Final
25. Jacob Koerner / 22.18
29. Jack Juds / 22.62
400 meter dash
Final
2. Dubem Amene / 46.46 [New PR]
18. Lawrence Gilliam / 48.78 [New PR]
23. Jack Juds / 49.93
60 meter hurdles
Final
2. Joshua Zeller / 7.80
--. Job Mayhue / DQ
Semifinals
2. Joshua Zeller / 7.88Q
9. Job Mayhue / 8.09q
Prelims
1. Joshua Zeller / 7.81Q
13. Job Mayhue / 8.15q
4x400 relay
Final
6. Lawrence Gilliam, Jack Juds, Lawrence Gilliam, Dubem Amene / 3:15.93
High Jump
Final
3. Cassidy Henshaw / 2.05m (6-8.75)
Pole Vault
Final
7. Henry Sheldon / 4.88m (16-0.25)
Triple Jump
Final
5. Bera Ajala / 15.68m (51-5.25) [New PR]
Shot Put
Final
7. Aiden Felty / 15.99m (52-5.5)
Weight Throw
Final
7. Eli Winter / 18.48m (60-7.5)
8. Tony Sommers / 17.52m (57-5.75)
Heptathlon
Final
5. Mason Mahacek / 5531.00 [New PR]
Pole Vault / 4.90m (16-1) (880 pts) [New PR] / Place: 1
1000 meter run / 2:42.63 (844 pts) / Place: 1
High Jump / 2.01m (6-7.25) (813 pts) / Place: 2
60 meter dash / 7.23 (802 pts) / Place: 4
Long Jump / 6.76m (22-2.25) (757 pts) [New PR] / Place: 5
Shot Put / 12.25m (40-2.25) (622 pts) / Place: 5
60 meter hurdles / 8.70 (813 pts) [New PR] / Place: 5
Indiana Relays
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Gladstein Fieldhouse)
Event: Indiana Relays (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Result: No team scoring
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., Feb. 4-5 -- at Notre Dame Meyo Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), TBA
• Complete Results (PDF)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Michigan men's distance runners were in career-best form on the second day of the Indiana Relays on Saturday (Jan. 29), headlined by historic performances from Tom Brady and Cole Johnson and a strong mile from Nick Foster.
Though he did not get the win in what was an extraordinarily fast section of the 3,000 meters with nine men under eight minutes, Brady turned in the best race of his career with a 7:55.49 performance for fifth place overall.
Running in fifth for the middle third of the race, he dropped down to seventh with two laps to go, where he remained with just 200 meters left. He got back both of those spots on the final circuit around the track, including bypassing multiple-time conference champ Ben Veatch of Indiana.
With many runners around the country expected to contest this distance this weekend for the first time this season, where Brady lands on the conference and national lists remains to be seen until all results are in, but the effort sets him up favorably to make a potential return trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships. He was a second-team All-American there a year ago.
His effort moved him up to No. 8 in school history.
Brady was not the only sub-eight performer for the Wolverines on the day, as Oli Raimond clocked 7:59.43 to take fourth after leading with three laps to go in the second-fastest section of the event.
In the 800 meters, Henry Johnson went to the lead early with a 52.94-second split at the halfway point before pulling out of the race, but Cole Johnson -- no relation -- took his place on the third lap around the banked 200-meter track and never looked back en route to a 1:49.97 victory by nearly a full second.
The performance made him just the sixth man in school history to crack 1:50 indoors.
Cole Johnson was one of three top-10 finishers, along with 600-meter school record-holder Miles Brown in his 800 debut in seventh at 1:51.96 and ninth-place Thomas Shilgalis in 1:52.11.
Leading at the bell on the bubble of sub-four-minute-mile territory for the first time in his career, Foster ultimately finished third in a close finish but was rewarded for his efforts with a new personal-best 4:01.60 in a race where the top four were separated by just over half a second. Austin Remick also ran strong, slashing nearly a 1.5 seconds off his PR down to 4:04.55.
Michigan Results by Event
 q = qualified for final
800 meter run
Final
1. Cole Johnson / 1:49.97 [New PR]
7. Miles Brown / 1:51.96
9. Thomas Shilgalis / 1:52.11
14. Derrick Simmons / 1:52.82
--. Henry Johnson / DNF
Mile
Final
3. Nick Foster / 4:01.60 [New PR]
7. Austin Remick / 4:04.55 [New PR]
3000 meter run
Final
5. Tom Brady / 7:55.49 [New PR]
13. Oli Raimond / 7:59.43 [New PR]
14. Devin Meyrer / 8:05.39
16. Christian Hubaker / 8:09.18
17. Joost Plaetinck / 8:12.52 [New PR]
18. Colton Yesney / 8:12.52 [New PR]
19. Will Landowne / 8:13.31
21. Zach Stewart / 8:15.87
25. Anthony Hancock / 8:19.35 [New PR]
4x400 relay
Final
4. Miles Brown, Cole Johnson, Henry Johnson, Thomas Shilgalis / 3:19.13
Players Mentioned
