Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Victorious Zeller, School Records Headline Final Day of Big Tens
2/26/2022 5:51:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Geneva, Ohio (SPIRE Institute)
Event: Big Ten Indoor Championships (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Result: 6th place of 11 teams (60 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri.-Sat., March 11-12 -- at NCAA Indoor Championships (Birmingham, Ala.)
• Complete Results (PDF)
GENEVA, Ohio -- Powered by a victorious Joshua Zeller and a pair of silver-medal school-record runs from Miles Brown and Dubem Amene, the University of Michigan men's track and field team closed out the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday (Feb. 26) with a sixth-place finish.
Zeller was in career-best form as he broke through for his first-ever title in his signature indoor 60-meter hurdles event, and the Wolverines got runner-up finishes and new school records from Amene at 400 meters and Brown at 600 meters. Michigan also earned a bronze medal as Cole Johnson narrowly missed the individual title at 800 meters.
Those performances spearheaded a team effort that saw the Wolverines score 60 points. Iowa won the team title with 117 points, followed by Ohio State with 102 points. The Wolverines came in behind fifth-place Wisconsin with 74 points and ahead of seventh-place Purdue with 48 points.
Zeller became just the second man in school history to stand atop the Big Ten podium after Jeff Porter from the 2004 season on the strength of a career-best 7.67 that also ranks behind only Porter's 7.64 in school history.
The drama unfolded even before the race began, as top-seeded Darius Luff of Nebraska was disqualified for a false start after lengthy deliberations. Though Zeller remained as the fastest man in the field, he left himself work to do as he had the slowest start of any of the top contenders. Zeller had to battle back and did not overtake the lead until the sprint to the finish after the final barrier as the man in the lane next to him tumbled to the ground in her periphery.
The performance shaved 0.01 of a second off his personal best, and will put him in a slightly better position to secure his berth to the NCAA Championships next month.
In what was his third individual school record of his debut collegiate season to go along with another record in the distance medley relay, Brown lowered his 600-meter U-M standard by more than a second to 1:15.87. Though it was fast enough to win his section in the two-race final as he outdueled Iowa's Julien Gillum to the line, it came up just 0.2 of a second short of section two winner Jenoah Mckiver of Iowa and his 1:15.67 in a battle between two of the fastest freshmen in conference history.
The performance ranks him No. 7 in Big Ten history.
Amene continued his own revision of the record books as he broke the indoor 400-meter school record for the second consecutive day, this time with a 46.04 performance for the silver medal. With less than 200 meters to go he was battling for second, but he and Iowa's Chadrick Richards sprinter battled around the Ohio State leader on the curve. Amene emerged onto the homestretch in the lead and held off Richards by .14 of a second to win his section.
Though the time wouldn't hold up as enough to win the overall competition – Ohio State's Tyler Johnson went 45.31 in the second of the two sections – it edged out perennial conference scorer Wayne Lawrence Jr. of Iowa for the silver medal and eight points. It also moves him into a better position to qualify for NCAAs, though he will be on the bubble as conference meets around the country happen.
The closest finish of the day came in the men's 800 meters as Cole Johnson charged hard down the homestretch and came within .19 of a second of the gold medal in 1:49.52 and each of the top seven finishers crossed the line within .7 of a second of one another. Teammate Henry Johnson (no relation) came through in eighth to add one point to go along with Cole's six.
Cole Johnson was fifth going into the final turn and made a move around the curve and swung wide into lane three on the straightaway as part of a four-wide finish.
After a blistering qualifying round on Friday, the men's mile was much slower to develop, as the first half of the race was run at 4:35 pace with Nick Foster running point. The next quarter mile was run at four-minute pace as Foster fell to eighth with less than 200 meters left to go.
He surged coming around the final turn and moved up to fifth as he charged on to the home stretch and picked off another runner right at the line to cross in 4:09.29 as the top six finishers were all separated by less than a second.
Bera Ajala saved his best for last in the triple jump as he leapt 15.52m (50-11) to move into fifth place for four points. Cassidy Henshaw was also fifth in the high jump to add five more points of his own, on the strength of a third-and-final clearance at 2.10m (6-10.75).
Mason Mahacek finished strong in the heptathlon to finish sixth overall with 5,423 points in the seven-event competition. After starting the day in 11th place, he cleared a career-best-tying 4.90m (16-1) in the pole vault and ran a near-career-best 2:43.75 over 1,000 meters to rally up to sixth place in the final two events, giving Michigan three more team points.
Michigan closed out the day with two more points as the quartet of Jacob Koerner, Brown, Cole Johnson and Lawrence Gilliam combined to run 3:11.63 for seventh place and two more team points.
Once the results of conference championship weekend are finalized, the Wolverines will await their NCAA Indoor Championships selection fate on Tuesday (March 1).
Michigan Results by Event
Q / q = qualified for final
200 meter dash
Prelims
11. Dubem Amene / 21.33
20. Jacob Koerner / 21.69 [New PR]
400 meter dash
Final
2. Dubem Amene / 46.04 [8 team pts] [U-M Record]
Prelims
3. Dubem Amene / 46.34Q [U-M Record]
600 meter run
Final
2. Miles Brown / 1:15.88 [8 team pts] [U-M Record]
Prelims
4. Miles Brown / 1:17.48q
800 meter run
Final
3. Cole Johnson / 1:49.52 [6 team pts]
8. Henry Johnson / 1:51.39 [1 team pt]
Prelims
2. Cole Johnson / 1:50.43Q
6. Henry Johnson / 1:50.75Q [New PR]
19. Thomas Shilgalis / 1:52.22
--. Derrick Simmons / DNF
Mile
Final
4. Nick Foster / 4:09.29 [5 team pts]
10. Oli Raimond / 4:11.06
Prelims
5. Nick Foster / 3:59.72Q
7. Oli Raimond / 4:00.82q
18. Anthony DeKraker / 4:09.23
20. Austin Remick / 4:09.97
24. Colton Yesney / 4:11.67
3000 meter run
Final
6. Will Landowne / 8:05.57 [3 team pts]
7. Tom Brady / 8:07.08 [2 team pts]
9. Christian Hubaker / 8:08.22
10. Nick Foster / 8:10.90
12. Oli Raimond / 8:14.73
5000 meter run
Final
9. Devin Meyrer / 14:02.89
10. Joost Plaetinck / 14:03.55 [New PR]
11. Tom Brady / 14:06.23
15. Zach Stewart / 14:13.87
60 meter hurdles
Final
1. Joshua Zeller / 7.67 [10 team pts] [New PR]
Prelims
4. Joshua Zeller / 7.79q
11. Job Mayhue / 8.06
4x400 relay
Final
7. Jacob Koerner, Miles Brown, Cole Johnson, Dubem Amene / 3:11.63
Distance Medley Relay
Final
5. Cole Johnson, Lawrence Gilliam, Miles Brown, Austin Remick / 9:42.06
High Jump
Final
5. Cassidy Henshaw / 2.10m (6-10.75) [4 team pts]
Pole Vault
Final
11. Henry Sheldon / 4.85m (15-11)
Triple Jump
Final
5. Bera Ajala / 15.52m (50-11) [4 team pts]
Shot Put
Final
17. Aiden Felty / 16.90m (55-5.25) [New PR]
Weight Throw
Final
20. Eli Winter / 18.70m (61-4.25)
Heptathlon
Final
6. Mason Mahacek / 5,423 points
Mason Mahacek
60 meter dash / 7.23 ( pts) / Place: 4
Long Jump / 6.49m (21-3.5) ( pts) / Place: 12
Shot Put / 12.14m (39-10) ( pts) / Place: 11
High Jump / 2.03m (6-8) ( pts) [New PR] / Place: 3
60 meter hurdles / 8.90 ( pts) / Place: 15
Pole Vault / 4.90m (16-1) ( pts) [New PR] / Place: 3
1000 meter run / 2:43.75 ( pts) / Place: 3
