Michigan
Drake Relays
Victorious Zeller Headlines Final Day at Drake
4/30/2022 6:26:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Des Moines, Iowa (Drake Stadium)
Event: Drake Relays
U-M Result: No team scoring
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 7 -- host, Len Paddock Open (U-M Track and Field Stadium), 10 a.m.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Indoor All-American Joshua Zeller continued to assert himself as a strong contender to earn matching outdoor honors for the University of Michigan men's track and field team on the final day of the Drake Relays on Saturday (April 30).
Again running into difficult wind conditions just as he did in Friday's preliminary rounds, Zeller posted an impressive 13.79 into a 1.8m/s headwind to take the victory in the 110-meter hurdles by nearly two-tenths of a second over the Big Ten's second-ranked hurdler in Darius Luff.
In a race that featured most of the top contenders for the Big Ten title, Luff was the only one within a quarter-second of Zeller. Though the wind conditions were slightly more challenging in the invitational professional section that immediately followed Zeller's, his 13.79 would have earned him a top-five finish in that more elite race.
Michigan kicked off the day with a runner-up finish in the distance medley relay team, as the All-American quartet of Cole Johnson (2:58.84 for 1,200 meters), Dubem Amene (46.40 for 400 meters), Miles Brown (1:51.91 for 800 meters) and Nick Foster (4:08.49 for 1,600 meters) combined to run 9:45.63.
In other relays, Michigan was fourth in the 4x100 relay with Ryan McCloskey, Amene, Zeller and Jacob Koerner in 41.14, and the 4x400 relay team with Brown, Koerner, Johnson and Amene went 3:15.80 for seventh.
In the only other individual competition of the day, Bera Ajala battled through strong tailwinds -- which can significantly derail the precision required in the horizontal jumps -- to leap a best of 15.58m (+4.0m/s) for fourth place. The mark, which has the maximum allowable wind reading of 4.0m/s for NCAA East Preliminaries qualification, puts him inside the bubble of making the NCAA postseason. The East Prelims are reserved for the top 48 individuals per event in the East Region, and serve as the opening rounds of the national meet.
Michigan will host the Len Paddock Open next Saturday (May 7) on the final weekend of regular-season competition ahead of the Big Ten Championships on May 13-15.
Full Michigan results from the weekend can be found below.
Michigan Results
Q/q = qualified for the next round
100 meter dash
Prelims
23. Jacob Koerner / 11.29 (-3.8m/s)
400 meter dash
Final
3. Dubem Amene / 46.56
800 meter run
Final
7. Henry Johnson / 1:51.58
1500 meter run
Final
3. Nick Foster / 3:40.29 [New PR]
10. Tom Dodd / 3:55.90
Unseeded
7. Will Landowne / 3:45.28
8. Anthony Dekraker / 3:45.67 [New PR]
Steeplechase
Final
8. Christian Hubaker / 8:55.86
13. Joe Meyers / 9:05.64 [New PR]
25. Austin Remick / 9:13.26
37. Xander Black / 9:33.91
5000 meter run
Final
8. Oli Raimond / 14:05.70
9. Tom Brady / 14:06.99
16. Zach Stewart / 14:30.44
--. Devin Meyrer / DNF
Unseeded
26. Anthony Hancock / 14:50.42
110 meter hurdles
Final
1. Joshua Zeller / 13.79 (-1.8m/s)
Prelims
1. Joshua Zeller / 14.13Q (-2.5m/s)
9. Job Mayhue / 14.61 (-2.8m/s)
4x100 relay
Final
4. Ryan McCloskey, Dubem Amene, Joshua Zeller, Jacob Koerner / 41.14
4x200 relay
Final
8. Jacob Koerner, Job Mayhue, Ryan McCloskey, Gabe Piepergerdes / 1:27.33
4x400 relay
Invitational
7. Miles Brown, Jacob Koerner, Cole Johnson, Dubem Amene / 3:15.80
4x800 relay
Final
2. Thomas Shilgalis, Miles Brown, Henry Johnson, Cole Johnson / 7:18.78
Distance Medley Relay
Final
2. Cole Johnson, Dubem Amene, Miles Brown, Nick Foster / 9:40.63
High Jump
Final
12. Cassidy Henshaw / 2.00m (6-6.75)
Pole Vault
Final
16. Henry Sheldon / 4.86m (15-11.25)
Triple Jump
Final
4. Bera Ajala / 15.58m (51-1.5) (+4.0m/s)
Shot Put
Final
21. Aiden Felty / 16.20m (53-1.75)
Players Mentioned
