Michigan
Len Paddock Open
Wolverines to Host Len Paddock Open, Senior Day
5/5/2022 3:27:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
THIS WEEK
Saturday, May 7 -- host, Len Paddock Open (U-M Track and Field Stadium), 10 a.m.
Meet Information | Live Results
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team will host the Len Paddock Open, its lone outdoor home meet of the year, on Saturday (May 7) at the U-M Track and Field Stadium, with the start of the postseason just one weekend away.
In addition to being the final opportunity to tune up ahead of the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., next weekend (May 13-15), Saturday's competition -- which begins at 10 a.m. -- will also serve as potentially the final home competition for 10 men in the senior class.
Though some may ultimately end up returning next year due to extra eligibility granted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all will be honored following the conclusion of the meet, tentatively around 4 p.m. in a Senior Day ceremony.
Those being recognized include Anthony DeKraker, Tom Dodd, Cassidy Henshaw, Christian Hubaker, Will Landowne, Devin Meyrer, Gabe Piepergerdes, Joost Plaetinck, Austin Remick, and Tony Sommers. Among them, DeKraker, Dodd, Landowne, Piepergerdes and Sommers are scheduled to compete.
Field events begin at 10 a.m., with events on the track scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.
Among those joining them in action throughout the day will be All-Americans Dubem Amene (200 meters) and Nick Foster (800 meters); multiple-time Big Ten finalist Job Mayhue (110-meter hurdles); and multiple-time Big Ten scorer Oli Raimond at 1,500 meters.
Live results will be provided through Delta Timing. Updates will be posted to the official Michigan track and field social media channels throughout the day.
Featured Wolverines
• Dubem Amene currently is the fifth man outside the 48-person bubble on the qualifying list for the 2022 World Athletics Championships this summer at 400 meters, and he will be using this Saturday to work on his top-end speed in the 200 meters. He finished third at the Drake Relays last week at 400 meters in difficult windy conditions with a 46.56, and will look to improve on his 21.20-second career best for 200 meters this weekend. Anything faster than 21.16 with legal 2.0 meters per second (m/s) or less wind backing would put him in the top-10 in school history outdoors.
• The men's 800 meters could be the event of the day, as Tom Dodd and Nick Foster -- the third- and fourth-fastest men in school history at 1,500 meters -- look to sharpen their speed in the shorter distance. In addition to trying to pull some teammates along to an NCAA East Preliminary Rounds qualifying mark (top-48 in the East Region), they will be racing against professionals including Hobbs Kessler. Both Foster and Kessler grew up in Ann Arbor, graduating from Pioneer in 2019 and Skyline in 2021, respectively, and have not officially raced since 2019. In the meantime, both have become sub-four-minute milers.
• Though Big Ten leader Joshua Zeller will not be racing the 110-meter hurdles, teammate Job Mayhue will be racing and was the top performer at this meet a year ago. A then-career-best 13.84 (+1.4m/s) win at Paddock led to an eighth-place finish at Big Tens the following weekend and secured him a spot at the NCAA East Prelims, where he set a new personal record and was just one-third of a second from advancing to NCAAs.
• In a distance running environment that has never been more competitive, Oli Raimond will be looking to post a time at 1,500 meters that will put him in the running for an NCAA East Prelims berth. With a best of 3:44.33 this spring, he will be looking to cut off a couple seconds to put him in the qualifying conversation heading into the postseason. Joining him will be Will Landowne and Anthony DeKraker, who are looking to continue rapid improvements after chopping off eight and four seconds, respectively, off their 1,500-meter personal records this spring. Landowne has run a best of 3:44.58 this spring, while DeKraker has gone 1:45.67.
Up Next
Fri-Sun., May 13-15 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), TBA
Players Mentioned
