Sunday, April 05, 2015

Trio of Titles Boost Wolverines at Cal-UVA Tri-Meet

               

April 4, 2015
Khoury Crenshaw
Khoury Crenshaw
Notes & Quotes | Photo Gallery 
Virginia, California Tri-Meet
» Complete Results PDF
Site: Edwards Stadium (Berkeley, Calif.)
Event: Cal-UVA Tri-Meet
U-M Team Result: 3rd Place of 3 Teams (100 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., April 17-18 -- at UVA Challenge (Charlottesville, Va.)
BERKELEY, Calif. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team claimed titles in the steeplechase, pole vault and 4x100-meter relay among a dozen top-three performances at the outdoor season's lone tri-meet, a two-day event (Fri-Sat., April 3-4) against the University of California Berkeley and University of Virginia. Thirty-four Wolverines made the trip out west, tallying nine personal-best marks across seven events.
Sophomore Michael Hovater picked up a win in the pole vault, clearing his collegiate-best mark of 15-5 ft. (4.70m) to earn the win, nearly a foot higher than the best mark of his next closest competitor.
U-M went 1-2 in the 3,000m steeplechase, with sophomore/freshman Austin Benoit taking the title at 8:57.01, breaking the nine-minute mark for the first time as a Wolverine. Fifth-year senior James Yau was the runner-up, crossing at 8:57.14; with both athletes at less than nine minutes, the pair hopes to have clocked their regional times for later this season.
In the sprints and sprint relays, U-M scored 27 points, with key contributions from several different runners. The team of senior/junior Codie Nolan, graduate student John Spooney, sophomore/freshman Khoury Crenshaw and junior/sophomore Chris Maye took the 4x100m title in 40.31 seconds -- the fourth fastest in U-M outdoor history. Maye was also the third-place finisher in the 200m race at 21.75 seconds.
Spooney earned runner-up honors in the 100m dash, running 10.45 to pass current Wolverine football running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley for fifth fastest in the event in program history, with Crenshaw crossing one tenth of a second later to claim third.
Four of the top seven finishers in the 3,000m run wore Maize and Blue, paced by fifth-year senior Morsi Rayyan in second (8:09.65) and senior/junior co-captain Mason Ferlic in third (8:11.89). Sophomores/freshmen Billy Bund and Aaron Baumgarten finished fifth and seventh, respectively
All three Wolverines in the 800m race set personal-best times, led by freshman Brennan Munley in his outdoor 800m debut. The Clarkston, Michigan, native finished third at 1:50.24, ahead of senior/junior Jeff Sattler in sixth (1:52.97) and freshman Ryan Wilkie in eighth (1:55.69).
Leading the charge in the shot put for U-M was fifth-year senior co-captain Cody Riffle, who threw 61-2.25 ft. (18.65m) to finish runner-up, the fourth-farthest mark in U-M outdoor history. Riffle threw the second-farthest distance (61-7.25 ft.; 18.77m) last weekend at the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge (March 27-28). Behind Riffle, sophomore/freshman Grant Cartwright threw 55-6.25 ft. (16.92m) to claim fifth, with fifth-year senior Justin Gaumer in sixth 54-6 ft. (16.61m).
Senior/junior Brad Bolton also came in third in the hammer, which was the lone event held on Friday (April 3). Bolton threw 185-10 ft. (56.65m), and sophomore Louis Lamberti came within a quarter-inch of his personal-best mark in the high jump, clearing 6-6.75 ft. (2.00m).
Sophomore/freshman Kevin Stephens Jr. set collegiate-best marks in both the long jump and triple jump, finishing fifth in both events.
Stanford Invitational
» Complete Results PDF
Site: Cobb Track & Angell Field (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Event: Stanford Invitational
U-M Team Result: No team score
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., April 17-18 -- at UVA Challenge (Charlottesville, Va.)
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- At Stanford, the University of Michigan men's track and field team had a pair of representatives competing in a meet with more than 3,200 athletes from more than 100 colleges. U-M sent fifth-year senior Mark Beams and senior/junior August Pappas to the trip to the Stanford Invitational to compete in one of the nation's top 10Ks across the bay from the team's tri-meet at Cal Berkeley.
The 10K was the final event of the evening on Friday (April 3). Beams was 27th in a field of more than 40, clocking 29:32.44, fewer than 18 seconds off his collegiate best. Pappas recorded a DNF in the race.
After a week of rest, the Maize and Blue will travel to Charleston, Virginia, for the UVA Challenge. The two-day meet (April 17-18) is hosted by the Virginia Cavaliers.



N O T E S
• The Maize and Blue accumulated nine new personal-best marks or times in seven events. Overall, U-M had 12 top-three finishes on the weekend.
John Spooney recorded the fifth-fastest 100m time in U-M outdoor history (10.45). In doing so, he bumped current U-M football running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley down the list to sixth. Spooney already owns the second-fastest 60m dash time from the indoor season (6.70).
• The 4x100m relay team of Codie Nolan, John Spooney, Khoury Crenshaw and Chris Maye won the relay race in 40.31 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in program history.
• Co-captain Cody Riffle threw the fourth-farthest shot put mark in outdoor history (61-2.25 ft.; 18.65m) one weekend after throwing the second-farthest mark at the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge (March 27-28).
Charles DeJonge, Khoury Crenshaw, Aaron Baumgarten and John Spooney each made his outdoor debut this weekend. A multi-event athlete, DeJonge competed in the 100m dash, the 110m hurdles, the pole vault and javelin, while Baumgarten ran the 3K. Crenshaw and Spooney both ran in the 100m dash and 4x100m relay, with Spooney also running the 4x400m relay.
• After trips to Arizona and California to begin the outdoor season, U-M will return to the eastern time zone with a trip to Virginia in two weekends (April 17-18).
Personal Records
Grant Cartwright -- Discus (166-1 ft.; 50.62m)
Michael Hovater -- Pole Vault (15-5 ft.; 14.70m)
Kevin Stephens Jr. -- Long Jump (22-6.25 ft.; 6.86m), Triple Jump (47-2.25 ft.; 14.38m)
Austin Benoit -- 3,000m steeplechase (8:57.01)
Ben Reed -- 1,500m (3:54.61)
Jeff Sattler -- 800m (1:52.97)
Ryan Wilkie -- 800m (1:55.69)
Chris Maye -- 200m (21.75)
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Jerry Clayton
On his assessment of the weekend as a whole ... "We had a lot of personal-bests and had some athletes step it up, but overall you end up third and there are three teams so you want to be better. We would have liked to have done better as far as team scoring but we have to regroup and get back with a big weekend off coming up. We have to get going; there are a lot of tough, good meets ahead of us so we will move on."
On how they can maximize their weekend off before heading to the UVA Challenge in two weekends ... "That's going to be critical. We go back, regroup and evaluate and see what we need to do because the scheduled doesn't get any easier. It's going to get a lot better, a lot tougher and that's what we need to get ready for the (NCAA East) Preliminary Round."
On performances that stood out to him ... "The steeplechase guys and (Michael) Hovater in the pole vault stepped it up; Cody (Riffle) did a good job in the shot and those are some of the high points. I thought that the 100m guys were really good. It was a good race for both of them for their first race of the season, and Chris (Maye) in the 200, also (Brennan) Munley in the 800. The relay was a solid performance, we won the 4x100 and that was a real positive. There were a lot of positives, and those are the things we have to build on and get a lot better with. It was a good first step. Some athletes weren't running in their best events, but they ran well anyways, especially for this point (in the season)."
U-M Fifth-year Senior James Yau
On his runner-up finish in the 3,000m steeplechase ... "When we initially looked at the race we knew it was a pretty small heat so the plan for Austin Benoit and myself was to go in and try and hit the regional time, and just see what we could do. The end result we were pretty happy with, so we are going to move forward from here and hopefully run the steeple a few more times."
On how he feels he and Austin Benoit's sub-nine minute times stack up ... "Last year it took about nine-flat to get into the regional meet, so our main goal was to go out there and break that nine-minute barrier. It's a tough thing to do and for Austin especially to go under nine minutes for the first time, that's definitely a big achievement for him. So 8:57 is cutting it close but it's definitely in the realm of a regional time so, if not we will probably end up running a little later at another meet and try and run a little faster."
On the importance of utilizing the weekend off the team has coming up ... "Coming off of two west-coast meets, it's a lot on your body and it can be mentally tiring, too. We had a short time to regroup before we came out to California after Arizona State so it's going to be very important for us in this upcoming week with the time change to make sure we take care of business on the track, in school and in every aspect of our lives. We have to get back to training as hard as we can because we only have 14 days until we go back to Virginia and that is going to be a big meet for us. Guys are looking to run regional times (there), and are looking to run fast and that's the meet to really prepare us for Penn Relays and Big Tens and Regionals. So this week off is going to be really important for us to recharge physically and mentally."
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard (734) 763-4423 Courtesy Michigan

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