University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
UNI Mark Messersmith
Throwers Pick Up Three Titles
5/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 9, 2014
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (GopherSports.com) - The University of Minnesota men's track & field program picked up three individual titles at UNI's Mark Messersmith Invitational on Friday afternoon including an impressive performance from newcomer Gian Ferretti.
"Even with pretty windy conditions, we had a great meet today across the board," Minnesota throws coach Lynden Reder said. "The guys have been working hard all season, and they're ready to go for the Big Ten championships next week."
Competing as an unattached thrower, Ferretti won the hammer throw with a toss of 67.92 meters (222-10 ft.) - a new personal record for the Gophers rookie. Minnesota boasted the top three finishers in the event with Jon Lehman finishing second at 66.40 meters (217-10 ft.) and Justin Barber coming in third at 58.08 meters (190-06 ft.). Viktor Stelter came in fifth at 53.78 meters (176-05 ft.) while Mac Riedy finished sixth at 50.12 meters (164-05 ft.) and Colton Bender finished eighth at 46.74 meters (153-04 ft.) - both as unattached competitors.
The Gophers also had the top two performances in the shot put including a winning effort by Mark Jennings. Jennings cleared 17.29 (56-08.75 ft.) meters to pace the event while Emmanuel Onyia came in second at 16.88 meters (55-04.75 ft.). Logan Hussung was in fourth at 16.50 meters (54-01.75 ft.).
Meanwhile, Logan Connors blew away the competition to win the javelin on Friday with a throw of 64.57 meters (211-10 ft.).
Minnesota also had three of the top five scores in the discus on Friday with Luke Johnson coming in second at 55.73 meters (182-10 ft.). Dominique Howard finished third at 55.51 meters (182-01 ft.) while Barber came in fifth at 54.40 meters (178-05 ft.).
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Players Mentioned
