University of Minnesota Athletics
Wieland Earns NCAA Indoor Bid
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) - Big Ten heptathlon champion and school record holder Luca Wieland will represent the University of Minnesota men's track & field program at the 2015 NCAA Division I Indoor Championship next weekend, March 13-14, in Fayetteville, Ark.
A sophomore from Berlin, Germany, Wieland set a new Gophers record in the heptathlon to pick up the 2015 Big Ten indoor title at 5,787 points.The performance bests Benjamin Jensen's score of 5,769 for the school record - a score that had stood for 17 years - and stands as Minnesota's first conference title in the heptathlon since R.J. McGinnis in 2010.
Wieland's score is also the fifth-best in the nation this year and the top performance in the Big Ten.
Wieland led all Big Ten heptathlon competitors in the shot put with a toss of 14.44 meters (47-04.50 ft.) and the 60-meter hurdles at 8.23. The sophomore also finished second in the high jump at 2.08 meters (6-09.75 ft.), fourth in the 60 meters at 7.08, fourth in the long jump at 6.98 meters (22-11.00 ft.), fifth in the pole vault at 4.60 meters (15-01.00 ft.) and eighth in the 1,000 meters at 2:48.99.
The sophomore was one of two Gophers to earn Big Ten titles last weekend along with Mitchell Hechsel's NCAA-best 600 meter time of 1:16.26 as the Maroon & Gold finished third at the Big Ten indoor meet.
The 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will be streamed live on ESPN3 beginning at 6 p.m. CT on both March 13 and 14. A tape delay broadcast is scheduled to air on ESPNU at 6 p.m. CT on Monday, March 23. To access the live stream, visit ESPN3.com.
Players Mentioned
