University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Drake Relays
Gophers Collect Four PRs at Drake Relays
4/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gophersports.com) -- The University of Minnesota men's track & field team picked up four personal records at the Drake Relays on Thursday including Luca Wieland's runner-up finish in the decathlon with 7,528 points -- the most by a Gopher since All-American Jack Szmanda set the school record in 2012.
Wieland, who broke the school heptathlon record to win the NCAA indoor crown earlier this year, finished second behind unattached Zach Ziemek with 7,964 points while Jamie Crum finished ninth for the Gophers at 6,780 and Ben Holcomb came in 13th at 6,625. All three Minnesota multi-eventers were competing in the decathlon for the first time this season and set personal records for the Maroon & Gold.
"Our decathlon competitors really did a nice job for us over the last two days and set the tone for the rest of the weekend," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "This is a big weekend for us. We need to build off today and carry that momentum into the next couple days of competition."
Wieland trailed Ziemek by just eight points to start the second day of competition after finishing third or better in four out of five events on Wednesday, but the sophomore was unable to overtake Ziemek in the final day of competition despite another pair of top-three finishes on Thursday. Wieland came in third in both the discus (43-01 meters, 141-01 ft.) and the pole vault (15-01.00 ft.) while also finishing sixth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.18), ninth in the javelin (49.59 meters, 162-08 ft.) and 13th in the 1,500 meters (4:54.56).
Crum finished third in the 1,500 meters (4:35.77) to end the day while also finishing 11th in the 110-meter hurdles (15.52), 15th in both the discus (35.31 meters, 115-10 ft.) and the pole vault (13-01.50 ft.) and 19th in the javelin (41.96 meters, 137-08 ft.).
Holcomb kicked off his day with a fifth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles (15.04) before coming in 12th in the pole vault (13-09.25 ft.), 14th in both the javelin (45.26 meters, 148.06 ft.) and the 1,500 meters (4:54.56) and 16th in the discus (34.39 meters, 112-10 ft.).
Additionally, Minnesota's 4x1,600 meter relay team of Wayde Hall, Aaron Bartnik, Christian Skaret and Blayne Dulian came in sixth with a time of 16:39.74. Jeffrey Cottrell came in 10th in the 800 meter unseeded race with a time of 1:52.12 while Eric Colvin closed out the night with a new personal record in the 5,000 meters, finishing 16th at 14:33.88.
The Gophers continue to compete at the Drake Relays on Friday and Saturday.
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