University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Ferretti Tops School Record, Wieland Leads Decathlon
5/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Link: 2015 Big Ten Championships Results
EAST LANSING, Mich. (Gophersports.com) -- Gian Ferretti broke his own school hammer throw record and Luca Wieland leads the decathlon field through five events after the first day of competition at the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
"We got off to a great start today highlighted by Ferretti's hammer record and Luca's start to the decathlon," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "Both put together great performances today as they have done all year, and now we need to build off of that over the next two days."
In arguably the toughest hammer competition in Big Ten history, Ferretti bested his previous school record by landing a throw of 69.65 meters (228-06.50 ft.) for a new personal record and a third-place showing in his Big Ten outdoor meet debut. The Cascina, Italy native's performance trailed only Purdue's Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (72.77 meters, 238-09.25 ft.) and Wisconsin's Michael Lihrman (72.03 meters, 236-04.00 ft.) while all three throwers topped a 12-year old Big Ten meet record set by Indiana's Adam Judge in 2003.
Competing in his first season with the Gophers, Ferretti has now finished third or better in each of his six meets including three wins while the junior boasts four of the top six throws in Minnesota history and five of the top 10.
Meanwhile, Wieland opened up the decathlon competition by leading the field in the first four events and ended the day with a meet-leading 4,240 points at the halfway mark. The Saarbrucken, Germany native posted four outdoor personal records in the first day of the conference meet and will look to follow up his 2015 NCAA and Big Ten indoor heptathlon titles with a Big Ten outdoor decathlon title on Saturday.
Wieland kicked off the conference meet with a personal record of 10.78 to lead the 100 meters and followed up with wins in the long jump at 7.51 meters (24-07.75 ft.), the shot put at a new personal record of 14.87 meters (48-09.50 ft.) and the high jump at a personal record of 2.05 meters (6-08.75 ft.). The sophomore closed out the day with a 10th-place showing in the 400 meters, clocking a personal record of 51.19.
Jamie Crum sits in eighth with 3,722 points highlighted by a second-place finish and a personal record in the high jump at 1.99 meters (6-06.25 ft.) and a sixth-place finish in the shot put at 13.01 meters (42-08.25 ft.) while Ben Holcomb sits in 15th at 3,486 points. Adam Zutz came in 12th in the 10,000 meters to cap the night for the Gophers at 30:21.39 while Justin Barber (58.69 meters, 192-07 ft.) finished 16th in the hammer for the Gophers followed by Viktor Stelter (58.36 meters, 191-06 ft.) in 17th and Mac Riedy (55.75 meters, 182-11.25 ft.) in 21st.
The Gophers continue the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including the final five events of the decathlon, on Saturday with the action concluding on Sunday.
Players Mentioned
