University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Wieland Wins Big Ten Decathlon Title
5/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Link: 2015 Big Ten Championships Results
EAST LANSING, Mich. (Gophersports.com) -- Luca Wieland added the 2015 Big Ten outdoor decathlon title to his list of accolades on Saturday as the University of Minnesota men's track & field program sits in second entering the final day of the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championshps.
The Golden Gophers combined for 38 points through the first two days of competition, trailing meet-leading Nebraska by just six points.
"Luca has had a tremendous year for us, and he really did a phenomenal job for us this weekend," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "We've put ourselves in a good spot entering the final day of the Big Ten meet, and now we just need to take care of business on Sunday."
Wieland, who already garnered the NCAA and Big Ten indoor heptathlon record earlier this year, captured the Gophers first conference decathlon crown since 2010 on Saturday. The sophomore from Saarbrucken, Germany closed out the competition with 7,635 points -- the 10th most points ever by a Gopher in the decathlon -- while Wieland now ranks fourth on Minnesota's top performers list.
The sophomore led the decathlon field in four events, posted four personal records and finished among the top 10 in nine of the 10 events. Wieland came in second in the discus at 41.00 meters (134-06.50 ft.) and third in the 110-meter hurdles with a season-best mark of 14.99. The Gopher tied for sixth in the pole vault at 4.55 meters (14-11.00 ft.), 10th in the javelin at 48.21 meters (158-02.25 ft.) and 16th in the 1,500 meters at 5:06.59.
On Friday, 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.
Meanwhile, the Maroon & Gold picked up nine team points in the discus thanks to a trio of top-seven finishes. Sam Elsner paced the Gophers with a fifth-place finish at 54.95 meters (180-03.75 ft.) while Luke Johnson came in sixth at 54.32 meters (178-02.75 ft.) and Justin Barber finished seventh at 53.71 meters (176-02.75 ft.).
Minnesota also grabbed nine points in the high jump with Danny Schiller and Ryan Lockard both hitting personal records. Schiller finished fourth with at 2.14 meters (7-00.25 ft.) and Ryan Lockard cleared 2.11 meters (6-11.00 ft.) to finish fifth.
Aaron Bartnik added four team points with his fifth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after clocking a personal record of 8:55.92.
Meanwhile, the Gophers pushed five student-athletes through preliminaries into Sunday's finals highlighted by a trio of runners in the 800 meters. Mitch Hecshel posted the third-fastest qualifying time at 1:48.97 for a new personal record and now sits 10th on the Gophers top performers list, Goaner Deng finished one spot back at 1:49.29 with a new personal record, and Bradley Johnson had the eighth-fastest time at 1:49.85. Blayne Dulian qualified for the 1,500-meter finals on Sunday after running a 3:48.15 in Saturday's preliminaries -- the fourth-fastest qualifying time. Brad Neumann ran a 21.21 in the 200-meter preliminaries to qualify.
The Gophers close out 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday in East Lansing.
Players Mentioned
