University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Wisconsin Twilight
Jennings' Career Best Wins Wisconsin Twilight
5/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Link: 2015 Wisconsin Twilight Results
Link: 2015 UW-La Crosse Eagle Open Results
MADISON, Wis. (Gophersports.com) -- With the best throw of his career and one of the best performances in University of Minnesota history, senior captain Mark Jennings won the shot put competition on Friday at the Wisconsin Twilight as the Gopher throwers posted six personal records at McClimon Complex in Madison.
The Marion, Iowa native's second to last attempt on Friday flew 18.69 meters (61-04.00 ft.) to best Jennings' personal record and move the senior to sixth on Minnesota's top performers list. The Gophers actually posted the top two finishes in the shot put as Luke Johnson also hit a personal record to finish as the runner-up at 18.65 meters (61-02.25 ft.). Bryan Bjerk came in seventh with an outdoor personal best of 15.45 meters (50-08.25 ft.).
Johnson added a second personal record with his third-place finish in the discus at 56.50 meters (185-04 ft.) -- moving the junior from ninth on the Minnesota top performers list to eighth. Sam Elsner finished fifth with his second-best performance of the year at 56.26 meters (184-07 ft.). Bjerk posted his second top-10 finish of the night with a 10th-place showing at 52.70 meters (172-11 ft.) while Jennings came in 11th at 51.67 meters (169-06 ft.).
The Maroon & Gold also picked up a pair of personal records in the weight throw competition. Justin Barber jumped to seventh on Minnesota's top performers list with a new personal record of 60.93 meters (199-11 ft.) to finish fourth in Madison while Viktor Stelter also hit a personal record with his fifth-place throw of 58.63 meters (192-04 ft.). Mac Riedy came in seventh for the Gophers at 56.36 meters (184-11 ft.).
"Overall, it was a great night for our program," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "Our throwers really had an outstanding meet in Madison and are starting to peak heading into the Big Ten meet, and we also had a couple nice performances from our guys in La Crosse."
Meanwhile in La Crosse, the Gophers added three titles at the UW-La Crosse Eagle Open. Ryan Lockard paced the high jump competition at 2.02 meters (6-07.50 ft.), Tyler Tappe tied for first in the pole vault at 4.91 meters (16-01.25 ft.) and the 4x100 meter relay squad of Jordan Charles, Brad Neumann, Gemechu Godi and Trevor Yedoni picked up a win on Friday with a time of 41.03.
Also in action in La Crosse, Cole O'Brien finished fourth in the 1,500 meters with a new personal record of 3:52.73 while Brad Woodford came in 12th at 3:57.65 -- also a personal record. Matt Welch came in 18th at 4:02.00 while Matthew Jergenson finished 30th at 4:19.26.
Blayne Dulian led a pack of Gophers in the 800 meters with a fourth-place finish, clocking a 1:52.04 in his first 800 of the year. Matt Rosen finished fifth at 1:52.81 with Christian Skaret coming in ninth at 1:53.90 and Wayde Hall finishing 17th at 1:57.02.
The Gophers enter the championship schedule with the 2015 Big Ten Track & Field Championships, May 15-17, in East Lansing, Mich.
Players Mentioned
