University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Lockard, Ferretti Earn All-America Honors
3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (GopherSports.com) - The No. 24 University of Minnesota men's track & field program picked up a pair of Second Team All-America honors from Ryan Lockard and Gian Ferretti as the Gophers opened the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday.
Both already Second Team All-Big Ten honorees, Lockard added his first career All-America accolade with a 10th-place finish in the high jump at 2.13 meters (6-11.75 ft.) while Ferretti picked up his second career honor and first in the indoor season with a 15th-place finish in the weight throw at 19.21 meters (63-00.25 ft.).
"Ryan and Gian did a great job for us today, and I couldn't be prouder of the effort they've put in the last couple weeks," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "All in all, we had a nice opening day, and hopefully we'll have more of the same on Saturday."
While Lockard and Ferretti closed out their indoor seasons, All-Americans Goaner Deng and Luca Wieland continued theirs on Friday.
Deng qualified for the 800 meters finals with a 1.47.98 in the preliminary rounds while defending NCAA heptathlon champion Luca Wieland currently sits in third with 3,504 points - 149 points off the lead. Wieland posted a 6.87 in the 60 meters, a 7.53 meter leap (24-08.5 ft.) in the long jump, a 1.98 meter leap (6-06.00 ft.) in the high jump and a toss of 13.90 meters (45-07.25 ft.) in the shot put.
The pair will be joined by Luke Johnson, who is set to compete in the shot put, on Saturday.
Donnelly Finishes Third at USATF Indoors
Competing unattached at the 2016 USATF Indoor Track & Field Championships in Portland, Ore., Sean Donnelly hit a huge personal record to finish third in the weight throw. The Division III national champion and All-American closed out the day with a performance of 23.05 meters (75-07.5 ft.)
Meanwhile, Gophers alum and 13-time All-American Harun Abda posted the second-fastest time in Friday's 800 meter preliminaries. Abda will move on to Saturday's finals after clocking a 1:47.99. All-American Hassan Mead finished sixth in the 3,000 meters while All-American Zach Siegmeier finished seventh in the pole vault.
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Players Mentioned
