University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Wieland Defends Big Ten Decathlon Crown
5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Results | Photo Gallery
LINCOLN, Neb. (GopherSports.com) - Luca Wieland successfully defended his Big Ten decathlon title over the weekend at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships, becoming just the fifth man in conference history to repeat as Big Ten decathlon champion and the second Gopher to do so.
Through two days of competition, the University of Minnesota men's track & field program currently sits third in the Big Ten standings with 39 points.
"The Big Ten is not getting any easier. There are a lot of good teams and good competitors and scoring points means more than ever," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "To have Luca win another Big Ten title in the decathlon, especially with the way he had to battle to win it this year, was excellent."
A native of Saarbrucken, Germany, Wieland totaled 7,784 points over the 10 events for a new personal record that also ranks second all-time at the Minnesota. Only Jack Szmanda has scored higher for the Gophers with 7,862 points at the 2012 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
With Wieland's second-straight win in the decathlon and Jess Lehman's back-to-back wins in the women's heptathlon, the University of Minnesota is the first school in Big Ten history to sweep the outdoor multi-events in back-to-back years.
Wieland paced the competition in three events over the two-day competition including the discus throw on Saturday with a toss of 44.53 meters (146-01.25 ft.) for 757 points. The junior added a fourth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.90 for 862 points, a sixth-place finish in the pole vault at 4.31 meters (14-01.75 ft.) for 705 points and an eighth-place finish in the javelin with a personal record at 50.50 meters (165-08.25 ft.) for 596 points. He locked up the title with 580 points in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:56.56.
In the decathlon's first day of competition on Friday, Wieland led the long jump at 7.71 meters (25-03.50 ft.) for 987 points and the shot put at 14.43 meters (47-04.25 ft.) for 775 points. The junior opened the day with a fourth-place finish in the 100 meters at 10.83 for 899 points and added an additional 859 points with a second-place showing in the high jump at 2.06 meters (6-09.00 ft.). He closed out the opening day with a personal record in the 400 meters, netting 784 points in eighth with a time of 50.67.
Wieland, who totaled 11 team points for the Gophers with 10 coming from the decathlon win and an additional point with his eighth-place finish in the long jump at 7.30 meters (23-11.50 ft.), is now the second Gopher student-athlete to repeat as Big Ten decathlon champion following Travis Brandstatter, who captured the conference crown in 2004 and 2005. The Maroon & Gold also won two-straight Big Ten decathlon titles from Ben Jensen in 1999 and Glenn Lundqvist in 2000.
"I'm just glad I was able to score some points for the team today," Wieland said. "It was tough getting through the two days, especially coming in banged up. It was frustrating not being able to go 100 percent, but we were able to get the job done."
While Wieland totaled 11 points, the Gophers picked up 12 team points in the long jump from Ryan Lockard and Nick Bachinski. An indoor Second Team All-Big Ten honoree earlier this year, Lockard repeated the accolade with a runner-up finish on Saturday, clearing 2.15 meters (7-00.50 ft.) to finish second while Bachinski came in fifth at 2.07 meters (6-09.50 ft.).
Aaron Bartnik closed out the day with a third-place finish for the Maroon & Gold in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, picking up six team points with a time of 8:53.19.
"It really takes something to score in the Big Ten these days, and our guys did a nice job today," Plasencia said.
Minnesota also advanced several competitors out of preliminary races on Saturday. Jack Wellenstein ran a personal record of 46.62 in the 400 meters to advance to Sunday's finals while he also moved into the Gophers' all-time top-10 at No. 6. Senior captain Goaner Deng led all competitors in the the 800-meter preliminaries at 1:48.03 while the Gophers also advanced a pair of runners in the 1,500 meter preliminaries with Derek Wiebke and Obsa Ali moving on at 3:48.89 and 3:51.53, respectively.
Meanwhile, Sam Elsner finished 11th in the discus at 52.88 meters (173-06.00 ft.) while Luke Johnson came in 16th at 49.36 meters (161-11.50 ft.).
Minnesota concludes competition at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday at Ed Weir Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.
###
Players Mentioned
