University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Gophers Finish Seventh at B1G Meet
5/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Photo Gallery | Results
LINCOLN, Neb. (GopherSports.com) -- Behind three of the best performances in Gophers history, the No. 14 University of Minnesota men's track & field program finished seventh at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday at Ed Weir Stadium. The Maroon & Gold totaled 72 points over the three-day meet.
One of many highlight performances for the #Gophers came at the conclusion of the Big Ten meet as the 4x400 meter relay team of Brad Neumann, Nate Roese, Goaner Deng and Jack Wellenstein finished as the runner-up for eight team points. With a time of 3:04.46, the relay squad ran the fifth-fastest time in school history.
In his final Big Ten meet, Johnson -- a senior captain for the Gophers -- hit a personal record of 19.54 meters (64-01.25 ft.) to finish third and net Minnesota six team points. The senior's mark is the best by a Gopher in a decade and moves him up to third all-time at Minnesota, behind only Ron Backes (20.92 meters, 68-07.50 ft.) in 1986 and Karl Erickson (19.93 meters, 65-04.75 ft.) in 2006.
The 4x100 meter relay squad of Jordan Charles, Neumann, Gemechu Godi and Trevor Yedoni also posted one of the top all-time performances at the University of Minnesota. The relay squad clocked a 40.14 to finish fourth and grab five points for the Maroon & Gold while the Gophers time now ranks second in school history. Only the 2000 Minnesota unit of Matt Taylor, Steve Burkholder, Adam Freed and Fred Rodgers have ran faster at 39.95.
Senior Aaron Bartnik added a fourth-place finish of his own in the 5,000 meters to pick up five more points behind his time of 14:14.20. Bartnik finished the Big Ten meet with a total of 11 points.
Deng -- also a senior captain -- contributed another four points individually in the 800 meters with his fifth-place finish at 1:48.33 while Wellenstein, who ran the seventh-fastest 400-meter time in school history at 46.62 to qualify for the finals, clocked a 46.90 on Sunday to finish seventh and earn two team points.
Jordan Charles added three points at sixth in the triple jump, hitting a personal record of 15.00 meters (49-02.50 ft.).
Meanwhile, Derek Wiebke (3:48.68) and Obsa Ali (3:50.58) finished 10th and 11th, respectively, in the 1,500 meters. Ali and Adam Zutz came in 14th (14:35.95) and 21st (14:48.54), respectively, in the 5,000 meters. James Travis finished 16th in the triple jump at 13.71 meters (44-11.75 ft.).
Minnesota opened the final day of competition in Lincoln with 39 points. Luca Wieland posted a
total of 11 points for the Maroon & Gold with his second-straight conference title in the decathlon as well as an eighth-place showing in the long jump while Minnesota also 12 points in the high jump as Ryan Lockard finished second and Nick Bachinski finished fifth. Bartnik finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for six points on Saturday. Sean Donnelly gave Minnesota its first points of the meet with a runner-up showing in the weight throw for eight points on Friday with Zutz picking up two more points at seventh in the 10,000 meters.
The Gophers return to action with the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Preliminary Round, May 26-28, in Lawrence, Kan.
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Players Mentioned
