University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
NCAA First Round
4x400 Squad Qualifies for NCAA Championships
5/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Results
LAWRENCE, Kan. (GopherSports.com) -- The No. 16 University of Minnesota men's track & field program will send six competitors to the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships next month in Oregon after the 4x400 meter relay team qualified on Saturday during the final day of competition at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Round.
"At meets like this, it's all about moving guys along to the next level, and it was great to see our 4x400 relay team accomplish that today," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "We had several nice performances this weekend by our relay teams and individual performers, and now we'll move on and start preparing for the national meet in two weeks."
Behind legs from Brad Neumann, Nate Roese, Goaner Deng and Jack Wellenstein, the Gophers ran a 3:05.95 to grab the final qualifying position in 12th overall. The mark stands as the team's second-fastest 4x400 meter relay this season, trailing only their time of 3:04.46 at the Big Ten meet two weeks ago (that mark ranks fifth all-time at Minnesota).
Meanwhile, the Gophers 4x100 meter relay team of Jordan Charles, Neumann, Gemechu Godi and Trevor Yedoni ran the second fastest time in school history for the second meet in a row -- improving their own mark from the Big Ten championships with a 40.08 on Saturday. The time put them in 13th overall -- one spot out of qualifying for the national championships. Only Matt Taylor, Steve Burkholder, Adam Freed and Fred Rodgers have ran faster in the 4x100 meter relay for the Maroon & Gold, running 39.95 in 2000.
Derek Wiebke also ran a personal record in the 1,500 meters, clocking a 3:44.75 to finish 14th.
In other action, Luke Johnson finished 20th in the shot put at 18.01 meters (59-01.25 ft.) while Obsa Ali finished 36th in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:52.68.
The 4x400 meter relay team joins Sean Donnelly, who finished fourth in the hammer throw on Friday (66.34 meters, 217-08 ft.) and Mitch Hechsel, who finished sixth in the 800 meters on Friday (1:48.37), as Minnesota representatives at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 8-11.
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