University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Iowa State Classic
Jordan Charles Paces Gophers at ISU
2/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
AMES, Iowa (GopherSports.com) - Jordan Charles ran one of the fastest times in University of Minnesota history and the fastest 60-meter dash time in the Big Ten this year to kick off the Iowa State Classic with an individual title on Friday.
A native of Apple Valley, Minn., Charles clocked a 6.68 to lead all competitors in the prelims and then repeated both the performance and time to take the event title in the finals.
"Jordan had a really great breakthrough performance today, and what's even better is that he did it twice," Minnesota Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "He's really been a solid performer for us recently. He works hard every day, and he's getting better and better every week."
Not only is the performance a personal record for Charles and the Big Ten's fastest 60-meter dash time this season, it also ranks among the top times in program history. The 6.68 mark ties Charles for second on the Gophers' top performers list with Sean King. Only All-American Ibrahim Kabia has ran faster for the Maroon & Gold (6.63).
"I'm still amazed," Charles, who will compete in the triple jump tomorrow at Lied Recreational Center said. "It was a complete shock to see the time come up on the board after both races, I didn't believe it until Coach (Paul) Thornton came up and told me it was real."
The title was one of three in the meet's opening day for Minnesota. Glen Harold also contributed a personal record and an individual title for the Gophers in the pole vault. The Elm Grove, Wis., native cleared 5.30 meters (17-04.50 ft.) to pick up the win for Minnesota.
Luca Wieland added a win in the long jump with a season-best mark of 7.50 meters (24-07.25 ft.) and Mason Roomes came in sixth at 6.98 meters. Evan Ferlic led his 3,000 meter heat at 8:16.96 with additional heats running late into the night on Friday.
Derek Wiebke posted a personal record in the mile with his seventh-place finish at 4:03.80 while Brad Neumann ran his fastest 200 meters of the year to come in seventh at 21.57. Jonathan Webb also qualified for the 60-meter dash finals, closing out the event in eighth at 6.90.
"All in all, we had a good day to open a very competitive meet," Plasencia said. "This is one of our first real tests of the year, and it was great to see several of the guys step up to the challenge with personal records and season-best marks."
The ISU Classic continues into Friday night as does the UST Showcase in St. Paul. The Gophers will close out the weekend in Ames on Saturday.
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Players Mentioned
