Michigan
Wolverine Invitational
Wolverine Men to Help Open New Facility at Wolverine Invitational
1/10/2018 6:21:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Check back on Thursday and Friday for in-depth season previews of the field events (Thu.) and track events (Fri.).
» The Wolverines will compete in the first competition at the brand new Athletics South Competition and Performance Center on Saturday, Jan. 13, starting at 11 a.m.
» Michigan and many of its top student-athletes will square off against the likes of Michigan State, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, South Florida and more.
» Elite miles featuring two-time Olympic medalist Nick Willis and two-time Olympian Nicole Sifuentes kick off the main portion of track competition at 12:20 p.m., starting with Willis and others chasing the facility's first-ever sub-four-minute miles.
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THIS WEEK
Saturday, Jan. 13 -- Wolverine Invitational (Ann Arbor, Mich. / New U-M Indoor Track Building) 11 a.m.
Meet Central | Live Results | Meet Schedule
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After years of eager anticipation, the wait is finally over. With the Wolverine Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 13), the University of Michigan track and field team will compete for the first time in the new world-class indoor facility that it will call home.
The Wolverines' new facility, located at 2540 State Street next door to the tennis, wrestling, soccer and gymnastics complexes, will host the first of its four home meets in 2018, beginning at 11 a.m.
The crowd in the facility's 2,000-plus capacity spectator area will see the Wolverines take on the likes of Michigan State, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, South Florida, Hillsdale and Western Ontario. Admission into the event is free of charge.
Field events get rolling first at 11 a.m., followed by preliminary rounds of track events at 11:30 and a slate of finals on the track starting at 12:20 p.m. -- the latter kicked off by the facility's first sub-four-minute mile attempt featuring two-time Olympic medalist Nick Willis and an elite women's mile race headlined by two-time Olympian Nicole Sifuentes.
Fans unable to attend in person and partake in the festivities of the facility's first competition can follow along by way of live results from Delta Timing and updates from the official Michigan Track and Field social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram.
Team Outlook & Notes
• The Wolverines will enter the season ranked No. 24 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Preseason National Computer Rankings. Last year's men started the 2017 campaign ranked No. 26 before finishing the season tied for 22nd at the NCAA Indoor Championships -- the program's best finish since a sixth-place team effort in 2007. This is the best preseason rank for the men since starting No. 17 in 2009.
• Now a co-head coach sharing stewardship of the newly combined Michigan men's and women's track and field program alongside James Henry, fifth-year coach Jerry Clayton will continue overseeing the men's team in its national ascent. For the third straight year the Wolverines checked in with a preseason rank superior to the previous January. Last year, Clayton guided a squad that produced four first-team All-America honors, three more second-team awards and two Big Ten titles.
• Leading the charge again in 2018 are the two men who scored Michigan's 10 points at nationals last season in weight throwers Grant Cartwright and Joe Ellis. Cartwright was the national runner-up in the event and Ellis was seventh, becoming the first teammates to score in the NCAA weight throw since 2012. They will open up their seasons at the Simmons-Harvey Quad on Saturday, Jan. 20, along with Andrew Liskowitz, who was the nation's top freshman shot putter last outdoor season.
• The distance corps returns a group of redshirt seniors who have scored either indoors or outdoors and are coming off one of the most successful cross country seasons in program history. Aaron Baumgarten scored at both 3,000 and 5,000 meters in 2017, Connor Mora was a two-time scorer outdoors last year in addition to his sub-four-minute mile last winter. Ben Flanagan will hope to replicate his cross country success -- he was an All-American, the Regional champion and the Big Ten Athlete of the Year -- on the indoor circuit.
• As it has been in each of the past two seasons, the sprinting and hurdling group is once again led by Taylor McLaughlin. Now a junior, McLaughlin is the school record-holder at 400 meters and has scored three times at Big Ten Indoors. He will have plenty of support from redshirt seniors Khoury Crenshaw and Drake Johnson in the short sprints and hurdles, respectively. Crenshaw is a two-time Big Ten Indoor scorer, while Johnson was a 60-meter hurdles finalist a year ago.
• Kevin Stephens, Jr., is looking to score in the Big Ten Indoor triple-jump final for the fourth time in his career, headlining the Wolverines' jumps squad. Stephens was the Big Ten Indoor runner-up in 2016, and is coming off a fifth-place finish in 2017. Leading the vertical jumps is pole vaulter Kevin Haughn, who has a Big Ten Outdoor scoring performance to his name from 2016.
Players Mentioned
