Redshirt junior Lex Williams’ outdoor campaign continues to improve.

Competing in the 5,000-meter run on Friday at the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus, Ohio, Williams not only crossed the finish line first, but also set a meet record of 14:01.62. Williams, along with teammate redshirt junior Sean McNamara, set a blistering pace from the start. Despite battling heavy downpours, the two hit the mile mark at 4:26. The duo led throughout the race with McNamara finishing second, only six seconds behind his teammate, and earning an automatic qualification for the NCAA Midwest Regional.

“Both Lex and Sean had very good performances under the circumstances,” said Michigan coach Fred LaPlante. “There were thunderstorms prior to the race, and it was questionable if they were even going to run or not.”

The two distance runners were joined by junior thrower Sean Pruitt who registered an NCAA regional qualifying hammer throw of 201-9, which earned him fifth place at the meet.

The trio's performances were a few of the scarce highlights for the Michigan men's track and field team in the non-scoring meet.

On April 11, when the Wolverines competed at the Jesse Owens Memorial Track, the Wolverines put together a total team effort to defeat Ohio State in "The Dual," 105-98, and regain "The Dual" pennant they lost in the team's indoor matchup with the Buckeyes earlier in the season.

But this weekend, Michigan fell flat.

While the conditions were better on the second day of competition, Michigan’s sprinting contingent gave the Wolverines only a few reasons to celebrate.

Michigan’s 4x100-meter relay team of sophomore Troy Woolfolk, senior Andre Barnes, junior Kyle Trepak and senior Adam Harris lost a close race to Ohio State. The team was able to better their mark from "The Dual," but the relay finished second, out of 15, to Ohio State’s winning relay team by three-tenths of a second.

The non-scoring meet forced many of the team's seniors to make a difficult choice.

While Harris, Barnes and other seniors decided to compete in one of the few meets left in their collegiate careers, others like fifth-year senior and co-captain Dan Harmsen opted to take time off from this weekend's competition to attend commencement ceremonies.

"We always leave it up to them," LaPlante said. "Some kids want to compete and some want to go to graduation."

The Wolverines will need a total team effort much like their performance at "The Dual" to defend their conference title at the Big Ten Championships in two weeks in Columbus.