On the eve of a brand new season, the Michigan men’s track and field team looked to shake off some rust during the Wolverine Invitational on Saturday.
While a few Michigan runners competed in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener back in December, the Wolverine Invitational was the first time that the Wolverines were able to see what their team looked like as a whole. This came in the form of competition against schools from across the Midwest and Canada, and some professional runners, in a non-scoring event.
Setting the tone were graduate sprinter Dante Bassham and junior sprinter Tianhao Wei, who both qualified for the men’s 60 meter dash final. However, they both finished slower in the final compared to their prelim performances.
“For me personally there’s a lot more in the tank than what you guys saw out there today,” Bassham said. “ … The time will definitely get better.”
This sentiment for growth was apparent throughout the meet for Michigan. The Wolverines’ throwers had a strong showing, earning three of the top four places in the weight throw, the top two finishes in the shot put and third in the long jump. However, their top performers showed their early season rust, faulting several times throughout the competition.
“Indoor might not be our strongest scores,” senior thrower Eli Winter said. “But we’re just looking for some good performances to get us through to outdoor.”
Michigan’s strong showing in the 60-meter dash and in field competitions proves that it has the talent to compete at a high level, but it will need to correct mistakes across the board once meets become scored.
In distance events, the Wolverines looked outmatched at times. Facing stiff, professional competition from the Very Nice Track Club, they couldn’t crack the podium. Sophomore distance runner Jack Kelke pushed himself to a personal best in the 3000 meter, coming in just seventh place. Once Michigan faces off against only collegiate competition, it hopes the potential of its distance runners will parlay into success on the track.
In arguably the best performance for the Wolverines all day, senior sprinter Dubem Amene took home first in the 200 meter, winning the event by over a half a second.
“That time was number five in the country right now,” Michigan coach Kevin Sullivan said. “So to start the season off like that is very impressive”
Looking at the middle-distance races, freshman distance runner Trent McFarland and sophomore distance runner Riley Flemington took home first and second places, respectively, in the 800 meter race, each running a time of 1:51, with McFarland edging out his teammate by 17 hundredths of a second.
In the meet’s final event, the Wolverines’ premier 4×400 meter race team consisted of junior sprinter Lawrence Gilliam, Amene, graduate sprinter Christian Pulselli and freshman distance runner Kepler Huntress. The four took home first with a time of 3:14:81, good for 13th best in the country.
Between Huntress anchoring the 4×400 meter race and the dominant performances in the 800 meter all coming from underclassmen, Michigan hopes it will be able to count on its younger runners for strong performances throughout the season after their promising start.
“This was a really good meet for our young guys,” Sullivan said. “It’s good for them to get into this type of competitive atmosphere and it just shows that they’re good competitors.”
Ultimately, Saturday’s meet demonstrated that the Wolverines have the foundation for a strong team. Yet it’s clear they will also need to hone in on the details to build on that foundation.