Brendan Lodge knew it was a good throw. Needing something special to win the weight throw, and down to his last attempt, the freshman felt good about his effort as soon as he released it.
- Roshan Reddy
- Michigan junior Jeff Porter won his third high-hurdle event at the Terrier Classic in Boston. Porter clocked a 7.46 in the final to secure first place. (FILE PHOTO)
“I knew it was a good throw,” Lodge said. “I definitely felt like it was a personal best, but I had no idea it was that good.”
Lodge had released a throw of 61-5, besting the previous Michigan school record of 61-4 set by Patrick Johansson in 1999.
“When I’m given the measurements (at the meet), they are in metric,” Lodge said. “I can’t convert accurately in my head. So I knew it was close (to the record), but I had no idea (my throw) was (the record) until later.”
Lodge’s throw was the story for the Michigan men’s track and field team Friday at the Terrier Classic in Boston. In a non-scoring meet that seemed to be more about progress than results, the freshman’s throw, along with the impressive win by his teammate and friend Sean Pruitt in the shot put, drew strong praise from all around.
“I was seeing some (good) things in practice,” field coach David Kaiser said. “I thought that, if (Brendan and Sean) could execute those things in a meet situation, there were some special things that could happen. And, certainly, they both pulled it off.”
Lodge and Pruitt’s strong showings were just two of the many things that impressed Michigan coach Ron Warhurst about his team in this meet.
“Everybody performed well today,” Warhurst said. “We had three guys in the 3,000 (-meter) get personal bests, and our 4×4 relay had a great run.”
Warhurst also praised freshman miler Justin Switzer, who finished his race in 4:05, as well as junior Jeff Porter, who won the hurdles.
Porter’s race was especially impressive. He won his third high-hurdle event in as many meets, clocking a 7.46 in the final to capture first place.
“Thus far this season, I am pretty happy with my progress,” Porter said. “My times are still coming down, and I am getting much more technically sound on the hurdles.”
Next weekend, the Wolverines travel to South Bend for the Meyo Invitational. These next few meets are not nearly as important to the team as the fast-approaching Big Ten season, but Porter still sees a lot for the Wolverines to strive for.
“We are still doing a lot of heavy lifting early in the weeks, which really takes a lot out of you,” Porter said. “But, nonetheless, the coaches want to make sure we can still compete when we are heavy and tired. Then, later on, when we are fresh, we will be ready to go.”