Feb. 24, 2007

Championships Central | Day One Results

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The reigning Big Ten Men's Track & Field Champion Wisconsin set the stage for a seventh straight title on Saturday in the 2007 edition of the conference championships at Indiana's Gladstein Fieldhouse. The Badgers' Chris Solinsky defended his title in the 3000m run while 10 of his teammates advanced to Sunday's finals. At the end of day one competition, Wisconsin led all teams with 35 points.

The heptathlon edition of the 60m dash kicked off the 2007 championships meet, and Wisconsin's Joe Detmer - the heptathlon favorite - scored an early lead. The Badger senior clocked in at 7.16 seconds and moved into first place with 826 points. Penn State's Chris Morrisey and Shawn Colligan tied for second place with 816 points after crossing the finish line at 7.19 seconds. 

Detmer remained on top in the second heptathlon event, notching a meet-best 6.89m distance in the long jump. The performance stretched his overall lead to 41 points. Ohio State's Scott Hudepohl jumped from fourth place in the heptathlon standings to second with a 6.83m jump in the long jump, followed by Michigan's Frank Shotwell's 6.57m effort. The Penn State pair of Morrisey and Colligan kept themselves near the top of the standings with fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the event.

Indiana's Dan Kinsey distanced himself from the field in the heptathlon shot put with a first-place performance of 13.42m, more than a meter farther than any other heptathlon competitor. The next closest was Purdue's Andrew Rademacher's throw of 12.44m, which narrowly edged Wisconsin's Seth Pelock (12.43m) and Ohio State's Patrick Woods (12.42m). Detmer, then the standings leader, held his own with the seventh-best effort of 12.04m.

Ohio State's Hudepohl propelled himself to the top of the heptathlon standings at the end of day one with a third-place effort in the high jump. His jump of 1.97m brought his point total to 2954, separating himself from second-place Detmer by a single-digit margin. Woods scored a second-place finish in the high jump to put him at third in the overall standings with a total of 2898, followed by Penn State's Morrisey in fourth (2843).

In the long jump, Indiana's Kiwan Lawson scored the first NCAA qualifying mark of the championships with a long jump of 7.73m - good enough to meet provisional standards. The Hoosier senior bettered his runner-up mark of 20.36m from a year ago. Illinois' Nick Brown (7.54m) and Minnesota's Derek Gearman (7.50m) also earned provisional qualifications with their respective silver and bronze medal jumps.

Leonard Jatsek of Ohio State handily defended his title in the weight throw competition with a mark of 20.36m, scoring highly on his second finals 
attempt. Minnesota's Adam Schnaible earned silver with a 19.98m throw, while Purdue's Ben Harpenau score bronze medal honors with a 19.77m toss. All three earned NCAA provisional qualifications.

Pole vault favorite Mark Langolis kept the event gold in the Michigan State family after former Spartan Brad Gebauer won the event in 2006. Langolis' mark of 5.15m earned him first, while Indiana's Jeffrey Coover and Purdue's John Porter tied for second with 5.05m jumps.

Wisconsin began building on its sixth-straight championship by dominating the mile preliminaries with four Badgers advancing to Sunday's finals. Ohio State's Jeff See raced to the top time of the day in the third heat, clocking in at 4:08.70 to edge out Illinois' Jared Richardson. Justin Switzer of Michigan crossed the line right behind them at 4:09.18.

Wisconsin's Ryan Gasper led the pack in the first mile heat (4:09.48), closely followed by teammate John Bolas (4:09.69). In the second prelim, Badgers Craig Miller (4:13.42) and Brandon Bethke (4:13.56) crossed the line first to also advance to the finals.

In the 400m preliminary race, Minnesota's Aaron Buzard claimed the top seed with a time of 47.37. Michigan State's Jeremy Orr edged Michigan's Stann Waithe by 0.02 seconds for the No. 2 seed with a time of 47.53.

The first record of the championships fell in the 60m. Ohio State's Anthony Cole sprinted past Wisconsin's Demi Omole, who set the previous standard in 2006, for a finish of 6.67 seconds. Omole matched his title time from last year at 6.70 seconds, earning the second seed. Finishing third was Michigan's Adam Harris, the fourth-place finisher in last year's final. All of the top three qualified provisionally for the NCAA meet.

Michigan's Andrew Ellerton paced the field in the 800m run preliminary. He clocked a 1:51.99 finish for the top finals seed, followed by Michigan State's Phil Marlatt (1:52.57) and Minnesota's Hans Storvick (1:52.66). Marlatt, who finished sixth in last year's final, will see two familiar faces in fellow returning finalists Bobby Sherman of Michigan State and Mark Miller of Penn State.

The Wolverines secured another top seed when Michigan's Jeff Porter claimed first in the 60m hurdles preliminary race. Porter's time of 7.83 seconds edged defending champion Rickey Pinckney of Purdue by 0.04 seconds. Pinckney's teammate Keith Hopkins finished third at 7.90, ensuring everyone in the top three met NCAA provisional qualifying standards. Pinckney and Hopkins will race against their teammate Brian Kaluf who clocked in sixth.

In the 600m preliminary, Ohio State's Elon Simms cruised to a first-place finish of 1:17.88. Wisconsin added more finalists in the event with James Groce (1:18.14) and Joe Detmer (1:20.39). Michigan's John D'Arcy claimed the No. 3 seed, edging out Indiana's Ryan Smith by a split second.

Cole again dominated the field in the 200m dash, clocking in first at 21.34. Pole vault-winner Lawson crossed the line a fraction of a second later at 21.39.

Wisconsin senior Chris Solinsky did not need to match his Big Ten record performance of a year ago in the 3000m run to take home his second straight title. The reigning NCAA champion in the event, Solinsky won the gold with a time of 8:09.25. His teammate Tim Nelson was not far behind, finishing second with a time of 8:10.29. Another Badger scored at fourth place with Codie See earning a time of 8:16.47. Michigan's Lex William took home the bronze, clocking in at 8:11.59.

Michigan closed out day one action with a first-place finish in the distance medley relay. The Wolverine crew of Sean McNamara, Andre Barnes, Andrew Ellerton and Justin Switzer tallied a time of 9:45.39, earning gold and an NCAA provisional qualification.

Wisconsin's relay crew solidified the team's hold on the team standing lead at the day's end with a second-place finish (9:47.01). Ohio State, last year's champion, finished third at 9:50.08.

With five events scored at the end of day one, Indiana is second place, trailing Wisconsin by five points. Ohio State is third with 27 points, followed by Michigan (25), Purdue (24), Minnesota (22) and Michigan State (15). Eighth-place Illinois (12) and ninth-place Iowa (4) round out the team standings.  

Competition continues Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at Indiana's Gladstein Fieldhouse.