The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/130469
big ten championships: men's track U-M Searches For Leaders To Emerge After Disappointing Finish The U-M men's track and field team struggled at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships May 10-12, culminating its season with a lackluster finish in 10th place. The major story from the opening day for the Wolverines had to be the inspiring effort from fifth-year senior multi-event star Kurt Reichenbach. He had to wait through a two-hour rain delay, but when it mattered Reichenbach shined in the decathlon. He established career-bests in the 100-meter dash (11.18 seconds), long jump (7.02 meters) and shot put (12.38 meters), and stood in eighth with 3,822 points after day one. "Reichenbach's decathlon performance was outstanding, something you only get to do once or twice throughout the season," head coach Fred LaPlante said. "He had a great meet, broke the school record and will qualify for NCAAs. "His performance was really great, and came at a time when it was early in the meet to keep our guys focused and our heads in it. That was an outstanding performance." On day two, he picked up where he Fifth-year senior Kurt Reichenbach set left off, scoring second-place in the a school record with 7,412 points in the javelin (56.04 meters). Combined with decathlon en route to a third-place finish at a fourth-place effort in the 1,500-me- the conference meet. photo courtesy michigan ter run (4.29:60), Reichenbach grabbed athletic media relations third-place, something no Wolverine had ever done in the history of the two-day decathlon at the league meet. The total of 7,412 points set a Michigan record. "I knew it was going to be really close," he noted. "I knew I had to surpass at least 680 points if I was going to get on the podium. I made up all of them in the javelin. I wasn't sure at first how many I had. I knew I was going to make a good run, and I ended up beating the school record by 40." Despite Reichenbach's six team points, the Wolverines ranked seventh in the