Amene, Foster, Zeller Advance to NCAA East Preliminary Quarterfinals

Amene, Foster, Zeller Advance to NCAA East Preliminary Quarterfinals

Site: Jacksonville, Fla. (Hodges Stadium)

Event: NCAA East Preliminaries (Day 1 of 2)

U-M Result: No Team Scoring

Next U-M Event: Friday, May 26 — at NCAA East Preliminaries – Day Two (Jacksonville Fla.), 1 p.m.

• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The University of Michigan men’s track and field team began action Wednesday (May 24) at the NCAA East Preliminaries at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium, where the Wolverines saw three athletes earn their way to quarterfinals.

Joshua Zeller secured his spot in quarterfinals, finishing third in the first round of the 110-meter hurdles. He won the fourth heat with a time of 13.43 seconds — his second-best time of the season and the third best in program history. The senior enters the quarterfinals in a tight race for the top spot, with the top three first-round finishers all within one-hundredth of a second of each other. He will go head-to-head with NC State’s Cameron Murray (13.41) and Tennessee’s Devon Brooks (13.42) on Friday (May 26).

In the 1,500 meters, Nick Foster and Arjun Jha, with Foster’s strategic racing paying off with an automatic spot in Friday’s quarterfinals. He finished third overall with a third-place run of 3:44.70 in the fourth heat. Jha raced in the third heat, finishing ninth with a time 3:50.04, good for 42nd overall.

With a season’s best 46.07, Dubem Amene earned a spot in the 400-meter quarterfinals. Amene fought hard to stay in the front of the pack approaching the final stretch in a close group of five sprinters. His time earned a fourth-place finish in the fifth heat and 10th overall and is the sixth-best time in program history.

Eli Winter represented Michigan in the hammer throw, fouling out and unable to advance to the event’s final rounds.

Cole Johnson ended his collegiate career with a 35th-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 1:50.67.

The final event of the day was the 10,000 meters, where Tom Brady finished 23rd in a 30:00.38. He came out strong to start the race, holding to the front of the pack for the first quarter. He remained in an open position, not closed in by his competitors. As the race sped up in closing laps, he…