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The men and women of the Michigan track & field teams are back in action this weekend with the bulk of the teams headed to Fayetteville, Arkansas, while a select few men are headed to the prestigious Penn Relays.
Senior Aaron Baumgarten and sophomore Jacob Branch headline the group of eight Wolverines to compete at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia tonight. Baumgarten will be competing with five teammates in the 5,000m race and will attempt to break the 14 minute barrier. Baumgarten’s current personal best stands at 14:00.64 set in 2016 and last year Baumgarten ran 14:05.05 at this very meet.
Branch will look to continue the Wolverines’ recent 10,000m success by flirting with the 30 minute barrier. Last weekend at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational, senior Ben Flanagan won the 10,000m with a impressive 29:33 season debut. After a disappointing cross country season, Branch is in need of a confidence building race with championship season looming.
The rest of the Wolverines will be headed to the National Relay Championships hosted by the University of Arkansas beginning on Friday. Don’t let the name fool you, this meet is nothing more than another regular season competition. Senior Jamie Morrissey will be the the Wolverine to watch here. She will be running on the distance medley relay and attempting to overtake Penn State sophomore Danae Rivers for the fastest 800m time in the conference.
With the Big Ten Championships only two weeks away, the veteran laden Wolverines are trending in the right direction and strong performances this weekend could propel them to their best conference performances since 2016.
Penn Relays Race Times
Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase - Kevin Hall - Thursday, 7:40 PM
Men’s 5000m - Aaron Baumgarten, Billy Bund, Jacob Lee, Christian Hubaker, Isaac Harding, Jack Aho - Thursday, 9:25 PM
Men’s 10,000m - Jacob Branch - Thursday, 11:05 pm
National Relay Championships Race Times
The comprehensive list of start times for the National Relay Championships can be found using the link below: