Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - May 15, 2014

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/312813

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 67 of 80

68 // VARSITY May 15, 2014 Lihrman looks for record mark at Big Ten meet UW junior looks to rewrite record books again A fter a record-setting weekend, UW junior Michael Lihrman en- ters this weekend's 2014 Big Ten Outdoor Championships as the favorite in the hammer throw after breaking the Big Ten record at the Wisconsin Open last Saturday. His first-attempt throw of 233 feet, 3 inches smashed his previous personal best and his own Wisconsin record by over seven feet. He also broke Dan Taylor's conference record of 227-6 en route to winning his seventh title of the season and his first win of the outdoor season. "If feels awesome," Lihrman said of his effort. "Just to keep moving up, keep extending the record. "I didn't expect to throw this far." Lihrman's goal for the weekend is to break the 72-meter mark, or 236-2. That would put him in the top three in the na- tion heading into NCAA West Prelimi- nary Round, May 29-31. The Big Ten Indoor Field Athlete of the Year has dominated his competition during the 2014 season, as the Rice Lake, Wisconsin, native has not lost to a colle- giate competitor in 10 events this year. There's a few similarities between the indoor and outdoor seasons for Lihrman. In his final meet before the Big Ten in- door championships, he set the NCAA Di- vision I record in the weight throw with an incredible mark of 79-7 1/2. In his final meet before the conference outdoor meet, he broke the school, facil- ity and conference record in the hammer throw. "This is really setting up well for Big Tens," Lihrman said. "Indoors I threw my furthest on my first throw, just before Big Tens, and I did the exact same thing at this meet." As in the indoor season, Lihrman will face tough competition at the Big Ten meet as he looks to win his second league title on Friday at 3 p.m. (CT). "It's a very strong event in the Big Ten," Wisconsin director of cross coun- try and track & field Mick Byrne said. "Nobody is going to hand Michael a title. Just like indoors, he has to fight every throw. There's going to be a lot of guys looking for that title. "Michael's going to have to compete at his highest level, as are all of our top athletes." SCHEDULE COMING UP Fri.-Sun. Big Ten Championships INSIDE MEN'S TRACK & FIELD BY AJ HARRISON @BADGER_TRACK

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics - Varsity - May 15, 2014