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