Michigan Wolverines men's track and field
| Michigan Wolverines | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| University | University of Michigan |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Location | Ann Arbor, MI |
| Head coach | Fred LaPlante (2nd year) |
| Indoor track | U-M Indoor Track Building |
| Outdoor track | Ferry Field |
| Nickname | Wolverines |
| Colors | Maize and Blue |
| NCAA Outdoor Championships | |
| 1923 | |
| Conference Indoor Championships | |
| 1918, 1919,1923, 1925, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1994 | |
| Conference Outdoor Championships | |
| 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1918, 1919, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1955, 1956, 1961, 1962, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2008 | |
The Michigan Wolverines men's track and field team is the intercollegiate track and field program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Michigan men's track and field athletes have won 43 NCAA individual event championships, 14 Olympic gold medals, 57 Big Ten Conference team championships (31 outdoor, 26 indoor), and one NCAA team championship.
The team has had 11 coaches in 109 years from 1901 to 2009. The team is currently coached by head coach Fred LaPlante and associate head coach Ron Warhurst.
Michigan's first track coach was the famous trainer Keene Fitzpatrick (1864 - 1944). Fitzpatrick was a track coach, athletic trainer, professor of physical training and gymnasium director for 42 years at Yale (1890-1891, 1896-1898), Michigan (1894-1895, 1898-1910), and Princeton (1910-1932). He was considered "one of the pioneers of intercollegiate sport." Fitzpatrick was first hired by Michigan in 1894 as the trainer for the school's football team. He continued to be the trainer of Michigan's football teams through 1910, and was credited by many with the success of Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" football teams of the early 1900s.
Fitzpatrick became Michigan's first track coach in 1900 and continued to serve in that role through 1910. During those years, Fitzpatrick's teams compiled a 24-2-1 record in dual meets and won Western Conference track championships in 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, and 1906. In 1907, Michigan sent its track team east to compete for the first time in the Inter-Collegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America ("IC4A") meet, and Fitzpatrick's team came away with 29 points and a second-place finish.
Fitzpatrick's athletes also excelled in Olympic competition. Over the course of four Olympic Games held during his tenure as track coach, Michigan track and field athletes won 15 medals, including 7 gold medals.
In 1900, funds were solicited from faculty, students, alumni and Ann Arbor businessmen to send Fitzpatrick and four Michigan track athletes to the Olympics in Paris. Michigan's John McLean won a silver medal in the high hurdles, and Michigan's champion pole-vaulter, Charles Dvorak, became involved in a Sabbath controversy. When finals of some events were scheduled for Sunday, several American university teams agreed they could not violate the Sabbath. Among the finals scheduled for Sunday was the pole vault, in which Dvorak was a favorite. Dvorak was reportedly told that the final had been rescheduled, but the event was held after Dvorak and another American left. Several special competitions were conducted later to accommodate the Americans, which allowed Dvorak to win a silver medal.
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