Michigan
NCAA Championships (Day 1)
Brannen Misses Cut at NCAA Indoor Championships
3/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Freshman Nathan Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) of the University of Michigan men's track and field team failed to qualify for the finals in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday evening (March 8) at the Randall Tyson Track Center. Brannen, the lone representative for the U-M men's team, missed by one spot qualifying for Saturday's 10-person final.
Brannen's time of 4:03.53 was actually the eighth fastest time of the day, but failed to qualify for the finals as the top three people in each of the two heats automatically advanced to run on Saturday. John Jefferson of Indiana had the fastest time in heat one with a mark of 4:06.26, over two seconds behind the pace set by Brannen. In heat two, seven of the eight runners made the final, led by Donald Sage of Stanford, who ran the fastest time of the day with a mark of 4:01.80. Brannen was eighth in heat two, 0.84 seconds off the final qualifying position held by Chris Mulvaney of Arkansas (4:02.69).
Brannen's time of 4:03.53 was his third fastest time of the year in the mile. At the Boston Indoor Games (Jan. 28), Brannen posted his best mark of the season at 4:01.40 and then followed that with a time of 4:02.12 at the George Mason Patriot Games (Feb. 2).
Michigan will open its outdoor season when it competes at the Florida State Relays from Thursday through Saturday, March 21-23, in Tallahassee, Fla.
Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 1)
(Events in which U-M competed only)
Mile Run (Preliminaries) Heat One 1. John Jefferson, Indiana 4:06.26Q 2. Hunter Spencer, Kentucky 4:06.27Q 3. Eliud Njubi, Texas Christian 4:06.90Q 4. Scott McGowan, Montana State 4:06.91 5. Eric Garner, Washington 4:07.06 6. Brandon Strong, Arizona State 4:08.27 7. Daniel Wilson, Connecticut 4:08.41 8. Bashar Ibrahim, UTEP 4:12.02 Heat Two 1. Donald Sage, Stanford 4:01.80Q 2. Christian Goy, Illinois State 4:02.09Q 3. David Kimani, Alabama 4:02.18Q 4. Joel Atwater, Weber State 4:02.43q 5. Brendon Mahoney, Georgia Tech 4:02.50q 6. Jeremy Tolman, Weber State 4:02.66q 7. Chris Mulvaney, Arkansas 4:02.69q 8. Nathan Brannen, U-M 4:03.53 Q automatically qualified as one of top three of heat q qualified with one of next four fastest times
Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423
