Applewhite Hurdles to Career Best at Penn Relays

Saturday, April 27

Philadelphia, Pa.

Michigan

Penn Relays (Day 3)

4/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team capped off the final day of the Penn Relays on Saturday (April 27) with two standout performances. In front of a record-setting Penn Relays crowd of 50,827 at Franklin Field, junior tri-captain Derek Applewhite (Brighton, Colo./Brighton HS) set a career best in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x800-meter relay posted a fifth-place finish.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Applewhite led a trio of Wolverines in what proved to be a strong event for Michigan. With a time of 51.58, Applewhite bested his previous best of 51.69 en route to the top time in his heat and sixth place overall. Applewhite's time was .14 of a second faster than Brian Derby of Penn State, who was the 2001 Big Ten outdoor champion in the event.

Sophomore Andrew Ochs (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline HS) and freshman DarNell Talbert (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) also posted top-30 finishes out of the 58-person field in the 400-meter hurdles. Ochs led the underclassmen with a 21st-place finish (53.52), while Talbert followed in 30th (53.98).

The final event for Michigan at the Penn Relays was the 4x800-meter relay as the Wolverines placed fifth with a time of 7:23.95. All four of the runners for the Maize and Blue posted splits of 1:52.4 or faster, including a time of 1:49.6 by freshman Alan Webb (Reston, Va./South Lakes HS) on the second leg. Sophomore Dan Cooke (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney HS) led off the relay and put Webb in a good position for the baton by running with the lead pack. After Webb's leg, juniors Philip Stead (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child HS) and Jeremy Schneider (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Andover HS) were able to secure the fifth-place finish with splits of 1:50.9 and 1:51.1, respectively.

Michigan's next meet will be Sunday, May 5, at the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus, Ohio. The Wolverines were originally slated to compete at the Toledo Invitational on May 3-4, but the meet will not be held in order to make repairs on the track.

Event Winners/U-M Finishers

Saturday Results

400-meter Hurdles 1. Rickey Harris, Florida 49.61* 6. Derek Applewhite, U-M 51.58 21. Andrew Ochs, U-M 53.52 30. DarNell Talbert, U-M 53.98 4x800-meter Relay 1. Georgetown 7:20.07 (Ezra Richards, Ali Najjar, Dylan Welsh, Jesse O'Connell) 5. Michigan 7:23.95 (Dan Cooke, Alan Webb, Philip Stead, Jeremy Schneider) * NCAA automatic qualifying mark # NCAA provisional mark