Brannen Earns NCAA Provisional Mark in 800-Meter Run

Saturday, May 11

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan

Len Paddock Invitational (Day 2)

5/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Freshman Nathan Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) capped off a successful weekend for the University of Michigan men's track and field team at the Len Paddock Invitational by winning the 800-meter run on Saturday (May 11) with an NCAA provisional time of 1:47.62. The time posted by Brannen at Ferry Field is currently the fifth fastest in the nation for the 800-meter run and will likely earn him a trip to the NCAA Championships (May 29-June 1) in Baton Rouge, La.

Brannen

With senior tri-captain Mike Wisniewski (Temperance, Mich./Bedford HS) and freshman Alan Webb (Reston, Va./South Lakes HS) automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships, Brannen will most likely give the Wolverines their third representative as his time was .12 of a second off an automatic standard. Earlier this year Brannen earned a trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 8-9) when he competed in the mile in Fayetteville, Ark.

This weekend Brannen and Webb, the only recruiting class in the history of college track and field to feature two sub-four minute milers, took turns helping each other qualify in their respective events. On Friday (May 10) Brannen paced the first 800 meters of the 1,500-meter run as Webb automatically qualified with a mark of 3:41.46. On Saturday, Webb returned the favor by pacing the first 600 meters before Brannen took over the lead on the second to last turn en route to his victorious time of 1:47.62.

The 800-meter run proved to be a loaded field for Michigan as three other representatives of the Maize and Blue joined Brannen in the top six overall. Sophomore Dan Cooke (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney HS) earned a third-place finish with a time of 1:51.91, followed by junior Philip Stead (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child HS) in fourth and sophomore Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) in sixth, with times of 1:52.17 and 1:52.60, respectively.

The freshman tandem of Webb and Brannen also joined with classmates Darren Adams (Mentor, Ohio/St. Ignatius HS) and DarNell Talbert (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) for a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Their time of 3:17.50 placed behind Central Michigan at 3:12.20 and Michigan's squad of junior tri-captain Derek Applewhite (Brighton, Colo./Brighton HS), sophomore Andrew Ochs (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) and freshmen Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego HS) and David Battani (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) that was runner-up with a mark of 3:15.70.

The 4x100-meter relay also proved to be a top contributor for the Wolverines as the squad of senior Ike Okenwa (San Diego, Calif./Morse HS), junior Kevin Lamb (East Lansing, Mich./Haslett HS), sophomore Anthony Beal (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington HS) and freshman Nathan Taylor (Courtenay, B.C./GP Vanier HS) were victorious with a time of 41.02. The time posted by the Michigan team was .32 of a second faster than Ohio State's team, which was runner-up at 41.34.

Okenwa added a top finish in the 200-meter dash and a runner-up performance in the 100-meter dash to close out his career at Ferry Field. In the 100-meter dash Okenwa posted a time of 10.81, which preceded his mark of 21.60 in the 200-meter dash.

Michigan will compete next week at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships in Madison, Wis. Competition runs Friday through Sunday, May 17-19.

Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423