Michigan
Red Simmons Invitational
Willis Nabs Second Provisional Time at Simmons Invite
1/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Freshman Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) earned his second NCAA provisional time in just his second meet of the season as the University of Michigan men's track and field team earned a total of five victories this afternoon (Saturday, Jan. 25) in the Red Simmons Invitational at the U-M Track Building. The non-scoring meet fielded competition from Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and Ashland University in addition to U-M's squad.
| | Talbert took the 60-meter hurdles title with a personal-best time of 8.34. |
After posting an NCAA provisional time in the mile at last weekend's Michigan Quadrangular (Jan. 18), Willis added another NCAA-eligible time in the 3,000 meters by clocking a time of 7:59.19, just 0.79 seconds behind the NCAA's automatic cutoff. Willis took control of the race with a late surge that allowed him to gain over a four-second lead over the rest of the field. Brian Berryhill, a former NCAA champion in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500-meter run, finished second and Ian Connor, the 2001 Big Ten indoor 3,000 meters champion, was third, as both runners participated unattached.
For the second consecutive meet, Edwards scored the meet's top high jump. His personal-best leap of 6-10 3/4 came in a jump-off after both he and freshman Adam Kring (Port Huron, Mich./Northern HS) were unable to surpass the seven-foot mark. Kring's leap of 6-8 tied his highest with the Wolverines.
Edwards also was Michigan's top finisher in the 60-meter dash, placing third in the finals with a time of 6.92.
With the top time in the 60-meter high hurdles final, Talbert earned Michigan its first victory of the afternoon and bettered his personal best in the event by 0.05 seconds with a 8.34 mark. Junior/sophomore David Battani (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) was second in the preliminaries at a season-best 8.50 and finished fourth overall with his finals mark of 8.59.
Waits added to a successful string of meets at the U-M Track Building with his win in the 600 meters, giving him wins in two events this season. Waits' time of 1:21.00 was the Wolverines' top mark this season and was almost two seconds ahead of the field.
The closing combination of Waits and Talbert also helped Michigan's top 1,600-meter relay squad to victory, earning a total time of 3:19.05.
The Maize and Blue has entered a four-man distance medley relay team to participate at the adidas Boston Indoor Games on Saturday (Feb. 1) in Roxbury, Mass. The meet will begin at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast live by ESPN2. The college distance medley relay is scheduled for a 5:45 p.m. start.
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
