Michigan
Boston Indoor Games
DMR Qualifies for NCAA Championships at Boston Games
2/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
ROXBURY, Mass. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team automatically qualified its distance medley relay team for the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with its second-place finish this afternoon (Saturday, Feb. 1) at the adidas Boston Indoor Games held at the Reggie Lewis Center. The Wolverines, who finished with a final time of 9:35.80, were runners-up to Arkansas, which set an Indoor Games record with its 9:34.76 mark, breaking its own mark of 9:38.21 from the 2002 meet.
Sophomore Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) ran the 1,200-meter first leg for the Wolverines despite nursing a sore Achilles tendon throughout the week. Brannen, who has already run an automatic qualifying time in the 800-meter run this season, kept the Wolverines near the front of the pack and handed the baton to sophomore Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego HS). Waits battled through a mixup with a member of the Kentucky team during the handoff and ran a solid 400 meters for the Wolverines.
Michigan gained the most ground in the final two legs of the race, as freshmen Andrew Ellerton (Windor, Ontario/Confederation HS) and Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) made short work of the track. Ellerton's split in the 800 meters hovered near 1:50, and he transferred the baton to Willis with just a 20-yard deficit to make up over the race's final 1,600 meters. Willis, who has NCAA provisional marks in two events this season, caught up with the race's leaders in two laps and made his move around the last turn. Willis had to take the outside lane in an attempt to pass Arkansas' anchor man, but the angle proved to be just enough for the Razorbacks to gain a slight advantage and post the 0.94-second win.
The Maize and Blue will travel its entire team for the first time this season for the Meyo Invitational on Feb. 7-8 at the Loftus Sports Complex in South Bend, Ind. Competition on Friday night (Feb. 7) is slated for a 7 p.m. start, while Saturday's events kick off at 1 p.m.
RESULTS
College Distance Medley Relay
1. Arkansas 9:34.76*! 2. Michigan 9:35.80* (Nate Brannen, Seth Waits, Andrew Ellerton, Nick Willis) 3. Villanova 9:35.95* 4. Kentucky 9:37.76* 5. Arizona 9:42.78# 6. Providence 9:52.96 7. Dartmouth 9:53.19 * NCAA automatic qualifying time # NCAA provisional qualifying time ! Meet record
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On the race ... "It was a very close race, obviously, and competitive to the end. The first 1,200 meters was slow, which was good and bad for us. Nate Brannen was slowed down a little bit by his Achilles, but he kept in there and still had a good mark. Seth Waits ran a great 400 meters for us. There was a mixup at the line with Kentucky, but Seth pulled things together and ran a great leg. Our freshman, Andrew Ellerton, ran the 800 at 1:50.60, which was a tremendous time for us and I'd say when Nick Willis got the baton he was probably only 20 yards behind the leaders. He was able to close the gap after two laps and it was a sprint to the end. Arkansas' guy was able to get away a little when Nick had to come in high on the last turn. Overall it was a great race."
On accomplishing the team's goal ... "We came out to qualify for the NCAA Championships and we did just that. The race featured some of the best from the top teams in the nation. I think that we showed we can run with the best teams out there and that's a good sign for the rest of the season."
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
