Michigan
NCAA Indoor Championships (Day 2)
National Champion! Brannen Wins Indoor 800-Meter Run
3/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Sophomore Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) of the University of Michigan men's track and field team established himself as the nation's best indoor 800-meter runner Saturday (March 15) as he captured the NCAA crown with U-M indoor record time of 1:47.79 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Complex.
| | Brannen now holds the 800 meters school record both indoors and outdoors. |
Brannen's national championship is the Wolverines' first in the 800 meters since Ross Hume (1943-46) won the event outdoors in 1945. It is also the first track and field national title won for a Wolverine since Kevin Sullivan (1994-98) won the mile at the 1998 NCAA indoor meet.
Brannen began his national championship run in the seventh starting position, meaning he would run his first 150 meters in the fifth lane of the 200-meter banked track. At the cut-in mark of the track, Brannen filed into lane one in sixth place. The sophomore remained in sixth place after the second lap of the race but began to make a slight move on the second turn of the third lap of the four-lap race.
Coming out of the turn, Brannen moved into fifth place, and as the bell rang signifying the final 200 meters of the race, he made a second move toward the front. On the first turn he took to the outside and passed the fourth, then the third place competitors.
As the pack entered the final turn, Brannen was in third place, just two steps behind the leaders, but that would soon change as he began his kick to the finish line with nearly 50 meters left in the race. As the first three runners broke out of the final turn, Brannen's hard kick moved him past his two competitors and he began to break away. With only five steps left in the race he raised his arms in victory, crossing the line with a Michigan indoor school-record clocking of 1:47.79.
Freshman Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS), running in the 3,000-meter run final, placed 12th in the event with a time of 8:11.16. Willis began the race in 12th place and was unable to muster enough energy to keep up with the lead pack, after running the anchor leg of Michigan's third-place distance medley relay team Friday night (March 14).
The Wolverines will open the outdoor portion of their schedule at the Florida State Relays next Thursday through Saturday (March 20-22) at Mike Long Track in Tallahassee, Fla.
Final Team Standings (Top 15, revised 5/16/03)
1. Arkansas 54 2. Auburn 30 3. Louisiana State 25 4. South Carolina 24 5. Tennessee 23 Villanova 23 7. Minnesota 21 8. Indiana 20 9. Mississippi State 18 Nebraska 18 Stanford 18 Texas 18 13. MICHIGAN 16 Texas Christian 16 15. Southern California 15 Ohio State 15
Results (Day 2)
(Events in which U-M competed only)
800-METER RUN 1. NATE BRANNEN, U-M 1:47.79 2. Fred Sharpe, Auburn 1:48.16 3. Sam Burley, Pennsylvania 1:48.25 4. Toby Henkels, Minnesota 1:48.26 5. Joseph Lee, Kansas State 1:48.46 6. Jackson Langat, Texas Christian 1:48.50 7. Otukile Lekote, South Carolina 1:48.68 8. Robbie Stevens, Arkansas 1:49.90 3,000-METER RUN 1. Alistair Cragg, Arkansas 7:55.68 2. Adrian Blincoe, Villanova 7:56.66 3. Daniel Lincoln, Arkansas 7:57.43 4. Louis Luchini, Stanford 7:58.31 5. Boaz Cheboiywo, Eastern Michigan 7:58.76 6. Kip Kangogo, Brigham Young 7:59.16 7. Lyle Weese, Montana State 7:59.37 8. Grant Robison, Stanford 8:00.07 9. Mindaugas Pukstas, SMU 8:00.13 10. Dalibor Balgac, SMU 8:03.91 11. Luke Watson, Notre Dame 8:10.79 12. NICK WILLIS, U-M 8:11.16 13. Jeremy Park, Washington 8:12.21 14. Seth Hejny, Stanford 8:16.57 15. Silverus Kimeli, Arkansas 8:21.82 16. Matt Tegenkamp, Wisconsin 8:29.39
Day 1 Results
N O T E S
The 16 points by the Wolverines are their most scored at the NCAA Indoor Championships since U-M took sixth place with a total of 20 points in 1998.
Nate Brannen's individual national championship is the first in the 800 meters for a Wolverine since 1945 when Ross Hume captured the outdoor NCAA title. It is also the first NCAA indoor title won by a Michigan runner since 1998 when Kevin Sullivan won the mile run.
Brannen's 1:47.79 clocking in the 800-meter run broke the previous U-M indoor record of 1:47.83 set by Neal Newman in 1991.
Q U O T E S
Sophomore 800 Meters National Champion Nate Brannen
On starting on the outside ... "I was a little worried about my spot to start the race because I thought I was too far out. Entering the last couple of laps, I thought I was in the wrong spot, but I guess it was the right spot for me tonight."
On the race ... "With 100 meters to go in the race I was sitting in third and I knew I needed to make a move. As I pulled up alongside the two leaders I still had some left, so I wanted to push them as hard as I could. I just can't believe when I crossed the finish line no one came up past me. Until I crossed that line I wasn't sure what I had done."
On his expectations coming into the race ... "I just wanted to better what I did at the outdoor meet last year when I came in fifth. My goal was to be in the top three. This is more than I expected."
On achieving one of his goals ... "My two goals coming into college were to make the Olympics and to win an NCAA individual title. To achieve one of those goals as a sophomore is more than I expected."
Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On where Nate Brannen ranks in Michigan mid-distance history ... "With him being as young as he is, he is going to be one of the greatest we have ever had run in the Maize and Blue. He broke the outdoor school record last year and with his time in the race today he broke the indoor record and the Canadian Senior record. Today he beat a lot of talented people, people who ran faster than he did coming in. He is the best collegiate 800-meter runner right now. That is why you run the race."
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
