Weekly Release #18
5/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sun., May 16-18 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Fri-Sat., May 30-31 -- at NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (Columbus, Ohio)
This Week: at Big Ten Outdoor Championships
The University of Michigan men's track and field team will compete at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships Friday through Sunday (May 16-18) at Minnesota's Bierman Track and Field Complex in Minneapolis. The championships will begin Friday at noon CDT with competition in the decathlon. Finals in the hammer throw and the 10,000 meters will also be contested on the first day. Saturday's events are scheduled to kick off at 9:30 a.m. CDT, with the first heats for track championships beginning at 2:10 p.m. CDT. Sunday's finals are slated for an 11:40 a.m. CDT start and the 2003 Big Ten champion will be crowned at 4:10 p.m. CDT.
U-M in the Big Ten's Top 10
The Maize and Blue has athletes among the conference's top 10 performers in six events. In all but two of those events more than one U-M participant is ranked. The 800-meter run is Michigan's deepest event, as the Wolverines have six runners in the event's top 10 and eight of the 12 fastest times. Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) holds the school's highest ranking, at No. 2 in the 800 meters, while the freshman duo of Andrew Ellerton (Windsor, Ontario/Confederation HS) and Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) are the only Wolverines ranked on two lists.
400-meter Hurdles 1. Mikael Jakobsson, Minnesota :50.43 6. Seth Waits, U-M :52.88 7. DarNell Talbert, U-M :53.02 800-meter Run 1. Dan Murray, Wisconsin 1:48.15 2. Nate Brannen, U-M 1:49.18 3. Andrew Ellerton, U-M 1:49.29 4. Nick Willis, U-M 1:49.54 6. Brian Turner, U-M 1:50.32 7. Dan Cooke, U-M 1:50.49 8. Jeremy Schneider, U-M 1:50.50 1,500-meter Run 1. John Jefferson, Indiana 3:41.53 5. Nick Willis, U-M 3:46.28 7. Andrew Ellerton, U-M 3:47.29 3,000-meter Steeplechase 1. Isaiah Festa, Wisconsin 8:39.55 4. Alex L'Heureux, U-M 8:55.45 6. Tarn Leach, U-M 9:03.98 5,000-meter Run 1. Sean Jefferson, Indiana 13:58.53 5. Nick Stanko, U-M 14:16.94 High Jump 1. Shaun Gice, Purdue 7-0 1/2 7. Adam Kring, U-M 6-9 3/4
Defending His Crown
Michigan's Nate Brannen will be defending his Big Ten indoor 800-meter crown at the conference outdoor meet. Brannen, who outpaced Matt Lincoln of Penn State by over a second, took the first individual Big Ten title of his career with the win.
The Once and Future King
Nick Willis may not be able to defend his indoor 3,000-meter Big Ten title at the 2003 outdoor meet, but the U-M freshman will have a chance to add another conference crown to his rsum as a participant in the 1,500-meter run. The Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year, Willis is ranked fifth on the conference's 1,500-meter fastest times list.
Prince Andrew
Freshman Andrew Ellerton, who took fourth place in the 600-meter run at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, will look to make a splash in his first conference outdoor championships. Ellerton, who will run in the 800-meter race, has run the third fastest time in the Big Ten this season, behind Wisconsin redshirt sophomore Dan Murray and teammate Nate Brannen.
U-M at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Michigan has won the most men's Big Ten outdoor team titles with 30, the last coming in 1983. Illinois is second on the list with 28. The Wolverines won four consecutive team titles three times: 1901-04, 1937-40 and 1980-83. Last year, Michigan earned 39 points and finished ninth overall. The Wolverines did post three top-three finishes, including a Big Ten 1,500-meter champion in Alan Webb (2002). Nate Brannen and Mike Wisniewski (1999-2002) finished third in the 800- and 10,000-meter runs, respectively. The Wolverines also received points from Derek Applewhite (1999-2002), Andrew Ochs (2001-02), Ike Okenwa (1999-2002) and Brent Sheffer (1999-2002).
First Year of the NCAA Regional
As of the 2003 outdoor season, four regional meets will now be held to determine the participants for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Michigan is in the Mideast Region and will compete in its regional May 30-31 in Columbus, Ohio. In order for an athlete to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, he must finish in the top five of an individual event or be a member of a top-three relay at the regional championship. The track and field committee will also select a group of at-large athletes to round out the remainder of the Championships field in each event, similar to provisional-qualifying marks in the past.
Michigan's NCAA Regional Qualifiers
Through last weekend's action (May 10), Michigan has a total of 20 qualifiers for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships. Fourteen individual athletes have qualified in five different events, while six -- Andrew Ellerton, Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS), Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS, Fla.), sophomore/freshman Rondell Ruff (Detroit, Mich./Henry Ford HS), junior Brian Turner (Omaha, Neb./Millard North HS) and Nick Willis -- have qualified in two events apiece.
Last Time Around: the Len Paddock Invitational
Michigan hosted its lone home meet of the outdoor season last Friday and Saturday (May 9-10) with the Len Paddock Invitational at Ferry Field. Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego HS) paced the Wolverines with strong performances in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter dash. Waits posted a career- and U-M season-best time in the 400 hurdles with his winning mark of 52.88. The next day, Waits finished second in the 400 meters with his second season-best performance of the meet, running the race in 49.21. Nate Brannen won the 800-meter run with Michigan's fastest time of the season (1:49.19). Senior Alex L'Heureux finished second in the invitational 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:50.50, while junior David Battani (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS), freshman Spencer Dowdall (Coral Springs, Fla./Coral Springs HS), sophomore Joey Sarantos (Portage, Mich./Northern HS), and junior Nick Vander Ploeg (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) all posted personal or season bests in their respective events.
National Champion!
With his win in the 800-meter run March 15 at the 2003 NCAA Championships, sophomore Nate Brannen became Michigan's first national champion since 1998. Making his move from fifth place with 150 meters remaining in the race, Brannen advanced to the front of the pack to win the race in a school and Canadian Senior Indoor record time of 1:47.79.
Rewriting the Record Books
Nate Brannen gained the second school record of his career with his time of 1:47.79 in the 800-meter run March 15 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. His mark bettered Neal Newmans 12-year-old record clocking of 1:47.83 set in 1991. Brannen also holds Michigan's fastest mark in the outdoor 800 meters with his time of 1:46.00 at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships (May 31, 2002).
A Fine DMR
The distance medley relay has been one of Michigan's most successful events this season. Combining the efforts of four athletes running four different distances (400, 800, 1,200 and 1,600 meters), Maize and Blue DMRs have won indoor All-America honors, set a school record and won a Penn Relays title in 2003.
DM-Record
The Wolverine distance medley relay team of Nate Brannen, Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego HS), Andrew Ellerton and Nick Willis etched their names into the U-M record book with a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 14) as the Maize and Blue crew broke the school record by over 2.5 seconds with its 9:29.76 result. Scott MacDonald (1992-97), Trinity Townshend (1993-96), Jeff Wood (1994-97) and Kevin Sullivan (1994-98) held the DMR record for seven years with their time of 9:32.28 achieved at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Next Time Around
After a week off, the Maize and Blue will send its qualified athletes to the first-ever NCAA Mideast Regional Championships on Friday and Saturday (May 30-31) at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
