Sacramento Bound: Willis, Brannen Advance to NCAAs

Saturday, May 31

Columbus, Ohio

Noon

Michigan

NCAA Mideast Regional (Day 2)

5/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Freshman Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) and sophomore Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) of the University of Michigan men's track and field team were crowned NCAA Mideast Regional champions Saturday (May 31) at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and have automatically qualified for the upcoming 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships (June 11-14).

Brannen won the 800-meter run, keeping alive his hopes of an indoor-outdoor national championship season sweep.

Willis dominated the field in the 1,500-meter run for the second day in row, setting a stadium record with his U-M career-best mark of 3:45.45 en route to winning the race by nearly two seconds. Willis crossed the finish line ahead of a pack of three Arkansas Razorbacks, with sophomore Mike Taylor taking second in 3:47.35. It was Willis' second win at the regional in which he posted an almost two-second margin of victory.

Taking another step toward adding the 800-meter outdoor title to his NCAA indoor crown, Brannen moved from sixth place in Friday's (May 30) preliminaries to first in this evening's final. Brannen won the tactical race with a time of 1:49.72 to defeat Alabama freshman Peter Etoot, an NCAA indoor finalist, who posted a time of 1:49.87.

Freshman Andrew Ellerton (Windsor, Ontario/Confederation HS) finished just 0.02 out of contention for an automatic invitation to the NCAA Championships. Ellerton was sixth overall with a 1:50.77 mark, just behind the lunge of Kentucky junior Jean Balan.

Senior Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS, Fla.) was U-M's top finisher in the steeplechase, taking 10th place with a time of 9:10.12, to close out the Wolverines' participation in the regional.

Brannen and Willis will be the Wolverines' representatives at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Following a week off, the U-M duo will travel to Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif., to compete with the nation's best.

Saturday Results

800-meter Run 1. Nate Brannen, U-M 1:49.72 6. Andrew Ellerton, U-M 1:50.77 1,500-meter Run 1. Nick Willis, U-M 3:45.45 3,000-meter Steeplechase 1. Dan Lincoln, Arkansas 8:37.56 10. Alex L'Heureux, U-M 9:10.12 22. Tarn Leach, U-M 9:22.54 30. Ryan Hesselink, U-M 9:39.33

Day 1 Results

Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423