Ellerton Paces Eight Qualifiers on Day Two at Big Tens

Saturday, May 15

West Lafayette, Ind.

Michigan

Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 2)

Ellerton Paces Eight Qualifiers on Day Two at Big Tens

5/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Sophomore Andrew Ellerton (Windsor, Ontario/Confederation HS) paced the University of Michigan men's track and field team on the second day of competition at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships on Saturday (May 15) at Purdue's Rankin Track. The Wolverines, who have yet to score a point and are in 10th place in the team standings, qualified eight individual competitors for tomorrow's round of track finals.

Cooke ran a season best in the 800-meter run trials and will be one of three Michigan runners in the event's final.

Ellerton won the third heat of the 800-meter trials to automatically qualify for the event final, clocking the fastest time of day with 1:49.22. The Wolverine sophomore hung near the front of the pack in the third position through the first lap before making his move down the home stretch, blowing past Wisconsin's Dan Murray to finish 1.93 second quicker than the Badger runner.

The Wolverines will send three competitors to the 800-meter final as fifth-year senior Dan Cooke (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney HS) and freshman Sebastien Lounis (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Seaholm HS) will join Ellerton after placing sixth and seventh, respectively, in the trials. Cooke collected his first career NCAA regional-qualifying time with a season-best performance of 1:50.61, just hitting the qualifying standard by 0.01. Lounis registered a personal-best 1:51.15, bettering his previous mark by 0.95.

U-M will also send multiple participants to the 400-meter hurdles final as juniors Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego HS) and DarNell Talbert (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) both placed among the top nine finishers. Waits claimed second place in his heat and third overall in the event, recording a time of 51.51, just 0.06 shy of his personal best, which he set at last weekend's Len Paddock Invitational (May 7-8). Talbert did set a personal best as well as qualify for his first trip to the NCAA Mideast Regional, clocking a time of 52.35 to place ninth. Talbert's previous best in the event was 53.02, a difference of 0.67.

Freshman Jeff Porter (Somerset, N.J./Franklin HS) won his heat and had the second fastest time overall in the 110-meter hurdles, registering a season-best time of 14.08, his second regional-qualifying effort of the outdoor campaign. Porter controlled his heat from start to finish, establishing a defined lead with two hurdles remaining, and ran away from the field down the final stretch. The Wolverine freshman, who claimed Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year honors after claiming the 60-meter hurdles title, bettered his previous season best by 0.12 seconds.

Rounding out Michigan's event qualifiers were freshman Stann Waithe (Towson, Md./Loch Raven HS) in the 400-meter dash, junior Nathan Taylor (Courtenay, B.C./Georges P. Vanier HS) in the 100-meter dash. Waithe had the sixth fastest time overall and claimed second in the first heat, closing the gap on Indiana's David Neville in the final 50 meters to record a time of 48.09. Taylor ran a season-best 10.74 to place fourth in the first heat and earn the last finals spot with the ninth best time overall.

The Wolverines failed to score in the day's three field-event finals. U-M's trio of competitors came up just short in the high jump as sophomores Adam Kring (Port Huron, Mich./Northern HS) and Brad Miller (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) tied for ninth with a mark of 6-6 3/4, just two inches shy of eighth place. Senior Joe Baldwin (Petersburg, Mich./Ida HS) was the top U-M placer in the long jump, notching a mark of 22-3 1/2 for 11th place.

The Wolverines hit the track tomorrow (Sunday, May 16) for the third and final day of competition at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Purdue's Rankin Track in West Lafayette, Ind. Men's events will begin at 12:30 p.m., with track events kicking off at 12:45 p.m.

Team Standings (After Day 2)

 1. Minnesota 74 2. Wisconsin 58 3. Purdue 41 4. Ohio State 38 5. Iowa 21 6. Indiana 17 7. Penn State 10 8. Michigan State 8 9. Illinois 6 10. MICHIGAN 0

Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 2)

100-meter Dash (Trials) 1. Demi Omole, Wisconsin 10.35Q# 9. Nathan Taylor, U-M 10.74q 11. Braylon Edwards, U-M 10.80 16. Brent Cummings, U-M 10.99 200-meter Dash (Trials) 1. Mitch Potter, Minnesota 20.89Q# 14. Brent Cummings, U-M 22.39 400-meter Dash (Trials) 1. Mitch Potter, Minnesota 46.47Q# 6. Stann Waithe, U-M 48.09Q 13. John D'Arcy, U-M 48.86 18. Chris Yee, U-M 50.11 800-meter Run (Trials) 1. Andrew Ellerton, U-M 1:49.22Q# 6. Dan Cooke, U-M 1:50.61q# 7. Sebastien Lounis, U-M 1:51.15q 1,500-meter Run (Trials) 1. Chris Solinsky, Wisconsin 3:49.20Q 13. Todd Iacovelli, U-M 3:56.09 14. Rondell Ruff, U-M 3:58.06 15. Joe Schramski, U-M 3:58.50 110-meter Hurdles (Trials) 1. Joel Brown, Ohio State 13.88Q# 2. Jeff Porter, U-M 14.08Q# 400-meter Hurdles (Trials) 1. Adrian Walker, Illinois 50.62Q# 3. Seth Waits, U-M 51.51Q# 9. DarNell Talbert, U-M 52.35q# 12. David Battani, U-M 53.99 3,000-meter Steeplechase 1. Aaron Fisher, Ohio State 8:37.59# 15. Andrew Bauer, U-M 9:18.80 High Jump 1. Kevin Netzer, Minnesota 7-1 3/4# (2.18m) T9. Adam Kring, U-M 6-6 3/4 (2.00m) T9. Brad Miller, U-M 6-6 3/4 (2.00m) T12. Darren Adams, U-M 6-6 3/4 (2.00m) Long Jump 1. Paul Hubbard, Wisconsin 25-5 1/2# (7.45m) 11. Joe Baldwin, U-M 22-3 1/2 (6.79m) 13. David Malonson, U-M 21-8 3/7 (6.62m) 15. Adam Keisler, U-M 21-3 1/2 (6.49m) Discus 1. Karl Erickson, Minnesota 187-0# (56.99m) 13. Joey Sarantos, U-M 160-11 (49.05m) 21. Paul Sarantos, U-M 139-7 (42.54m) Decathlon (Final) 1. Travis Brandstatter, Minnesota 7,677 points* # NCAA Regional qualifier * NCAA Championships qualifier Qq qualified for event final

Day 1 Results

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On the second day of competition ... "We've got three in the 800-meter; that's real nice. Nate (Taylor) made it in the 100 meters; (Jeff) Porter was the second qualifier in the 100-meter hurdles. We've got two in the intermediate hurdles; that's good. The only one we really missed today was Rondell (Ruff) in the 1,500. The field events weren't great today. Let's see what we can do tomorrow."

U-M Sophomore Andrew Ellerton
On the 800-meter run trials ... "I tried to run it as relaxed as possible -- just sitting and kicking in the last 100 meters. I wanted to make it as easy an effort as possible. It felt pretty good; I got the rust out through the first lap. With the last 100 meters, I thought I closed pretty good, so I'm pretty confident for tomorrow."

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423