2005 TFM Red Simmons Invitational -- Notes & Quotes
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
N O T E S
This year's second annual Kris Eggle Invitational 3,000-meter run honors the former Wolverine cross country and track athlete who was killed in the line of duty while serving at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument at the Arizona/Mexico border.
The Wolverines equaled last season's nine event victories at the Red Simmons Invitational, the most wins U-M boasted during the 2004 indoor season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On Nate Brannen's 3,000-meter race ... "The point was to get him under eight minutes; it really was a personal thing. We're training on strength, so it's nice to race to your strength. It was just a really nice run. The plan was for (Nick) Willis to take him through 2,000 meters, which he did. Willis is on his comeback trail, and he's just fine."
On other standout individual performances ... "Another nice performance was (Anderw) Ellerton; he's healthy and back running. Mike Woods ran a PR by four seconds. Tommy Greenless was awesome in the mile, basically a solo 4:08; that's the fastest time in the Big Ten this year. At the shorter distances, I was impressed with Stann Waithe and Jeff Porter; those guys are great sophomores for us. Stann is awesome, and Porter just missed the provisional in the hurdles. Stann ran a solid 200 and very nice mile relay split (47.0). (Kevin) Peterman got another PR today. He's made some good jumps at the upper heights; I expect him to keep getting better as the season goes on."
Senior Captain Nate Brannen
On his 3,000-meter performance ... "I was shooting for around 8:00, give or take a couple seconds. Workouts have been going pretty well. We've been training pretty hard the last couple of weeks; we haven't backed off at all, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew I was capable of running that well. (Nick) Willis definitely helped me out a lot; he allowed me to sit back and relax a little bit more in the first part of the race. The whole time I was behind Willis I felt really strong; when he jogged out, I picked it up from there and still felt really relaxed and strong. [The lapped runners] didn't hold me up too much; they gave me people to chase in the last couple laps. In the last lap, I had to go around three guys, and that might have slowed me down a bit, but not too much. I was kind of nervous going into the race, because I didn't know what to expect. This definitely gives me more confidence going into the Boston meet next week."
Junior Andrew Ellerton
On his season debut ... "I pretty much did exactly what I was hoping for. I was looking for 1:54 and just wanted to get the kinks out of my legs. I felt pretty good; it was a good start to the season. It actually felt more comfortable than I was expecting. This will give me a little more confidence as far as what I can do in workouts, so I think it will allow me to get into shape a little quicker and hopefully get back close to where I was last year."
Sophomore Jeff Porter
On his hurdles performance today ... "I have mixed feelings. There was some good stuff going on; I did some good things. Now, it's time to go back and fine-tune my technique and just my overall hurdling. We're going to come out next week ready to qualify for nationals and get it out of the way."
Players Mentioned
