Michigan
Red Simmons Invitational
Michigan Wins Nine Events at Red Simmons Invitational
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) notched Michigan's first NCAA provisional time of the season as the University of Michigan men's track and field team earned nine victories at the non-scoring Red Simmons Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 22).
Registering a time of 7:58.07 -- the nation's fastest 3,000-meter time of the season to date -- Brannen paced the 11-man field of the Kris Eggle Invitational 3,000-meter run to win in his season debut. Brannen was led through the opening 2,000 meters by junior Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS), who made his first collegiate appearance since the NCAA Pre-Nationals cross country meet in mid-October.
The pair pulled away from the rest of the field on the first lap and continued to build the gap, clocking an even 4:00 through the first 1,500 meters to put approximately 70 meters on the chase pack. As Willis stepped off the track with five laps remaining, Brannen took control and continued to quicken his pace as his 200-meter splits dropped to 31 seconds. Brannen improved his personal best in the event by more than five seconds while falling shy of the NCAA automatic mark by a mere 0.77 seconds.
Freshman Mike Woods (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest HS) also registered a personal best in his runner-up performance at 3,000 meters. He led the chase pack from the first lap and was the only runner to place with 24 seconds of Brannen, clocking a time of 8:13.42 to finish nearly nine second ahead of the third-place finisher and shave three seconds from his previous best.
Brannen's victory gave the Wolverines a sweep of the middle-distance and distance events as sophomore John D'Arcy (Clayton, Mich./Northmont HS), junior Andrew Ellerton (Sudbury, Ontario/Confederation HS) and fifth-year senior Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) claimed individual titles in the 600m, 800m and mile events. D'Arcy -- who boasted four individual titles in just six appearances during the 2004 indoor season -- repeated at the Red Simmons Invitational 600-meter champion with a time of 1:19.66, finishing 1.29 seconds quicker than runner-up Larry Carr of Eastern Michigan.
Ellerton also defended his Red Simmons' crown, posting an 800-meter time of 1:54.82 in his first competition since mid-September. The Wolverine junior stayed near the back of the five-man pack through the opening 200 meters but moved into the lead at the race's halfway mark. Ellerton pulled away in the final lap, finishing 40 meters ahead of junior/sophomore Ryan Gall (Livonia, Mich./Churchill HS) in second place.
Greenless led a strong U-M field in the mile as six Wolverines placed among the event's top-eight placers. The Wolverine senior clocked a personal-best 4:08.54 -- shaving 3.22 seconds from his previous mark -- in his first collegiate action since the 2004 indoor season. Senior Rondell Ruff (Detroit, Mich./Henry Ford HS) earned runner-up honors with a season-best 4:13.39.
Sophomore Stann Waithe (Towson, Md./Loch Raven HS) posted the top 200-meter time of the day, earning his third collegiate win with a time of 22.08 to better runner-up Donnie Young from Eastern Michigan by 0.49 seconds. Waithe owns a perfect record inside the Wolverines' indoor facility, boasting three victories in three individual appearances at the U-M Track Building over the last two seasons.
Sophomore Jeff Porter (Somerset, N.J./Franklin HS), the defending Big Ten indoor 60-meter hurdles champion, captured the individual title in his first hurdles competition of the season, registering a time of 7.92 to outrun the field by 0.19 seconds. Freshman Rich LaCroix (Marine City, Mich./Marine City HS) placed third at 8.26, just 0.05 seconds off his personal best.
Senior/junior Kevin Peterman (Livonia, Mich/Churchill HS) and sophomore Michael Whitehead (East Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area HS) led the Wolverines in the field events, claiming the top spots in the pole vault and triple jump, respectively.
Just two weeks after registering a personal best in his U-M debut, Peterman added another two inches to his best mark, clearing 16-0 3/4 in the pole vault to capture his first collegiate win. Sophomore Kevin Day (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North HS), senior/junior Craig Theissen (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny HS) and junior Spencer Dowdall (Coral Springs, Fla./Coral Springs HS) each cleared 15-1 to post season-best performances -- Day also recorded a personal best -- as U-M claimed the top four positions among the eight-man field.
Making his season debut in the triple jump, Whitehead earned his fifth collegiate victory -- and his first of the 2005 season -- with a distance of 47-3. The Wolverine junior also claimed fourth in the long jump, posting a mark of 21-10 1/4 to finish two spots behind junior/sophomore Adam Kiesler (Rochester, Mich./Rochester HS) at 22-4 1/4.
The Wolverines will continue their 2005 campaign in Boston, Mass. next weekend for a pair of events. A U-M contingent will compete in the Boston Invitational on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 28-29) before Brannen and Woods participate in the Mile run at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Saturday evening.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
