Michigan
Harold Silverston Invitational
Willis Breaks Facility Record, Qualifies for NCAAs in Mile
2/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) set a new U-M Indoor Track Building mile record to pace the University of Michigan men's track and field team at Harold Silverston Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 19). Willis also nabbed his second NCAA automatic-qualifying time of the season in the Wolverines' final tune-up before postseason competition.
Clocking a time of 3:58.07, Willis recorded the first sub-4:00 mile on the Wolverines' home track in 22 seasons, breaking by 0.94 seconds the facility record held by NCAA champion and Olympic medalist Brian Diemer. Converting the performance to a banked-track time, Willis' mark (3:57.27) ranks third in the nation this season and is the only sub-4:00 showing carried out on a flat track.
Starting in the inside lane, Willis went to the front at the gun, tucking in behind freshman Mike Woods (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest HS) and Jonathon Kieliszak as the trio came through the opening 400 meters at 0:60. With the pace remaining constant through the opening several laps, Willis moved up into the second position as he and Woods began to pull away from the remainder of the 16-man field. Woods stepped off the track after leading Willis through the 1,000-meter mark at 2:28, and the pace began to quicken as Willis took control in the three remaining laps. Closing with a 30-second final 200 meters, Willis earned his second NCAA automatic-qualifying time in just his second race of the season, adding to his 3,000-meter time.
Senior captain Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) fell just short of his NCAA automatic-qualifying bid in the 800 meters, winning the race with a time of 1:50.08. The performance gives Brannen his second provisional standard of the season but came 1.48 seconds shy of the necessary automatic mark. Senior Rondell Ruff (Detroit, Mich./Henry Ford HS) took the field through the halfway mark at 0:52 before stepping off the track and giving Brannen the lead. Junior Andrew Ellerton (Sudbury, Ontario/Confederation HS) used a strong finishing kick to narrow the gap in the final lap, claiming runner-up honors at 1:50.60.
Sophomore/freshman Jason Stewart (Suttons Bay, Mich./Suttons Bay HS) captured his first collegiate win, claiming the top prize among the 13-man field in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.69.
In the final event of the day, the Wolverines went 1-2 in the 4x400-meter relay as the sprint group of seniors Nick Meter (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice HS), Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Ostego HS), DarNell Talbert (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) and David Battani (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) posted a time of 3:19.77 to edge the U-M distance runners -- sophomore Sebastien Lounis (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Seaholm HS), Ellerton, Brannen and Ruff -- by 1.66 seconds.
The Wolverines will kick off postseason competition next weekend when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind., for the 2005 Big Ten Indoor Championships.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
