Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Williams, Ellerton Win Titles; U-M Third At Big Tens
2/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Sophomore Lex Williams (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter) and fifth-year senior Andrew Ellerton (Sudbury, Ontario/Confederation) captured the 5,000-meter and 800-meter titles, respectively, on Sunday (February 25) to lead the 11th-ranked University of Michigan men's track and field team at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse. With 16 scoring efforts in 13 different events over the weekend, the Wolverines took third place (89 points); Wisconsin won the team competition, capturing its fifth consecutive title with 120 points. The third-place performance marks the fourth-straight season that U-M has placed in the top-four spots at the indoor conference meet; the Wolverines have captured at least two individual titles in each of those years.
Williams earned his first conference title when he crossed the line in the 5,000-meter run with an NCAA provisional time of 14:04.43. His scoring effort was a substantial improvement from his 10th-place finish in the same event last year. Williams' was accompanied by a tremendous third-place performance from sophomore/freshman Brandon Fellows (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island), clocking 14:19.16. After both Wolverines scored in the 3,000-meter run during day one of competition Saturday (Feb. 24), both Williams and Fellows combined for a total of 16 points on Sunday (Feb. 25) to vault Michigan to second place in the team standings going into the final event; U-M finished the meet in third place overall.
With about 2 1/4 miles left in the race, Williams pushed forward and took over the top spot in the field; he never relinquished the lead during the final six laps. Similar to yesterday's race, Fellows had a surge toward end to move into third place with three laps to go. Fellows exploded past the rest of the field, finishing 19 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.
Ellerton captured victory when he clocked 1:50.19 in the 800-meter run to win his second Big Ten title of the weekend. He was also a part of Michigan's distance medley relay team that won last night. The win marks Ellerton's second career victory in the event; he also won the 800-meter crown at the 2004 outdoor meet.
Ellerton began the race at a steady pace, staying even with his competitors throughout the majority of the event. Coming into the last turn, Ellerton exploded forward and took over the lead spot in the final 15 yards of the race to earn the title.
Senior Jeff Porter (Edison, N.J./Franklin) set a new personal record -- and was .019 seconds off of his second-career Big Ten title -- in the 60-meter hurdles. Porter crossed the line at nearly the same time as defending Big Ten champion Ricky Pinkney of Purdue, clocking an NCAA provisional mark of 7.533. Pinkney just edged out Porter with a time of 7.514 to take the event's crown for the second-straight year.
Also placing runner-up in his respective event was senior Michael Whitehead (Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) in the triple jump. Though he could not defend his 2006 conference title, Whitehead turned in a great performance, landing a mark of 51-1 -- 3 1/2 inches behind Indiana's Kyle Jenkins. Whitehead has now placed among the top five spots in his seven career Big Ten indoor and outdoor meet triple jump performances.
Also turning in strong efforts for the Wolverines were senior Stann Waithe (Towson, Md./Loch Raven) in the 400-meter dash and sophomore Adam Harris (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) in the 60-meter dash. Waithe placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.48, and Harris clocked an NCAA provisional time of 6.72 in the 60-meter hurdles -- just .01 seconds shy of his school record.
Other individual scoring performances for the Wolverines came from sophomore Justin Switzer (Waterford, Mich./Kettering), who placed fifth in the mile (4:06.71), senior John D'Arcy (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont), who took sixth in the 600-meter run (1:18.59), and sophomore Sean Pruitt (Cato, Wis./Valders), who finished eighth in the shot put (56-2).
Michigan's 4x400-meter relay team of sophomore Andre Barnes (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield), Ellerton, junior/sophomore Dan Harmsen (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and D'Arcy also earned points for the Wolverines, finishing in sixth place with a time of 3:13.14. The mark was more than two seconds slower than Minnesota's first-place squad.
The Wolverines have a last-chance opportunity to qualify competitors for the NCAA Indoor Championships next Friday and Saturday (March 2-3) at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
Final Team Standings
1. Wisconsin 120 2. Minnesota 93 3. MICHIGAN 89 4. Ohio State 84 5. Indiana 72 6. Purdue 71.5 7. Iowa 46.5 8. Penn State 46 9. Michigan State 43 10. Illinois 36
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 2)
Heptathlon 60-meter Hurdles 1. Seth Pelock, Wisconsin 8.40 (884 pts.) 2. Frank Shotwell, U-M 8.46 (869 pts.) 18. Adam Kiesler, U-M 9.49 (642 pts.) Heptathlon Pole Vault 1. Andrew Rademacher, Purdue 16-4 3/4 (5.00m) (910 pts.) 16. Adam Kiesler, U-M 10-6 (3.20m) (406 pts.) -- Frank Shotwell, U-M NH Heptathlon 1,000-meter Runt 1. Chris Morrisey, Penn State 2:41.90 (852 pts.) 7. Frank Shotwell, U-M 2:47.46 (792 pts.) 16. Adam Kiesler, U-M 3:04.85 (618 pts.) Heptathlon Final Standings 1. Joe Detmer, Wisconsin 5,360 points# 14. Frank Shotwell, U-M 4,410 points 16. Adam Kiesler, U-M 4,052 points 60-meter Dash 1. Demi Omole, Wisconsin 6.63*% 4. Adam Harris, U-M 6.72# 60-meter Hurdles 1. Rickey Pinkney, Purdue 7.76# 7.514 2. Jeff Porter, U-M 7.76# 7.533 200-meter Dash 1. Anthony Cole, Ohio State 21.18# 9. Stann Waithe, U-M 22.70 400-meter Dash 1. Aaron Buzard, Minnesota 46.64# 3. Stann Waithe, U-M 47.48 10. Andre Barnes, U-M 48.50 600-meter Run 1. Lesiba Masheto, Illinois 1:16.28 6. John D'Arcy, U-M 1:18.59 9. Dan Harmsen, U-M 1:19.22 800-meter Run 1. Andrew Ellerton, U-M 1:50.91 Mile Run 1. Jeff See, Ohio State 4:04.16 5. Justin Switzer, U-M 4:06.71 5,000-meter Run 1. Lex Williams, U-M 14:04.43# 3. Brandon Fellows, U-M 14:19.16 12. Seth Thibodeau, U-M 14:47.91 4x400-meter Relay 1. Minnesota 'A' 3:11.07 6. Michigan 'A' 3:13.14 (Andre Barnes, Andrew Ellerton, Dan Harmsen, John D'Arcy) High Jump 1. Ryan Fritz, Penn State 7-3# (2.21m) 16. John Kipf, U-M 6-5 (1.96m) Triple Jump 1. Kyle Jenkins, Indiana 51-4 1/2# (15.66m) 2. Michael Whitehead, U-M 51-1# (15.57m) Shot Put 1. Shane Maier, Iowa 60-11 1/4# (18.57m) 8. Sean Pruitt, U-M 56-2 (17.12m) 16. Paul Sarantos, U-M 51-10 1/2 (15.81m) % Big Ten meet record * NCAA automatic qualifier # NCAA provisional qualifierContact: Tim Trunzo (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
