Weekly Release #17

Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sun., May 11-13 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (State College, Pa.)
Fri-Sat., May 25-26 -- at NCAA Mideast Regional (Columbia, Mo.)
Wed-Sat., June 6-9 -- at NCAA Oudtoor Championships (Sacramento, Calif.)

This Week: Big Ten Outdoor Championships
The Maize and Blue will compete in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships Friday through Sunday, May 11-13, on Nittany Lion Track in State College, Pa. Action begins at noon Friday, 9:30 a.m. Saturday and 11:40 a.m. on Sunday.

Michigan at the Big Ten Championships
The Wolverines have won the most men's Big Ten outdoor team titles in conference history with 30 -- the most recent coming in 1983. Illinois ranks second on the list with 28 team titles. The Wolverines won four consecutive team titles three times: 1901-04, 1937-40 and 1980-83. Dating back to 1901, U-M has boasted 267 individual event champions and 23 first-place relay teams at the conference outdoor meet.

2006 Final Team Standings

Place, Team		Points
1.	Wisconsin	161.5
2.	Minnesota	121.5
3.	Indiana	105
4.	Iowa	77
5.	MICHIGAN	69
	Illinois	69
7.	Penn State	61
8.	Ohio State	59
9.	Michigan State	49
10.	Purdue	45

Returning Big Ten Scorers
The Wolverines return 11 of 16 scorers from the 2006 Outdoor Big Ten Championships, losing 18 points from last season's total of 69. However, senior Stann Waithe (Towson, Md./ Loch Raven) and sophomore Sean Pruitt (Cato, Wis./Valders) are both redshirtting this outdoor season and will not be able to contribute in the Big Ten meet this year.

Last season, senior Jeff Porter (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) was the Big Ten outdoor champion in the 110-meter hurdles. Junior Mike Woods (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest) came close to earning a Big Ten Title as well, claiming runner-up in the 1,500-meter run. Sophomore Justin Switzer (Waterford, Mich./Kettering) was right behind Woods in the 1,500-meter event, taking fifth place. Senior Michael Whitehead (East Norristown, Pa./Norristown Area) took third in the triple jump. Last year was also a great season of development for junior/sophomore Dan Harmsen (Rockford, Mich./Rockford), who was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles. Fifth-year senior Andrew Bauer (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) placed seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Stann Waithe was strong again, scoring in the 400-meter run. Pruitt was a Big Ten scorer in the shot put. With the exception of Stann Waithe, Michigan also returns full relay teams that scored in both the 4x400-meter relay and 4x100-meter relay.

Ellerton's Return
After missing last season due to injury, Ellerton returns and has recorded the fastest 800-meter run time in the conference -- a mark of 1:48.64. In both indoor and outdoor seasons, Ellerton has competed in the 800-meter run at the conference meet a total of five times, winning the crown as a senior earlier this year and as a sophomore. He has placed in the top three all but once. Ellerton is ranked third in the 800-meter run in the Trackwire Dandy Dozen.

After the Big Ten Indoor meet, Ellerton claimed runner-up honors in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a time of 1:48.55.

Triple Threat
Whitehead has recorded the longest triple in the conference going into the Big Ten meet. He landed a regional qualifying mark of 53-4 1/4 -- 1-9 longer than the next best mark in the conference (51-7 1/4), recorded by Nick Brown of Illinois. Whitehead is ranked fourth in the Trackwire Dandy Dozen, but Kyle Jenkins of Indiana will also provide good competition. Jenkins -- who won the event during the indoor season -- is ranked seventh in the poll. Whitehead looks to win his second Big Ten title after winning the indoor crown during the 2006 season.

Port Authority
Porter looks to defend his 2006 Big Ten title in the 110-meter hurdles. Porter set a new personal record in the 110-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays on April 26-28, blazing a time of 13.79 to crush his previous best of 13.92. The time ranks Porter second in the conference behind Purdue's Kyle Hopkins (13.59). Another Boilermaker, Big Ten Indoor 60-meter hurdle champion Rickey Pinckney, ranks right behind Porter with a time of 13.91. Porter currently ranks ninth on the Trackwire Dandy Dozen. No other Big Ten athlete is on the list.

Porter won the NCAA crown in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships March 10-11 to claim All-America honors for the second time in his collegiate career.

Sprints
Sophomore Adam Harris (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) owns the third-fastest 100-meter dash time in the conference this year, clocking a time of 10.52 -- just 0.02 shy of an NCAA regional mark. The clear favorite in the conference is Wisconsin's Demi Omole, who blazed a time of 10.21 -- 0.26 seconds faster than his closest competition in the conference. Omole is ranked number three the Trackwire Dandy Dozen.

Harris ranks high in another event, as he has the fourth-fastest 200-meter dash time. His mark of 21.29 is 0.48 behind Omole for the conference lead. Fellow Wolverine, sophomore Andre Barnes (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield), ranks seventh in the event with a time of 21.46. Barnes also looks to contend in the 400-meter dash; he ranks sixth with a time of 47.27

1,500-meter Run
Throughout the outdoor season, the Wolverines have had three athletes grab NCAA regional marks in the 1,500-meter run -- Williams (3:42.38), Switzer (3:45.32), Woods (3:46.97) and sophomore/freshman Sean McNamara (Elmhurst, Ill./York) (3:47.34). Unfortunately, Williams will not compete over the remainder of the season due to illness. The other three Wolverines hold three of the top six times in the conference. If he competes in the event, Ellerton also has a chance to score as he has the eighth-fastest time in the conference (3:48.10). Craig Miller of Wisconsin owns the fastest time in the Big Ten, clocking 3:42.67.

Danny Boy
Harmsen enters the Big Ten meet with the sixth fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles. His time of 51.92 is a regional qualifying mark and is 0.86 shy of the best time in the conference. Adrian Walker of Illinois is ranked first with a time of 51.06. The competition looks to be very close, as the next six times after Walker range from 51.46-51.94.

Multi-Talented
Freshman Frank Shotwell (Medina, Ohio/Medina) ranks sixth in the decathlon with a total of 6,644 points. His point total is the third highest in U-M school history. Joe Detmer of Wisconsin has the highest point total this season (7,296 points) and ranks ninth in the Trackwire Dandy Dozen.

Trackwire Top 25 (May 8)

Rank, Team Points 1. Florida State 63 2. USC 48 3. Auburn 32 4. Louisville 31 LSU 31 6. Arizona State 27 7. Tennessee 25 8. Arizona 24 Clemson 24 10. Florida 23 11. Oregon 22 Baylor 22 13. BYU 21 14. North Carolina 20 15. UCLA 19 16. Wisconsin 18 Texas 18 18. Texas Tech 16 Northern Iowa 16 20. McNeese State 15 21. Mississippi 14 22. Oklahoma 13 Nebraska 13 24. Georgia 12 25. MICHIGAN 11 Arkansas 11 Texas A&M 11

On the Horizon
After a two-week hiatus, U-M will send its contingent of regional qualifers to the NCAA Mideast Regional on May 25-26 at Missouri's Audrey J. Walton Stadium in Columbia, Mo.

Contact: Tim Trunzo (734) 763-4423