Ellerton, Willard Named Michigan Athletes of the Year
6/12/2007 2:20:00 PM | General, Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Two track student-athletes who won NCAA individual championships -- fifth-year senior Andrew Ellerton (Sudbury, Ontario/Confederation Secondary School) and graduate/senior Anna Willard (Greenwood, Maine/Telstar Regional HS) -- are the University of Michigan's 2006-07 Male and Female Athletes of the Year, announced Tuesday (June 12). The duo helped lead the Wolverines to one of the best combined seasons in U-M track and field history.
Ellerton, who won the 800-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and Willard, the NCAA 3,000-meter steeplechase champion, are now among 22 nominees for the Big Ten Conference Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year and Suzy Favor Female Athlete of the Year awards. One male and one female are nominated from each conference member institution.
Willard, a 2006 Brown University graduate who is in graduate school at U-M, made the most of her one remaining season of outdoor track eligibility, capping a string of postseason titles with the 3,000-meter steeplechase national crown in an NCAA-record time of 9:38.08. Her championship helped the Maize and Blue to a program-best third-place finish at the NCAA outdoor meet. She also won the steeplechase crown at the NCAA Mideast Regional.
Willard was named Big Ten Women's Track Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Championships for the outdoor season after becoming the first Wolverine to capture three Big Ten outdoor titles in one year. She won the steeplechase and the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs while helping U-M share the team title, its first since 2004. She was also named Women's Top Performer at the Penn Relays after contributing to NCAA collegiate records in the 4x800-meter relay (8:18.78) and 4x1,500-meter relay (17:52.62).
Ellerton wrapped up a stellar career by winning the NCAA 800-meter run outdoor championship after finishing runner-up in the event at the 2007 indoor national meet. He swept the 800-meter run titles at the Big Ten indoor and outdoor meets this season and was the Mideast Regional champion in the event as well. Ellerton also ran on Michigan's indoor distance medley relay squad that placed first at the Big Ten meet and sixth at nationals, and he was also a vital part of three Michigan relay teams that had top-four finishes at the Penn Relays.
Ellerton's efforts this year helped the Wolverines to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA indoor meet and a tie for 18th at the outdoor meet. The outdoor finish is the program's second-best team finish since the 1962 season.
Ellerton won three national titles during his career, including two as a member of the U-M distance medley relay team (2004, '05). He was part of the collegiate record-breaking 2004 DMR team that clocked 9:27.77. Ellerton earned All-America recognition eight times during his career, tying him with former U-M star Nate Brannen for the second-most All-America performances by an individual in Michigan track and field history, trailing only Kevin Sullivan (10). Ellerton also won a combined three Mideast Regional crowns and four Big Ten Conference titles.
Others who received strong consideration for U-M Athlete of the Year honors included ice hockey senior T.J. Hensick (Howell, Mich.), a first team All-American and the nation's leading scorer in 2006-07; senior swimmer Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS), a five-time All-American, four-time Big Ten champion, and Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships in 2007; and women's track fifth-year senior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac HS), NCAA runner-up in the outdoor 800-meter run and a two-time indoor All-American in 2007.
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