Notes & Quotes: Michigan at Big Ten Outdoor Championships
5/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On the 5,000-meter run... "First thing I would like to do is thank Minnesota for setting the pace and knocking the Wisconsin boys off of theirs. We were up 14 (points on Wisconsin) going into the 5,000 and we wanted to try to keep them under 15 points. Ended up they got 12 and we scored five, so we held them to seven and that was the difference in the end."
On the team's overall success... "Three things really stand out in my mind. We had Grant Till, who was ranked 20th in the javelin, finish sixth, Rob Fiorillo in the hurdles finish fifth and then (Brandon) Fellows take fourth in the 5,000. Those were the three critical events that put it over the edge for us."
U-M Associate Head Coach Fred LaPlante
On the 400-meter hurdles... "It was a pivotal event. We had just survived a few events where we sort of stumbled a little bit, didn't quite get the points we expected. It was critical coming into the race that we do well. The Iowa kid put quite a move on in the final turn and looked like he was tired coming into the 10th hurdle and stumbled. Who knows what would've happened if he got over the hurdle, but Danny (Harmsen) was coming."
On meeting with the 4x400m relay team... "We knew we were a good team but with the adrenaline flowing so strong you might get the tendency to go too early. I told them to believe in their finish, to stay in control and to have good passes."
U-M Fifth-Year Senior Sprinter Stann Waithe
On finishing the 4x400-meter relay... "The Wisconsin guy and I got the baton at the same time, and I was thinking if I let him get in front of me I don't know if I'm going to get the chance to pass him so I'm just going to take the lead now and fight him around the first curve and hold on."
On returning for his fifth year... "I came back telling myself we have a good team, we have a chance to do something. We didn't know everything was going to play out like this, but I'm glad it did. In previous years we were defeated even before we got to the meet, so I wanted to come back and finish what we started five years ago. We'd never made it to regionals in the 4x100 and we did that this year."
U-M Senior/Junior Hurdler Dan Harmsen
On the 400-meter hurdles... "I knew it was going to be a close race, but to have the Iowa guy tripping over the last hurdle sort of made it a done deal. Carl (Bucahnon) and Rob (Fiorillo) had outstanding performances, and that was definitely the game-changing performance."
U-M Junior Sprinter Adam Harris
On earning Big Ten gold as a team and an individual... "It feels great. Wisconsin probably came in here thinking they were going to take it because they have won it before, so it feels great to take it away from them. I came in with a pretty good time in the 200. I just ran the race that I have been running and was happy to help the team to victory."
N O T E S
Junior Adam Harris is the first Michigan sprinter to win the 60-meter dash (indoor) and 200-meter dash (outdoor) in the same year. Andrew Bruce won the 60-yard dash and 220-yard dash in 1982.
Michigan claimed its first 4x400-meter relay title since 1978 and won its first 4x100-meter relay title since 1982.
Sophomore Frank Shotwell is the first Wolverine to win the Big Ten decathlon title, and the win gives him a sweep of the indoor (heptathlon) and outdoor multi-event titles this year. With his 7,362 points, Shotwell broke the U-M school record in the decathlon, passing Sean Clancy's 7,147 points from 1993.
Michigan's 4x100-meter relay team's preliminary time (40.10) is a season best and 0.18 a second from the school record set in 1978.
Junior Adam Harris is the first Wolverine to win the 200-meter dash since 1982, when Andrew Bruce won the second of his two consecutive titles. Butch Woolfolk won the 200 in 1980, and Michigan had eight champions when the event was contested as the 220-yard dash prior to 1976.
Senior/junior Dan Harmsen is the first Wolverine to win the Big Ten title in the 400-meter hurdles since Neil Gardner did in 1997.
Michigan won its first Big Ten outdoor team championship since 1983, when coach Jack Harvey's squad won its fourth straight title (1980-83) and fifth in six seasons.
The Big Ten outdoor title is the first for head coach Ron Warhurst, who is in his ninth season at the helm. The Wolverines' previous best outdoor finish under Warhurst was third place in 2007.
Players Mentioned
