Michigan
Eastern Michigan Open
Nalli and 4x400 Relay Team Win at EMU Open
1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Event: Eastern Michigan Open
Score: non-scoring
Records: U-M (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 17 -- vs. Ohio State (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Noon
Complete Results
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Senior/junior Tony Nalli(Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter) earned a win in the 3,000-meter run to lead the University of Michigan men's track and field team at the Eastern Michigan Open on Saturday (Jan. 10) at the Bob Parks Track/Bowen Fieldhouse. Nalli ran away with the event, crossing the line in 8:24.87, a full seven seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
U-M's other win on the day came on the next event as the Wolverines' 4x400-meter relay squad finished in first at 3:19.96. The team of junior Matt Wheeler(Atherton, Calif./Menlo-Atherton), sophomore Carl Buchanon(South Bend Ind./Clay), sophomore David St. Amant(Livonia, Mich./Churchill) and fifth-year senior Dan Harmsen(Rockford, Mich./Rockford) finished in 3:19.96, three seconds ahead of the No. 1-seeded squad from Eastern Michigan.
Michigan picked up two top-three finishes in the 60-meter dash as sophomores Troy Woolfolk(Sugar Land, Texas/Dulles) and Robert Peddler(Kingston, Jamaica/Wolmer's Boys) finished second and third, respectively. Woolfolk crossed the line in second place with a new personal-best time of 6.86 seconds. Peddler entered the final as the top seed but finished in third despite a personal-best time of 6.89.
The Wolverines also picked up two top-three finishes in the 60-meter hurdles as Buchanon and junior sophomore Nick McCampbell(Detroit, Mich./Cass Technical) crossed the line in second and third, respectively.
Other top-three finishes on the track included St. Amant, who finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.24, and junior Ricky Fleming(Grand Haven Mich./Grand Haven), who finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.54.
Michigan added four more top-three finishes in the field events as Peddler finished second in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 23-7.25, senior/junior John Kipf(Monroe, Mich./St. Mary Catholic Central) finished second in the high jump with a mark of 6-6.25 and senior/junior Sean Pruitt(Cato, Wisc./Valders) and senior Brendan Lodge(Narragansett, R.I./Bishop Hendrickson) finished second and third with marks of 62-8 and 59-9.5, respectively.
The Wolverines will next take on Ohio State on Saturday (Jan. 17) in "The Dual" at the U-M Indoor Track Building in Ann Arbor. Action will begin at 12 p.m.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Fred LaPlante
On the team's performance... "The purpose of today's meet was to find out what kind of competitive shape we are in to start the season. We didn't have any major surprises. We showed some strength in the hurdles, the weight throw, and the most pleasant surprise was the 60-meter dash where Troy Woolfolk finished second, which is a good sign. Tony Nalli had a good win. We had a lot of guys who competed pretty well and it was pretty much what we expected for the first meet."
Contact: Joe Arancio (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
