Barnes, St. Amant Pick Up Wins at EMU Invitational

Saturday, April 18

Ypsilanti, Mich.

Michigan

Eastern Michigan Invitational

4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

Site: Ypsilanti, Mich. (Olds/Marshall Track)
Event: Eastern Michigan Invitational
Score: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Thu-Sat., April 23-25 -- at Penn Relays (Philadelphia, Pa.);
Fri-Sat., April 24-25 -- at Hillsdale Relays (Hillsdale, Mich.)

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Senior Andre Barnes(West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield) and sophomore David St. Amant(Livonia, Mich./Churchill) each picked up wins for the University of Michigan men's track and field team at the Eastern Michigan Invitational on Saturday (April 18) at Olds/Marshall Track. The victories raised the Wolverines' overall win total to four over the two-day competition.

Barnes earned his first win of the season with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash. The senior trimmed almost a full second off his previous season best, crossing the line with a time of 21.70. Barnes finished just .05 ahead of Eastern Michigan's Akeem Forde to pick up the win.

St. Amant notched the Maize and Blue's second win of the afternoon, finishing first in the 400-meter dash with a time 47.47. The time was a new season best for the sophomore, who finished 23 one-hundredths of a second ahead of the rest of the field. Barnes followed St. Amant across the line in fifth with a time of 48.08.

Other top-five finishes on the second day included a second-place finish by sophomore Carl Buchanon(South Bend, Ind./Clay) in the 110-meter hurdles and a fourth-place finish by junior Ricky Fleming(Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) in the 800-meter run. Buchanon finished one-tenth of a second behind Indiana Tech's Evan Carpenter with a time of 14.77, while Fleming finished with a season-best time of 1:52.60.

On Friday, fifth-year senior Dan Harmsen(Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and senior/junior Lex Williams(Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter) each earned wins for the Wolverines.

Harmsen continued his strong season in the 400-meter hurdles with a first-place finish in a season-best time of 51.06. Harmsen, the owner of the top time in the Big Ten in the 400-meter hurdles, trimmed his time for the third time in four races. The Rockford, Mich., native led a 1-2-3 finish when he was followed by both Buchanon and senior Rob Fiorillo(Holly, Mich./Holly). Buchanon came in second with a career-best time of 51.10 and Fiorillo followed in third with a season-best time of 52.62.

Williams' dominance in the 1,500-meter run continued at EMU as the senior/junior finished in first with a season-best time of 3:43.05. Williams finished over three seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Michigan returns to the track next weekend when the team will send contingents to both the Penn Relays, which will be held Thursday-Saturday (April 23-25) in Philadelphia, Pa., and the Hillsdale Relays, which will be held Friday-Saturday (April 24-25) in Hillsdale, Mich.

Event Winners/U-M Finishers

 DAY TWO RESULTS (APRIL 18)

 200-meter Dash 1. Andre Barnes, U-M 21.70 33. Taylor Voice, U-M 24.02 400-meter Dash 1. David St. Amant, U-M 47.47 5. Andre Barnes, U-M 48.08 800-meter Dash 1. David Brent, EMU 1:50.31# 4. Ricky Fleming, U-M 1:52.60 7. Mike Luginbill, U-M 1:54.26 18. Jeff Merrill, U-M 1:57.86 110-meter Hurdles 1. Evan Carpenter, Indiana Tech 14.67 2. Carl Buchanon, U-M 14.77 3. Rob Fiorillo, U-M 14.95 10. Joe Strizich, U-M 16.16 17. Taylor Voice, U-M 17.96 Long Jump 1. Cadeau Kelley, Unattached 26-3 (8.00m)# 13. Taylor Voice, U-M 19-9 3/4 (6.04m) -- Joe Strizich, U-M ND DAY ONE RESULTS (APRIL 17)

 1,500-meter Run 1. Lex Williams, U-M 3:43.05# 400-meter Hurdles 1. Dan Harmsen, U-M 51.06# 2. Carl Buchanon, U-M 51.10# 5. Rob Fiorillo, U-M 52.62 21. Stevann Waithe, U-M 58.10 Shot Put 1. Gerald Gersham, EMU 56-0 (17.07m)# 25. Joe Strizich, U-M 37-1 (11.30m) 26. Taylor Voice, U-M 36-2 (11.02m)

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Fred LaPlante
On the team's performance... "We had some really good performances. The 400-meter hurdles, St. Amant in the 400 and Lex Williams in the 1,500 were all bright spots for us. The guys who ran had some really good performances. It went really well."

On Andre Barnes... "His 200 was encouraging. His 400 wasn't a particularly good race for him, but he came back and won the 200, so that was very encouraging."

On David St. Amant... "He has improved in every meet this year. That was a lifetime best in the 400 and he did it in lane one, which is tough to do. He gets better every week and we have a strong contingent in the 400."