Three Wolverines Earn Top-Five Finishes at Penn Relays

Saturday, April 25

Philadelphia, Pa.

Michigan

Penn Relays

Three Wolverines Earn Top-Five Finishes at Penn Relays

4/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

Site: Philadelphia, Pa. (Franklin Field)
Event: Penn Relays (Day 3)
Score: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., May 1-2 -- at Jesse Owens Classic (Columbus, Ohio); Saturday, May 2 -- at Stanford Invitational (Palo Alto, Calif.)

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Senior/junior Brandon Fellows(Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island), fifth-year senior Dan Harmsen(Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and senior Adam Harris(Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton) all finished in the top five of the their respective races for the University of Michigan men's track and field team at the Penn Relays, held Thursday through Saturday (April 23-25) at Franklin Field.

Fellows began the competition for the Wolverines on Thursday (April 23) with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run, finishing with a career-best time of 14:01.80. The Mercer Island, Wash., native's time is the top time in the event for any Michigan athlete this season.

On the second day of competition, Harmsen turned in the top Maize and Blue finish with a fourth-place showing in the 400-meter hurdles. Competing in the top section of the event, Harmsen crossed the line in 51.67 to claim the fourth-place position.

The Maize and Blue distance medley relay team of senior/junior Sean McNamara(Elmhurst, Ill./York), freshman Nick Neuman(Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), junior Ricky Fleming(Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) and senior/junior Lex Williams(Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter) closed out Michigan's day on Friday (April 24) with an eighth-place finish in the college championship, clocking in at 9:48.24.

Harris led Michigan on the final day of the competition with a fifth-place showing in the 100-meter championship. After qualifying for the final in the sixth position on Friday, Harris outperformed his seed, finishing in 10.65 to lay claim to fifth place; a showing that is a two-spot improvement over his finish in the same event last season.

Harris also anchored U-M's 4x100-meter relay team as the squad of sophomore Troy Woolfolk(Sugar Land, Texas/Dulles), senior Andre Barnes(West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield), junior Kyle Terpak(Riverview, Mich./Riverview) and Harris finished in seventh in the College Championship with a time of 40.40, less than a second behind champion Arkansas.

In early action on the final day, four Wolverines competed in the 4xMile Championship of America relay. Fellows, junior/sophomore Peter Christmas(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), McNamara and Williams finished seventh with a time of 16:33.55. The Wolverines led after the first leg and finished just over seven seconds ahead of Big Ten rival Penn State, which finished in eighth.

Michigan 4x400-meter relay team of Barnes, sophomore David St. Amant(Livonia, Mich./Churchill), Harmsen and sophomore Carl Buchanon(South Bend, Ind./Clay) earned Michigan's top relay finish, earning fifth place in the College Championship. The Wolverines finished in 3:10.10, less than four seconds behind champion Auburn.

The Maize and Blue 4x800-meter relay squad of Fleming, senior/junior Roger Billhardt(Elmhurst, Ill./York), senior Mike Luginbill(Troy, Mich./Troy) and Williams finished sixth in the College Championship with a time of 7:34.36.

The Wolverines will send athletes to Columbus, Ohio, for the Jesse Owens Track Classic, held Friday and Saturday (May 1-2), and also send athletes to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational, held Saturday (May 2).

Event Winners/U-M Finishes

 DAY THREE (SATURDAY, APRIL 25)

 4xMile Relay 1. Arkansas 16:16.11 7. MICHIGAN 16:33.55 (Brandon Fellows, Peter Christmas, Sean McNamara, Lex Williams)

 4x100-meter Relay (College) 1. Arkansas 39.52 7. MICHIGAN 40.40 (Troy Woolfolk, Andre Barnes, Kyle Terpak, Adam Harris)

 100-meter Dash C 4:25 1. Trindon Holliday, LSU 10.16 5. Adam Harris, U-M 10.52 4x800-meter Relay (College) 1. Virginia 7:22.99 6. MICHIGAN 7:34.36 (Ricky Fleming, Roger Billhardt, Mike Luginbill, Lex Williams)

 4x400-meter Relay (College) 1. Auburn 3:06.34 5. MICHIGAN 3:10.10 (Andre Barnes, David St. Amant, Dan Harmsen, Carl Buchanon)

 DAY TWO (FRIDAY, APRIL 24)

 400-meter Hurdles 1. William Wynne, Florida 50.02# 4. Dan Harmsen, U-M 51.67# 4x100-meter Relay (Preliminaries) 1. Clemson 39.73Q# 14. MICHIGAN 40.80q (Troy Woolfolk, Andre Barnes, Kyle Terpak, Adam Harris)

 100-meter Dash (Preliminaries) 1. Terrell Wilks, Florida 10.39Q# 10. Adam Harris, U-M 10.65Q# Distance Medley Relay 1. Villanova 9:30.81 8. MICHIGAN 9:48.24 (Sean McNamara, Nick Neuman, Ricky Fleming, Lex Williams)

 4x400-meter Relay (Preliminaries) 1. Florida State 3:05.83Q 15. MICHIGAN 3:09.78  (Andre Barnes, Carl Buchanon, Dan Harmsen, David St. Amant)

 DAY ONE (THURSDAY, APRIL 23)

 5,000-meter Run 1. Jon Anderson, Army 13:58.23# 4. Brandon Fellows, U-M 14:01.80#

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Fred LaPlante
On the weekend... "I feel like we had a pretty solid Penn Relays. The competition was tremendous, but I feel like we held our own. Brandon Fellows, Dan Harmsen and Adam Harris all finished in the top five in invitational races, which are high-caliber races. In the relay, our 4x100 and 4x400 relays were both very solid. We made it to the college final in both of those races. In the 4x800, the Distance Medley Relay and the 4xMile we had some guys run real well. Lex Williams had a great weekend, ran on all three of those and did a great job. We were in the top 10 in all our relays, which was good. We had a solid meet, nothing spectacular but pretty good."

Contact: Joe Arancio (734) 763-4423