Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 3)
Michigan Finishes Third at Big Ten Outdoor Championships
5/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 3)
U-M Team Standing:3rd Place of 10 Teams (100 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., May 29-30 -- at NCAA Mideast Championships (Louisville, Ky.)
Photo Gallery
COLUMBUS, Ohio-- Senior Adam Harris (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) won two Big Ten titles and sophomore Carl Buchanon (South Bend, Ind./Clay) added his first career Big Ten championship as the University of Michigan men's track and field team finished third at the 2009 Big Ten Outdoor Championships after accumulating 74 points on Sunday's (May 17) final day of competition.
The Wolverines ended the three-day competition at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium with 100 total points. U-M was a mere three points behind second-place Ohio State and 30 points behind champion Minnesota.
Harriscaptured wins in both the 100- and 200-meter dash, becoming the first Maize and Blue athlete since Andrew Bruce in 1982 to accomplish that feat. In the 100-meter dash, Harris finished with a season-best and NCAA regional time of 10.29, 16-hundredths of a second ahead of the rest of the field. The senior followed up his win in the 100 meters with his second-consecutive conference title in the 200-meter dash. Harris entered the championship with the top time in the event and bested it in the final, finishing in a season-best mark of 20.78. In doing so, Harris became the first Michigan athlete to ever win both the 60- and 200-meter indoor titles and the 100- and 200-meter outdoor titles in the same season.
After turning in the top time by any Michigan runner in the 400-meter hurdles during the prelims, Buchanon continued his strong championship performance by finishing first in the event on Sunday togarner his first career conference title. Buchanon finished the race in a career-best time of 50.84, crossing the line ahead of teammate and defending champion, fifth-year senior Dan Harmsen (Rockford, Mich./Rockford), who finished in 51.10. Senior Rob Fiorillo (Holly, Mich./Holly) rounded out what proved to be Michigan's most successful event, finishing in fifth (52.87). In all, the three hurdlers earned 22 points towards the U-M team score.
Fiorillo and Buchanon also competed in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles where they finished third and sixth, respectively. Buchanon earned his first NCAA regional time of the event, finishing with a career-best time of 14.27. Fiorillo turned in a career-best time of his own, crossing the line in 14.47.
Senior/junior Lex Williams (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter) finished in second in the 5,000-meter run to earn eight points for the Wolverines. Williams finished the race in 14:22.32, less than two seconds behind champion Hassan Mead from Minnesota. The finish was Williams' second runner-up finish of the championship as he alsoplaced behind Mead in the 10,000-meter championship.
Senior Justin Switzer (Waterford, Mich./Kettering) finished fifth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:59.45. In a slow race, which saw every runner fail to match their preliminary time, Switzer finished less than two seconds behind the champion, Wisconsin's Craig Miller.
In the 400-meter dash, sophomore David St. Amant (Livonia, Mich./Churchill) picked up two team points with a seventh-placeshowing (47.96). Senior Andre Barnes (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield) also competed in the final, finishing in ninth with a time of 48.69.
In the field events, senior/junior Sean Pruitt (Cato, Wis./Valders) picked up points in his third event of the championship with a fourth-place showing in the shot put. Pruitt picked up his best throw of the competition on his fourth attempt with a season-best toss of 58-1 (17.70m) before fouling on his final two attempts. In three days, Pruitt earned 16 points towards the team's final score.
U-M concluded the championship with a fourth-place finish in the 4x400-meter championship. The team of Barnes, Buchanon, Harmsen and St. Amant finished in 3:12.58 to earn five more points towards the Maize and Blue total.
After a two-week hiatus, U-M will send its contingent of 14 regional qualifiers to the NCAA Mideast Regional on May 29-30 in Louisville, Ky. Events are slated to begin Friday, May 29, at 11 a.m. CDT with the javelin.
Final Team Standings
1. Minnesota 130 2. Ohio State 103 3. MICHIGAN 100 4. Purdue 81 5. Penn State 80 6. Wisconsin 76 7. Iowa 69 8. Michigan State 62 9. Illinois 60 10. Indiana 58
Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 3)
4x100-meter Relay 1. Ohio State 40.55# -- MICHIGAN DNF (Kyle Terpak, Troy Woolfolk,
Andre Barnes, Adam Harris)
1,500-meter Run 1. Craig Miller, Wisconsin 3:57.57 5. Justin Switzer, U-M 3:59.45 110-meter Hurdles 1. Josh Hembrough, Purdue 13.97# 3. Carl Buchanon, U-M 14.27# 6. Rob Fiorillo, U-M 14.47 400-meter Dash 1. Lesiba Mesheto, Illinois 46.24# 7. David St. Amant, U-M 47.96 9. Andre Barnes, U-M 48.69 100-meter Dash 1. Adam Harris, U-M 10.29# 800-meter Run 1. Ryan Foster, Penn State 1:49.66# 400-meter Hurdles 1. Carl Buchanon, U-M 50.84# 2. Dan Harmsen, U-M 51.10# 5. Rob Fiorillo, U-M 52.87 200-meter Dash 1. Adam Harris, U-M 20.78# 5,000-meter Run 1. Hassan Mead, Minnesota 14:20.75 2. Lex Williams, U-M 14:22.32 14. Brandon Fellows, U-M 14:43.71 16. Sean McNamara, U-M 14:47.30 28. Michael Dobmeier, U-M 16:07.41 4x400-meter Relay 1. Ohio State 3:09.61# 4. MICHIGAN 3:12.58 (Andre Barnes, Carl Buchanon,
Dan Harmsen, David St. Amant)
Triple Jump 1. Clarence Smith, Penn State 52-10.75# (16.12m) 9. Robert Peddlar, U-M 48-3.5 (14.72m) Pole Vault 1. Eric Sparks, Purdue 17-5.5# (5.32m) -- Chris Baldwin, U-M NH Shot Put 1. Aaron Studt, Minnesota 61-6.25# (18.75m) 4. Sean Pruitt, U-M 58-1# (17.70m) Javelin 1. Tanner Evak, Penn State 233-4# (71.13m) 11. Grant Till, U-M 184-1 (56.11m) # NCAA regional qualifier $ Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium record B Big Ten Championships record
Previous Results: Day 1 | Day 2
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Fred LaPlante
On the meet... "We had a lot of great performances this weekend. It is hard to have 100 percent of things go right for you. We had a couple stumbles along the way and it cost us second place but to be in the top three is great. We thought we were the best team to beat Minnesota; we would just need to have a lot of things go our way. On the second day, we did what we had to do to get people qualified but in the final event, the steeplechase, Brandon Fellows hit a steeple and fell so that quelled the momentum. We started today with the 4x100 relay and our first two legs went great, but we dropped the baton on the third exchange. So to have those two events back-to-back hurt but the guys really responded after that. We put ourselves in a position, but Minnesota pulled away in the 5,000-meters and in the 4x400, our guys just ran out of gas. Sean Pruitt, Adam Harris, Carl Buchanon and Lex Williams were four guys that had a great meet for us."
On Adam Harris... "His performances are great, his attitude is great, and he helps our whole team. When you have the fastest guy in the conference on your team, it brings a presence to your entire team. The way he handles it all has been great. He has been fantastic with how he practices, how he handles the pressure and how he works with teammates. He has been a great presence and we will miss him when this year is over."
On Carl Buchanon... "It is very difficult to be a standout in the high hurdles and the intermediates. They are both hurdling events, but it is rare at the college level for someone to be successful at both and Carl is just a sophomore. He led for the first five hurdles in the highs and he got third and in the 400-meter hurdles it was a great battle with him, (Dan) Harmsen and Ray Varner from Iowa. It is great when a guy like him does well, he is very deserving."
U-MSenior Adam Harris
On his performance at Big Tens... "It was pretty good. I felt great in the 100-meter dash going into the prelims. In the 200-meter dash, my prelim wasn't as fast as I hoped it would be. So going into the finals, I felt like I could fly in the 100, but in the 200 I had no idea I would go that fast. I had been running low 21.00 and I ended up turning in the best time of the season."
On the Regionals and NCAA Championships... "I would like to compete in both the 100 and 200 at nationals. After today, I am pretty sure I would be up there in the rankings. I beat a lot of those guys during indoors and I would like to challenge them during outdoors as well."
U-MSophomore Carl Buchanon
On winning his first Big Ten Title... "I am ecstatic. I went out as an underdog. There wasn't a lot of pressure on me and I knew that if I went out and ran my race everything would come together for me and today that happened."
On Regionals and Nationals... "My goal this year was to make the nationals. I need to go into regionals with a mindset that I can do this and qualify for nationals. So I am going to take these next two weeks and work on the little things coach wants me to work on to better my races so that I can go into regionals and perform better than I did this weekend."
Players Mentioned
