Michigan
Red Simmons Invitational
Competitive Red Simmons Invitational Sees Record Fall
1/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team hosted the 21st annual Red Simmons Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 20) at the U-M Track Building. The Wolverines won two of the events on the day in the highly competitive meet, which consisted of participants from Michigan State, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Toledo and Bowling Green.
The highlight of the day came in the 60-meter dash as Gerald Rasool of Eastern Michigan broke the 16-year-old U-M Track Building record with a time of 6.71. The previous record-holder was Andrew Bruce (1979-82), who held the record since 1985 with a time of 6.74 that had been converted from 55 meters. Michigan's Ike Okenwa (San Diego, Calif./Morse HS) came in third in the event with a time of 6.78.
Michigan got its first win of the day from junior Kevin Lamb (East Lansing, Mich./Haslett HS), whose time of 49.86 was good to take first in the 400-meter dash. The other victory for the Wolverines came in the 1,600-meter relay as U-M edged out Eastern Michigan for first with a time of 3:18.06.
Perhaps the strongest event on the day for Michigan was the 800-meter run, in which the Wolverines took three of the top four spots. Junior Jeremy Schneider (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Andover HS) came two-hundredths of a second of winning (1:54.11), while Phil Stead (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child HS) and Kevin Rogan (Grass Lake, Mich./Grass Lake HS) came in third and fourth, respectively.
The other bright spot for Michigan came in the 600-meter dash as senior Ravi Smith (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup HS) was the runner-up in the event, posting a time of 1:22.32.
The Wolverines will continue their season in two weeks on Friday (Feb. 2) at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind., beginning at 9:30 a.m.
N O T E S
With his third-place finish, Ike Okenwa had a personal best in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.78, eclipsing his previous best (6.79) which he set at the Jack Harvey Invitational (Jan. 6).
Kevin Lamb's win in the 400-meter dash was his second victory in the event this season. His time of 49.86 was a season best.
Contact: Steve Grialou (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
