Wisniewski Earns All-America Honors; Webb Advances

Thursday, May 30

Baton Rouge, La.

Michigan

NCAA Outdoor Championships (Day 2)

5/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

BATON ROUGE, La. -- University of Michigan senior tri-captain Mike Wisniewski (Temperance, Mich./Bedford HS) earned All-America honors in the 10,000-meter run and freshman Alan Webb (Reston, Va./South Lakes HS) advanced to the final of the 1,500-meter run on Thursday evening (May 30) at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Bernie Moore Stadium. Wisniewski placed 10th in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 29:47.74 and Webb posted the 10th fastest time in the 1,500-meter run at 3:45.14.

Wisniewski

By placing 10th in the 10,000-meter run, Wisniewski earned his first All-America honor in track and third overall; he earned All-America status in cross country in 1999 and 2001. To become an All-American in track and field, a competitor must place in the top eight overall in an event or be one of the top eight American finishers.

Boaz Cheboiywo, the 2001 NCAA cross country champion from Eastern Michigan, cruised to a victory in the 10,000-meter race with a time of 28:32.10. Cheboiywo lapped almost the entire field and finished comfortably ahead of Notre Dame's Aaron Shea, who finished runner-up.

In the preliminaries of the 1,500-meter run, Webb became the second Wolverine to advance in to the finals of an event this weekend. After classmate Nathan Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) qualified for the 800-meter run final on Thursday, Webb also stayed in the running for All-America honors as he will compete on Saturday (June 1) at 8 p.m. CDT.

After the first preliminary heat of the 1,500-meter run concluded, the fourth automatic qualifier for the final posted a time of 3:41.89. The second heat inexplicably went out at a much slower pace and was on a 2:04 clip at the halfway point. With 10 runners tightly grouped together, Webb went from eighth to third in his heat on the last turn while running in lane seven.

Grant Robison of Stanford posted the fastest time of the second preliminary heat of the 1,500-meter run at 3:45.11, while the next three automatic qualifiers all finished within .07 of a second of the top spot. Gabriel Jennings of Stanford, the 2000 NCAA champion in the 1,500-meter run and a 2000 Olympian, was involved in the tight finish but failed to qualify for the final with a time of 3:45.22.

Brannen will be the lone representative for Michigan on Friday (May 31) as he will run in the 800-meter run final at 8 p.m. CDT.

Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 2)

10,000-meter Run 1. Boaz Cheboiywo, Eastern Michigan 28:32.10 10. Mike Wisniewski, U-M 29:47.74 1,500-meter Run (Preliminaries, Final Qualifiers Listed) Heat 1 1. Dan Wilson, Connecticut 3:40.27Q 2. Brandon Strong, Arizona State 3:41.54Q 3. Donald Sage, Stanford 3:41.66Q 4. Chris Mulvaney, Arkansas 3:41.89Q 5. Adrian Blincoe, Villanova 3:42.16q 6. Ryan Hayden, Villanova 3:42.27q 7. Scott McGowan, Montana 3:42.37q Heat 2 1. Grant Robison, Stanford 3:45.11Q 2. Charlie Gruber, Kansas 3:45.13Q 3. Alan Webb, U-M 3:45.14Q 4. Sean O'Brien, American 3:45.18Q 5. Josh Spiker, Wisconsin 3:45.19q

Contact: David Crabtree (734) 763-4423