Brannen Leads Michigan to Runner-up Big Ten Showing

Sunday, November 2

East Lansing, Mich.

11:30 AM

Michigan

Big Ten Championships

11/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Junior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) used his kick to pass seven competitors in the final 1,000 meters en route to second place at the 2003 Big Ten Conference Championships on Sunday (Nov. 2), leading No. 6-ranked University of Michigan men's cross country team to a second-place finish in the team competition. The Wolverines registered 57 points in the 8,000-meter race, 17 points away from champion Wisconsin.

Brannen earned All-Big Ten first-team honors for the second straight year.

In addition to Brannen, the Wolverines boasted two other runners in the top 10 with senior Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS) and sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) capturing seventh and eighth place, respectively. Greenless, who joined Brannen on the All-Big Ten first team, crossed the line at the 24:26.9 mark while Willis finished only seconds later, posting a time of 24:30 for All-Big Ten second-team honors. It was the first time since the 1999 season that Michigan put three runners in the top 10 at the conference meet.

Rounding out the Wolverines' scored runners were fifth-year senior captain Nick Stanko (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt HS) in 12th place and fifth-year senior Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS) in 26th place. Stanko earned his best finish at the Big Ten Championships, clocking a time of 24:39.5 and shaving four seconds off his times from the previous two seasons. L'Heureux, competing in his first conference meet for Michigan, crossed the line at the 24:58.6 mark.

The Wolverines will take a two-week hiatus before competing in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, Nov. 15, in Terre Haute, Ind. Hosted by Indiana State University, the men's 10,000-meter race is slated to begin at 11 a.m.

Team Standings

 1. Wisconsin 40 2. MICHIGAN 57 3. Indiana 90 4. Ohio State 93 5. Iowa 144 6. Minnesota 159 7. Penn State 218 Michigan State 218 9. Illinois 233 10. Purdue 278

Top 10 Individuals

 1. Simon Bairu, Wisconsin 23:58.8 2. Nate Brannen, U-M 24:19.2 3. Chris Solinsky, Wisconsin 24:20.3 4. Dan Mazzocco, Penn State 24:20.7 5. Tim Keller, Wisconsin 24:24.0 6. Rob Myers, Ohio State 24:24.9 7. Tom Greenless, U-M 24:26.9 8. Nick Willis, U-M 24:30.0 9. Chad Andrews, Indiana 24:31.0 10. Chris Powers, Indiana 24:32.3

Other Michigan Individuals

16. Nick Stanko 24:39.5 24. Alex L'Heureux 24:58.6 26. Tarn Leach 25:00.8 28. Sean Moore 25:03.6 46. Andrew Ellerton 25:30.0 59. David Sage 25:46.7

Quotes

U-M Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On Nate Brannen ... "I knew he was going to catch (Wisconsin's Chris) Solinsky in the stretch, because I could see his rhythm; he was coming on hard. Nobody's going to outkick Nate in the last 1,000 meters. Nobody."

On Michigan's performance ... "I thought all seven guys ran really well. Tommy (Greenless) came out with another great performance. Everybody did -- 4, 5, 6 and 7 came up really big. I'm really happy with the way we ran."

Junior Nate Brannen
On his runner-up performance ... "I ran pretty conservatively. My health has been bothering me all year, so I really didn't know what to expect today. So I kind of ran smart and worked my way through the race. I was actually running for seventh place, and every guy I passed, I thought, 'Hey, I can get fifth, I can fourth.'"

On preparing for NCAA regionals ... "I'm running a lot better than I have been, but I don't think it's as good as I can. My training has been so up and down, as well as my fitness level. In terms of training, I hope I can just get a couple of weeks of good, solid training in and get ready for nationals."

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423