Weekly Release #6

Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sat., Feb. 14-15 -- at Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup (State College, Pa.), 5:30 p.m./10 a.m.
Saturday, Feb. 22 -- host Harold Silverston Invitational (U-M Track Building), 9:30 a.m./noon

This Week: Sykes/Sabok Challenge Cup
The University of Michigan men's track and field team will compete in the Sykes/Sabok Challenge Cup on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 14-15) at the Ashenfelter Track in State College, Pa. Friday's competition will begin at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday's events are scheduled for a 10 a.m. start. The scoring meet will pit U-M against squads from Central Michigan, Cornell, East Carolina, Kent State, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Toronto and West Virginia.

Last Time Around: Meyo Invitational
Sophomore Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) and freshman Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) ran under four-minute miles at the Meyo Invitational last Friday and Saturday (Feb. 7-8) at the Loftus Sports Complex in South Bend, Ind. Brannen's 3:57.96 time was good for second place, just 0.13 seconds off the lead, while Willis ran to a 3:58.15 fourth-place finish. While the Meyo section of the mile proved to be the weekend's most thrilling finish with five of the world's top times posted, many other Wolverines set career bests. Senior transfer Alex L'Heureux (Weedon, Quebec/Palm Beach Gardens HS, Fla.) surpassed his top time in the mile, junior/sophomore David Battani (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) was 0.03 seconds under his career best in the 60-meter hurdles and David Malonson (Lynwood, Calif./Mayfair HS) had a career day in the long jump. In the 400-meter run DarNell Talbert (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) and Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego HS) ran career bests of 48.27 and 48.34, respectively.

Breaking the 4:00 Barrier at Michigan
Nate Brannen and Nick Willis became just the fifth and sixth Wolverines to break the mile's hallowed four-minute mark. The pair join former Wolverines Kevin Sullivan (1994-98), Brian Diemer (1980-83), Scott MacDonald (1992-96) and Jay Cantin (1997-2000) in Michigan's four-minute club. Sullivan is the school record holder with his 1995 time of 3:55.33, while Brannen and Willis now sit in second and third on the list.

Break On Through
The Meyo mile was the first time in Nick Willis' career that he has clocked in at under four minutes in the mile. His previous personal-best time of 4:01.31 came prior to joining the Wolverines in 2001. Nate Brannen had one previous result below the four-minute mark, 3:59.85, which was run in the 2001 Aleign Meager Track Classic in Nova Scotia, Canada.

More on Four
Five of the six Wolverines to run sub four-minute miles have been foreigners, four of whom hail from the Canadian providence of Ontario. Nick Willis is from New Zealand, while Brian Diemer was a United States Olympian after his career at U-M.

Wonderboys
At 19.8 years old, freshman Nick Willis is the youngest Wolverine to gain entry to Michigan's sub four-minute club. Coincidentally, Nate Brannen became the second-youngest to achieve the feat, at 20.5 years of age. The U-M record holder, Kevin Sullivan, ran 3:55.33 at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 11, 1995, just a week and a half before his 21st birthday.

Five Under Four in Meyo Mile
The Meyo mile produced four of the five fastest times in the world this season. With his win, Notre Dame's Luke Watson holds the world's top indoor mile time at 3:57.83. Nate Brannen is second at 3:57.96 and Nick Willis is currently fourth (3:58.15). Prior to the Meyo Invitational the time to beat in the mile was 3:59.60.

The Longest Jump
Junior/sophomore David Malonson posted a career best with U-M's longest long jump of the indoor season at 23-2. Malonson's previous best jump came Jan. 5, 2002, at the Jack Harvey Invitational.

L'Heureux Sets Career Best
Senior transfer Alex L'Heureux set a career best in the mile at the Meyo Invitational. L'Heureux's time of 4:04.40 stands as U-M's third-best mark in the mile this season and is more than a 10-second improvement over his previous 4:15 standard.

That's Why There Are Hundredths
Sophomores Seth Waits and DarNell Talbert finished just 0.07 seconds apart in the 400-meter dash with career-best runs of 48.27 and 48.34, respectively. Waits flew by his result of 49.46 from this season's Jack Harvey Invitational (Jan. 11), while Talbert's new standard topped his 2002 season-best time of 48.67.

Another Reason for Hundredths
Junior/sophomore David Battani surpassed his career-best time in the 60-meter hurdles by 0.03 seconds with his result of 8.49 at the Meyo Invitational. Battani also participated in the 60-meter dash for the first time this season, posting a time of 7.20.

Something in the Air
All three of Michigan's entrants in the 800-meter run at the Meyo Invitational had season-best times and are ranked second through fourth on U-M's season list. Freshman Andrew Ellerton (Windsor, Ontario/Confederation HS) has U-M's second-best 800-meter time at 1:51.81. Senior/junior Dan Cooke (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney HS) and freshman Joe Schramski (Troy, Mich./Avondale HS) follow Ellerton at 1:52.77 and 1:53.93, respectively. Nate Brannen has posted the Wolverines' best time in the 800 meters this season with an NCAA automatic mark of 1:48.80.

Immediate Impact
Sophomore Braylon Edwards had a successful weekend at the Meyo Invitational. Setting U-M's top time this season in just the first 200-meter race of his Michigan track and field career, Edwards finished sixth overall at 21.81. The two-sport star (football, track and field) was also the Wolverines' top finisher in the high jump (second, 6-9) for the third straight meet.

Sixties Retro
Fifth-year senior Kevin Lamb (East Lansing, Mich./Haslett HS), the elder statesman of Michigan's sprint corps, set a season best with his 7.04 result in the 60-meter preliminaries at the Meyo Invitational.

Relaying Information
A little longer than the 1,600-meter relay, the mile relay was contested at the Meyo Invitational. Still, at 3:17.12 Michigan's unit of Chris Yee (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS), Seth Waits, DarNell Talbert and Kaj Johansson (Honor, Mich./Benzie Central HS) topped the Maize and Blue's top 1,600-meter mark this season despite the extra length of the race.

The Road to Fayetteville
The Maize and Blue posted three NCAA-eligible times last weekend at the Meyo Invitational, as Nate Brannen, Nick Willis and Alex L'Heureux had strong outings in the mile. Brannen now has participated in three automatic runs (800-meter, mile and distance medley relay), while Willis has run two automatic times (mile and distance medley relay) in additional to his provisional mile and 3,000-meter runs at the earlier this season. The 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held March 14-15 at the Randall Tyson Indoor Track in Fayetteville, Ark. Here is a cheat sheet of Michigan's NCAA times, as of last week:

Event (Automatic/Provisional Cut)	Name	Time	Date Set
800 Meters (1:48.90/1:50.80)	Nate Brannen	1:48.80	1/18 Michigan Quadrangular
Mile (4:01.20/4:05.70)	Nate Brannen	3:57.96	2/8 Meyo Invitational
	Nick Willis	3:58.15	2/8 Meyo Invitational
	Alex L'Heureux	4:04.50	2/8 Meyo Invitational
3,000 Meters (7:58.40/8:09.30)	Nick Willis	7:59.19	1/25 Red Simmons Invitational
DMR (9:36.00/9:45.75)	Brannen, Waits,     Ellerton, Willis	9:35.80	2/1 adidas Boston Indoor Games

Telling Time
Nate Brannen and Nick Willis have posted some of the NCAA's top times in the 2003 indoor season. As of Feb. 10, Brannen owns the nation's fourth-best mark in the 800-meter run at 1:48.80. Willis ranks fifth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 7:57.89. The pair own the second- and fourth-best times in the world for the mile this season at 3:57.96 and 3:58.15, respectively. The pair join Seth Waits and Andrew Ellerton to compose the Maize and Blue's fourth-ranked distance medley relay team. A list of the top collegiate times is updated weekly at trackshark.com.

Rank Me
Michigan broke into the top 10 at No. 7 in the most recent Trackwire 25 poll (Feb. 11). The Wolverines were the No. 11-ranked team in last week's Trackwire rankings (Feb. 2). The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country.

Rank, Team Points 1. Arkansas 49 2. South Carolina 46 3. LSU 44 4. Mississippi State 29 5. Stanford 28 6. Auburn 27 7. MICHIGAN 22 8. TCU 20 9. Purdue 19 10. Florida 18 Ohio State 18 12. Tennessee 17 Villanova 17 14. Kentucky 15 Nebraska 15 Alabama 15 17. USC 11 18. Texas 10 Washington 10 Texas A&M 10 Manhattan 10 22. Georgia 9 Baylor 9 24. SMU 8 Missouri 8 Oregon 8 North Carolina 8 Penn 8 Idaho State 8 Indiana 8 Mississippi 8

Next Time Around
The Wolverines will host their final home meet of the indoor season with the Harold Silverston Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 22). Field events are scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. start, while track competition is set to begin at noon at the U-M Track Building. Slated to compete at the meet will be squads from Calvin College, Detroit-Mercy, Eastern Michigan, Hillsdale, Toledo, Waterloo, Western Michigan and Windsor.

Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423