Michigan
Red Simmons Invitational
Willis Earns Provisional Time at Red Simmons Invitational
1/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) notched Michigan's first NCAA provisional time of the season as the University of Michigan men's track and field team earned nine victories at the Red Simmons Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 24). In addition to the Wolverines, the annual non-scoring meet featured competitors from Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State, Hillsdale College, Kent State, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Siena Heights.
Willis earned his first victory of the season in the Kris Eggle Invitational 3,000-meter run, a special event honoring the former Wolverine cross country and track athlete who was killed in the line of duty while serving at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument at the Arizona/Mexico border. Willis led the first five laps of the race before dropping into third behind junior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) and former Wolverine Kevin Sullivan. Willis passed Brannen into the second position entering the final lap and, after running neck-and- neck with Sullivan in the back stretch, passed the four-time NCAA champion with just 10 meters remaining. Willis clocked a time of 8:00.28, just 0.07 quicker than Sullivan and three seconds shy of the NCAA automatic mark.
U-M runners won back-to-back sprint events with junior Nathan Taylor (Courtenay, B.C./Georges P. Vanier HS) and freshman Stann Waithe (Towson, Md./Loch Raven HS) earning victories in the 200- and 400-meter dashes, respectively. It was the first win in two years for Taylor, who paced the field in the 200 with a time of 22.31. Waithe also boasted his second victory in just his third collegiate meet, clocking a time of 49.60 in the 400 meters to lead the pack of 20 competitors.
Freshman Jeff Porter (Somerset, N.J./Franklin HS) nabbed his first collegiate victory in the 60-meter hurdles, outpacing the field in both preliminary and final events. Porter clocked a time of 8.19 in the event, .07 ahead of runner-up Joe LeFevre from Grand Valley State.
U-M also claimed back-to-back titles at the 600- and 800-meter runs as freshman John D'Arcy (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont HS) and sophomore Andrew Ellerton (Windsor, Ontario/Confederation HS) each earned his second victory of the season. With a time of 1:20.63, D'Arcy paced a strong Wolverine contingent to the finish line in the 600 as U-M placed 1-5 in the event. In the 800, Ellerton clocked a time of 1:50.96, just 0.16 shy of the NCAA provisional mark.
Michigan placed first and second in the 4x400 relay, with the "A" team of junior Seth Waits (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Ostego HS), senior Chris Yee (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS), Brannen and junior DarNell Talbert (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) leading the way with a time of 3:16.81.
In the field events, senior/junior David Malonson (Lynwood, Calif./Mayfair HS) and freshman Michael Whitehead (East Norristown, Mich./Norristown Area HS) claimed individual titles in their season debuts in the long jump and the triple jump, respectively. Malonson was the only competitor to jump longer than 23 feet, recording a mark of 23-5 1/2, with senior teammate Joe Baldwin (Petersburg, Mich./Ida HS), a transfer from Toledo making his debut in Maize and Blue, placing second at 22-9 1/4. Whitehead notched his first collegiate victory in just his first meet with a jump of 48-3 1/2, over two feet longer than runner-up Korey Gross from Pittsburgh.
The Wolverines will return to action at the Boston Invitational next Saturday (Jan. 31) in Boston, Mass.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
