Dj Vu: Willis, Brannen Run Four-Minute Miles at Meyo

Saturday, February 7

South Bend, Ind.

Michigan

Meyo Invitational (Day 2)

2/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) and junior Nate Brannen (Cambridge, Ontario/Preston HS) of the University of Michigan men's track and field team posted sub four-minute miles for the second consecutive year on the final day of competition at the Meyo Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 7) at Notre Dame's Loftus Sports Complex.

	Willis		Brannen

The Wolverine pair placed first and second in the Meyo section of the men's mile run, leading the pack of four NCAA automatic qualifiers. Clocking a personal-best time of 3:56.55, Willis earned his second win of the season and notched his second NCAA automatic qualifying time in two weeks; he broke the collegiate record in the 3,000-meter run last weekend at the adidas Boston Indoor Games.

Willis' time was 3.55 seconds under the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 4:00.10. Brannen crossed the line just two seconds after Willis in second place, collecting a time of 3:58.55 to garner his first NCAA automatic time of the season, finishing 1.55 seconds under the qualifying standard.

Last year at the Meyo Invitational (Feb. 7-8, 2003), Brannen and Willis each recorded sub four-minute times for the first time during their Michigan careers. Brannnen took second place in the event with a time of 3:57.96 while Willis collected fourth place at 3:58.15.

Only six U-M runners have acheived the prestigious four-minute milestone while wearing the Maize and Blue. In addition to Willis and Brannen, former Wolverines Kevin Sullivan (1994-98), Brian Diemer (1980-83), Scott MacDonald (1992-96) and Jay Cantin (1997-2000) are members of Michigan's four-minute club. Sullivan is the school record holder with his 1995 time of 3:55.33, only 1.22 seconds quicker than Willis' first-place performance today.

Senior Tom Greenless (Milford, Mich./Milford HS), junior Rondell Ruff (Detroit, Mich./Henry Ford HS) and junior/sophomore Sean Moore (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) also nabbed personal bests - Greenless and Ruff in the mile run and Moore in the 3,000-meter run. Ruff shaved 5.10 seconds off of his previous best with a time of 4:10.08 while Greenless clocked a time 4:11.78, which was 9.83 seconds quicker than his previous mark. Moore placed 14th in the 3000m, finishing with a time of 8:22.17 and shaving 8.7 seconds from his old mark.

The Wolverines will head to State College, Pa., for the Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 13-14) at Penn State's Ashenfelter Track. Friday's competition is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start and Saturday's action kicks off at 10 a.m.

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423