Willis Stumbles; Claims Sixth Place at Norwich Union Meet
6/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
GATESHEAD, Great Britain -- Sophomore Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS), a member of the University of Michigan men's track and field team, suffered a stroke a bad luck en route to a sixth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run at the Norwich Union Super Grand Prix on Sunday (June 27).
Running near the front of the 14-man pack through the first three laps, Willis was tripped up with 350 meters remaining, resulting in the Wolverine sophomore falling onto the track. After a couple forward rolls, Willis collected himself and finished out the race. Despite the fall, Willis registered a time of 3:38.71 in his sixth-place performance, 2.24 seconds behind winner Laban Rotich of Kenya and just 0.53 seconds behind fellow New Zealand Olympic hopeful Adrian Blincoe in fifth place. Willis will need to try again at the Olympic 'A' standard after coming up 2.51 seconds shy of the required mark.
Former Wolverine standout Kevin Sullivan registered a time of 3:36.72 to finish just 0.25 seconds out of first place in the same event. With the 1,500-meter 'A' qualifying standard already in tow, Sullivan nabbed the Olympic 'B' standard with the runner-up performance, giving the Canadian his repeat performance requirement.
Both U-M runners will return to the track on Friday (July 2) at the prestigious Golden Gala in Rome, Italy. The 1,500-meter run is slated for a 9:10 p.m. CEST start.
Running near the front of the 14-man pack through the first three laps, Willis was tripped up with 350 meters remaining, resulting in the Wolverine sophomore falling onto the track. After a couple forward rolls, Willis collected himself and finished out the race. Despite the fall, Willis registered a time of 3:38.71 in his sixth-place performance, 2.24 seconds behind winner Laban Rotich of Kenya and just 0.53 seconds behind fellow New Zealand Olympic hopeful Adrian Blincoe in fifth place. Willis will need to try again at the Olympic 'A' standard after coming up 2.51 seconds shy of the required mark.
Former Wolverine standout Kevin Sullivan registered a time of 3:36.72 to finish just 0.25 seconds out of first place in the same event. With the 1,500-meter 'A' qualifying standard already in tow, Sullivan nabbed the Olympic 'B' standard with the runner-up performance, giving the Canadian his repeat performance requirement.
Both U-M runners will return to the track on Friday (July 2) at the prestigious Golden Gala in Rome, Italy. The 1,500-meter run is slated for a 9:10 p.m. CEST start.
Michigan Results
1,500-meter Run 1. Laban Rotich, Kenya 3:36.47 2. Kevin Sullivan, Canada 3:36.72 3. Rui Silva, Portugal 3:36.86 4. Tony Whiteman, Great Britain 3:37.60 5. Adrian Blincoe, New Zealand 3:38.18 6. Nick Willis, New Zealand 3:38.71Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
7. Andrew Baddeley, Great Britain 3:39.11 8. Reyes Estevez, Spain 3:39.21 9. James Thie, Great Britain 3:39.24 10. Ryan Hayden, Canada 3:39.78 11. Chris Mulvaney, Great Britain 3:40.43 Thomas Mayo, Great Britain DNF Sammy Mutai, Kenya DNF Roberto Parra, Spain DNF
Players Mentioned
Distance
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