Willis, Sullivan Qualify for Olympic Semifinals in 1,500
8/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Olympics
ATHENS, Greece -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team was well-represented at the 2004 Olympic Games on Friday (Aug. 20) as junior-to-be Nick Willis (Lower Hutt, New Zealand/Hutt Valley HS) and former Wolverine Kevin Sullivan (1994-98) advanced to the 1,500-meter run semifinals after registering solid qualfiying performances in the first round.
Willis, a first-time member of the New Zealand Olympic team, earned an automatic qualification to the second round by placing third in the second heat with a time of 3:39.80, just 0.09 seconds behind heat winner Reyes Estevaz of Spain. Entering the final lap in seventh place, Willis proved that his finishing kick could work against Olympic competition as the Wolverine picked up five positions in just the final 100 meters. American Alan Webb (2002), who ran at U-M as a freshman, finished ninth in the heat with a time of 3:41.25 and narrowly missed the cut for the semifinal round.
Sullivan, who claimed fifth in the 1,500-meter run at the 2000 Olympic Games, recorded a time of 3:39.40 to place sixth in the first heat, just 0.41 seconds out of the final automatic qualifying spot. After staying in the middle of the pack for a majority of the race, Sullivan held the seventh position entering the bell lap and used his kick to move around Czech Republic's Michal Sneberger down the final stretch. With the top-five placers in each heat earning automatic qualification as well as the next nine fastest times, Sullivan's performance -- the 13th fastest among the three heats and third fastest among non-automatic qualifiers -- was enough to send the Canadian runner to the 24-man semifinal round.
Willis and Sullivan will return to the track for the 1,500-meter semifinal round on Sunday (Aug. 22) at Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. The first semifinal is scheduled for 9:50 p.m. local time (2:50 p.m. EDT).
Results
1,500-meter Run (Round 1) Heat 1 1. Hicham El Guerrouj, Morocco 3:37.86Q 2. Rui Silva, Portugal 3:37.98Q 3. Alvaro Fernadez, Spain 3:38.34Q 4. Kamal Boulanfane, Algeria 3:38.59Q 5. Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenya 3:38.89Q 6. KEVIN SULLIVAN, Canada 3:39.30q 7. Michal Sneberger, Czech Republic 3:39.68q 8. James Nolan, Ireland 3:41.14q 9. Wolfram Mueller, Germany 3:46.75 10. Mounir Yemmouni, France 3:51.08 11. Grant Robison, USA 3:53.66 12. Roberto Caraciolo Mandje, Eq. Guinea 4:03.37 -- Peter Roko Ashak, Sudan DNS Heat 2 1. Reyes Estevez, Spain 3:39.71Q 2. Bernard Lagat, Kenya 3:39.80Q 3. NICK WILLIS, New Zealand 3:39.80Q 4. Adil Kaouch, Morocco 3:39.88Q 5. Mulugeta Wendimu Ethopia 3:39.96Q 6. Gert-Jan Liefers, Netherlands 3:40.10q 7. Hudson Santos De Souza, Brazil 3:40.78q 8. Johan Cronje, South Africa 3:40.99q 9. Alan Webb, USA 3:41.25 10. Aleksandr Krivchonkov, Russia 3:41.37 11. Abdulrahman Suleiman, Qatar 3:42.00 12. Mohamed Khaldi, Algeria 3:42.47 13. Mehdi Baala, France 3:46.06 Heat 3 1. Michael East, Great Britain 3:37.37Q 2. Timothy Kiptanui, Kenya 3:37.71Q 3. Ivan Heshko, Ukraine 3:37.78Q 4. Rashid Ramzi, Bahrain 3:37.93Q 5. Tarek Boukensa, Algeria 3:37.94Q 6. Juan Carlos Higuero, Spain 3:38.36q 7. Youssef Baba, Morocco 3:38.71q 8. Manuel Damiao, Portugal 3:39.94q 9. Charlie Gruber, USA 3:41.73 10. Branko Zorko, Crotia 3:48.28 11. Zhaobo Dou, China 3:50.28 12. Neil Weare, Guam 4:05.86 13. Jimmy Anak Ahar, Brunei 4:14.11 -- Mwera Samwel, Tanzania DNS Overall 1. Michael East, Great Britain 3:37.37Q 2. Timothy Kiptanui, Kenya 3:37.71Q 3. Ivan Heshko, Ukraine 3:37.78Q 4. Hicham El Guerrouj, Morocco 3:37.86Q 5. Rashid Ramzi, Bahrain 3:37.93Q 6. Tarek Boukensa, Algeria 3:37.94Q 7. Rui Silva, Portugal 3:37.98Q 8. Alvaro Fernadez, Spain 3:38.34Q 9. Juan Carlos Higuero, Spain 3:38.36q 10. Kamal Boulanfane, Algeria 3:38.59Q 11. Youssef Baba, Morocco 3:38.71q 12. Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenya 3:38.89Q 13. KEVIN SULLIVAN, Canada 3:39.30q 14. Michal Sneberger, Czech Republic 3:39.68q 15. Reyes Estevez, Spain 3:39.71Q 16. Bernard Lagat, Kenya 3:39.80Q 17. NICK WILLIS, New Zealand 3:39.80Q 18. Adil Kaouch, Morocco 3:39.88Q 19. Manuel Damiao, Portugal 3:39.94q 20. Mulugeta Wendimu, Ethopia 3:39.96Q 21. Gert-Jan Liefers, Netherlands 3:40.10q 22. Hudson Santos De Souza, Brazil 3:40.78q 23. Johan Cronje, South Africa 3:40.99q 24. James Nolan, Ireland 3:41.14q 25. Alan Webb, USA 3:41.25 26. Aleksandr Krivchonkov, Russia 3:41.37 27. Charlie Gruber, USA 3:41.73 28. Abdulrahman Suleiman, Qatar 3:42.00 29. Mohamed Khaldi, Algeria 3:42.47 30. Mehdi Baala, France 3:46.06 31. Wolfram Mueller, Germany 3:46.75 32. Branko Zorko, Crotia 3:48.28 33. Zhaobo Dou, China 3:50.28 34. Mounir Yemmouni, France 3:51.08 35. Grant Robinson, USA 3:53.66 36. Roberto Caraciolo Mandje, Eq. Guinea 4:03.37 37. Neil Weare, Guam 4:05.86 38. Jimmy Anak Ahar, Brunei 4:14.11 -- Peter Roko Ashak, Sudan DNS -- Mwera Samwel, Tanzania DNS
Q Qualified for semifinals as one of top 5 in heat
q Qualified as one of next 9 fastest times
QUOTES
Former Wolverine Kevin Sullivan
On his first-round 1,500-meter race ... "I was pretty pleased with the end result (qualifying for the semis), but not particularily pleased with the way I felt during the race. I was a little bit flat and sluggish, but I put myself in good positions to respond to the moves, although I ended up not responding very well once the move actually came. But, I have another shot by being in the semis, so I will just regroup, refocus, and get on to the task of qualifying for the final."
Players Mentioned
