2005 TFM NCAA Outdoors -- Day 4 Notes & Quotes
6/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
N O T E S
The 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships will be televised via tape delay on CBS from 2:30-4:30 p.m. EDT next Saturday (June 18).
Michigan posted its best team finish in three seasons at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, sharing 29th place with Texas A&M. U-M's 10 points are the best by the Wolverines at an outdoor championships since 1998 when former Wolverine John Mortimer pulled double duty, placing runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and seventh in the 5,000-meter run to earn 10 points and give Michigan a 23rd-place finish.
Michigan has boasted at least one NCAA outdoor All-American in each of the last four seasons. It is the first outdoor citation for junior/sophomore Nick Willis while junior Andrew Ellerton adds to his All-America performance at last season's NCAA meet.
Willis shattered former Wolverine Bill Donakowski's 27-year-old record in the 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 13:27.54, 12 seconds faster than Donakowski's effort in 1978. When Donakowski set Michigan's 5,000-meter run record, Willis was still five years away from being born. Willis' time also bettered his personal record by 26.60 seconds.
Adding Willis' record-breaking performance in the 5,000-meter run, the Wolverines improved four U-M outdoor records this season. Sophomore Michael Whitehead shattered his own school mark in the triple jump, registering 52-7 1/4 at the NCAA Mideast Regional, while the Maize and Blue broke both the distance medley relay (9:22.57) and 4xMile relay (16:04.54) times at the Penn Relays. During the indoor season, senior/junior Nate Brannen blazed 3:55.11 at the Boston Indoor Games for the school's fastest mile time.
Ellerton earned his fifth All-America honor and set a personal record in the 800-meter run, clocking in at 1:46.25 for fifth place. Ellerton took fifth in the 800-meter run at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships and holds a trio of indoor All-America honors in the distance medley relay.
U-M runners have claimed fifth place in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in four consecutive seasons. Prior to Ellerton's most recent back-to-back outings, Brannen claimed fifth in 2001 and 2002.
Ellerton improved his own standing with the third-fastest outdoor 800-meter time. Only Brannen (1:46.00, 2002) and Trinity Townsend (1:46.02, 1996) list higher than Ellerton, and those three are the only Wolverines to run sub-1:47.00 while competing for the Maize and Blue.
Michigan sent six athletes to the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, its largest contingent in 19 seasons. Five Wolverines and a relay qualified for the 1986 meet. Junior Andrew Ellerton was the lone U-M representative at last season's NCAA outdoor meet, claiming fifth in the 800-meter run.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On Michigan's final-day performances ... "I thought [Nick] Willis did a tremendous job considering it was just his third 5,000. He PR'ed by 27 seconds and broke the school record by 12. One of the scenarios of that race was that they'd go steady, steady, steady and just keep grinding it, and he would have to cover the moves. He just didn't quite have it to cover the moves, so with that pace, third place is great. [Andrew] Ellerton ran spectacular and PR'ed by fourth-tenths of the second. You can't ask anything more of kids when they PR by that much in the national meet. Michael [Whitehead] did a great job making the finals; he didn't have a great final, but he was there and finished up 11th."
On the team's NCAA experience ... "We had a great season and finished off nice. I think it was a tremendous experience for all the kids who were here that will be coming back; we brought a young team. It will be a different mentality for them next year, and hopefully we'll come back with 10 kids here next year. The biggest disappointment for me is that Nate [Brannen] didn't get here; it would have been a really interesting 1,500 for him. He would have stayed smart, stayed back and had the big finish, just like the winner did. It would have been great."
Junior/Sophomore Nick Willis
On his 5,000-meter race ... "The race was quite an experience. It was really hot weather during the warmup, and I tried a couple experiments and went into the ice tub twice before the race just to keep my core body temperature down. So, I was actually shivering before the start of the race. I was really pumped up as we went to stride out down the backstretch in front of the crowd before the start, and I was ready to get out there and just have fun. The pace got out pretty fast, and that actually excited me because I thought I would get a good time. I knew it would just be a dogfight. Throughout the race, I just concentrated on staying close to the rail so I could to save as much distance as I could. By focusing on that, it helps take your mind off of the longevity of the race. We came to the 3k mark about 8:05, and rather than thinking that it was only five to go, I thought that we still had 2k. That's where they made their big gap, so I had about nine guys to get around. It took me longer to get around them than I realized, and by that time, they had developed a substanial lead. My only chance probably would have been to go 1,000 meters out for a long drive to make up the gap, and I banked on the fact that Brent Vaughn of Colorado, who got in front of met, might pull me closer, because he seemed like he was trying to do that. It didn't quite work out. I pulled away from him with 500 meters to go, but the guys had got away too far. I can't be unhappy with a 27-second PR and the school record. I'm excited to have finished my 5,000-meter season, and now it's time to start running some faster races. That was a great experience, and I think it's really encouraging."
Junior Andrew Ellerton
On his 800-meter final ... "I was hoping to do a little better; I'm kind of disappointed with both the time and the place. I guess I can't complain too much because it is a PB. I was expecting pretty big things out of myself for this race. I don't get excited too often about my results in a race, and I was hoping to really come through today and set a decent PR; it just didn't happen. I still ran pretty hard. I didn't really make any tactical mistakes; it just wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. The Kansas guy held me out on the last turn a little bit, and that extra little effort kind of ended my race."
On what he takes from this race ... "I still have a couple months of racing yet, and I still have some room for improvement. The weather today was perfect, and I probably couldn't get better conditions. This year was just a learning experience. Last year I felt I was in better shape, and I just made a few mistakes. This year, I didn't do all the training I kind of wanted to. It's getting to the point where I have to be a little more serious about it year round to make the major improvements I want. I guess it's back to the drawing board next year and make a little more commitment."
Sophomore Michael Whitehead
"It was definitely a bad showing and not something I'm proud of. I didn't accomplish anything that I set out to, but all-in-all, it's been a really good season. I got the outdoor record; I've been PR'ing. I ended the season more or less on a good note. The experience this weekend was great. I'm just a sophomore; I might have been the youngest guy out there. It was great competition. It was good to see everybody out there, all the stars and future stars and has beens.Next year, I'll just come back stronger."
Players Mentioned
