Michigan
Simmons/Harvey Invitational
Fleming, Harris Pace Michigan in Simmons/Harvey Invite
1/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Indoor Track Building)
Event: Red Simmons/Jack Harvey Invitational
U-M Team Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., Feb. 1-2 -- at Akron Open (Akron, Ohio), 5 p.m./noon
Complete Results | Photo Gallery
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team dominated the weight throw and 600-meter run as the Wolverines won three events at the Red Simmons/Jack Harvey Invitational Saturday (Jan. 26) in front of 1,315 fans in the U-M Indoor Track Building.
The early morning start had no effect on the three Wolverines competing in the weight throw as senior/junior Dan Bedoya(Muskegon, Mich./Reeths-Puffer HS) finished second (57-11 1/4), followed by junior/sophomores Vince Belitsos(Leonard, Mich./Oxford HS) and Brendan Lodge(Narragansett, R.I./Bishop Hendricken), who tied for third with a toss of 55-7 3/4. Competing unattached, Michigan junior/sophomore Sean Pruitt(Cato, Wis./Valders HS) won the event with an NCAA provisional mark of 64-4.
The next two field events in the morning session -- the pole vault and high jump -- were both controlled by in-state MAC rivals Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Central had the top two finishers in the pole vault, while Eastern did the same in the high jump. Co-captain junior/sophomore John Kipf(Monroe, Mich./St. Mary Catholic Central), who set a personal best (7-0) in the high jump last week against Ohio State, did not compete this week.
To wrap up the field events junior Adam Harris(Wheaton, Ill./North) won the long jump with a leap of 22-11, surpassing the second-place finisher by more than a foot. This was the third straight week that Harris has won this event.
As the afternoon session began retired U-M track and field coaches Kenneth "Red" Simmons and Jack Harvey were introduced to 1,300-plus fans on hand, and Simmons was then handed a cake in honor of his 98th birthday.
During the track events junior Andre Barnes(West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield) finished second in the 60-meter dash (6.78), 0.01 behind Eastern Michigan sprinter Clint Allen.
Sophomore Ricky Fleming(Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) led the Wolverines in a sweep of the 600-meter run, placing first with a time of 1:20.57, marking the second straight week Fleming has won the event. Senior/junior Dan Harmsen(Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and junior Mike Luginbill(Troy, Mich./Troy HS) finished second (1:21.02) and third (1:21.30), respectively.
The final Wolverine to win an event was junior/sophomore Roger Billhardt(Elmhurst, Ill./York HS), who tied Joe Goike of Oakland University in a photo finish, clocking times of 1:58.07 in the 800-meter run.
The Wolverines travel to Akron, Ohio, to compete in the Akron Open Friday and Saturday (Feb. 1-2) at the Stile Athletics Field House. The events are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Ron Warhurst
On the timing of the meet... "Every time you have a competition you always hope the kids will compete well and they did. I think the best performance for us was Andre Barnes with 6.78 in the 60-meter dash, which is really, really good. We held out a lot of our athletes to get ready for next week."
On the Akron Open... "Next week's competition should be very interesting because it's on a 300-meter track. It's the first time we run on an oversized track, so we're going to be gearing up for it. The jumpers and throwers should have a good surface to compete on, and the people they will compete against are some pretty good athletes so we'll see what goes."
Contact: Jeremiah W. Hergott (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
