Michigan
Len Paddock Invitational (Day 2)
Relay Team Posts Regional Time at Paddock Invitational
5/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ferry Field)
Event: Len Paddock Invitational (Day 2)
U-M Team Finish: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sun., May 16-18 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Champaign, Ill.)
Complete Results | Photo Gallery
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team wrapped up the regular-season portion of its 2008 outdoor slate with a strong performance in the 4x100-meter relay Saturday (May 10) at the Len Paddock Invitational at Ferry Field.
Freshman Troy Woolfolk(Sugarland, Texas/Dulles HS), junior Andre Barnes(West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS), fifth-year senior Stann Waithe(Towson, Md./Loch Raven HS) and junior Adam Harris(Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton HS) posted an NCAA Mideast Regional qualifying time of 40.20 in their second 4x100 appearance together this season and the first in this order.
Woolfolk immediately bridged the initial gap to pull even at the first exchange, and Barnes and Waithe lengthened the Wolverines' advantage through the middle two legs before Harris blazed in for the win with the regional time of 40.20, just 0.28 shy of the school record and 0.63 better than their previous time at the Penn Relays. The Wolverines' 4x100-meter time is the best in the Big Ten and fifth fastest in the region.
Barnes also grabbed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.87, while Harris took third in the long jump with his second-best outdoor performance this season, 23-0 3/4 (7.03m). Freshman Robert Peddlar(Kingston, Jamaica/Wolmer's Boys) competed unattached and finished second in the event with a personal record of 23-4 1/2 (7.12m).
Junior Justin Switzer(Waterford, Mich./Kettering HS) took fourth place in the final, star-studded section of the 800-meter run, registering the first Mideast Regional mark in this event with a career-best time of 1:48.48. The race also featured former Wolverine standouts Nick Willis, Nate Brannen and Andrew Ellerton, who claimed the top three spots, respectively.
Redshirt freshman Nicholas McCampbell(Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech HS) won the 110-meter hurdles for the Maize and Blue with a time of 14.52.
Co-captain junior/senior John Kipf(Monroe, Mich./St. Mary's HS) and junior/sophomore Sean Pruitt(Cato, Wis./Valders HS) headlined the day's field-event performers with top-six finishes in the high jump and shot put, respectively. Kipf cleared the bar at 6-7 1/2 (2.02m), a mark he has consistently hit all outdoor season, to earn runner-up status, while Pruitt posted a distance of 50-2 (15.29m) in his primary event to place sixth.
The Wolverines will kick off the outdoor postseason next weekend (May 16-18) at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships in Champaign, Ill. Competition is slated to begin at noon on Friday (May 16) with the multi-events at the Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Associate Head Coach Fred LaPlante
On the 4x100 relay change... "We changed our order by running Andre Barnes second and Stann Waithe third, and obviously it appeared to make a difference as we ran almost five-tenths of a second faster. I know that the guys are really excited. We have a strong team, we just weren't hitting the marks we thought we were capable of hitting, so it worked well."
On Troy Woolfolk in the 100-meter dash... "He had a cramp, so it wasn't a pull and he didn't tear anything. He's fine, but it does make your heart pump seeing something like that."
U-M Junior Sprinter Adam Harris
On the 4x100 relay... "We felt pretty good. We switched around the order and only had one day of practicing handoffs. We thought we could run well in this order, and it turned out that way."
On the 4x100 at the Big Ten Championships... "It's going to be nice. We didn't plan on running the 4x100 in this meet, but once we switched the order we decided that we better run before Big Tens just to make sure it actually works."
Day 1 Results
Contact: Jeremiah W. Hergott (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
