Michigan Track & Field: Big Ten Champs

from MGoBlue.com
http://www.mgoblue.com/track-field-m/article.aspx?id=138212

Harris, Harmsen Lead Michigan to Big Ten Outdoor Title

Big Ten Network Highlights:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1155394229/bctid1561098340

May 18, 2008
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 3)
U-M Team Finish: 1st Place of 10 Teams (129 Points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., May 30-31 -- at NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan men's track and field team won the team title at the 2008 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, accumulating 92 points on the final day Sunday (May 18) to overtake defending champion Wisconsin. Junior Adam Harris (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North HS) and senior/junior Dan Harmsen (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) each won an individual title and contributed to a relay championship to lead the Wolverines charge on the final day at the Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium.

The Wolverines accumulated 129 points to finish ahead of Wisconsin (119) and Ohio State (100) and end their 25-year title drought at the Big Ten outdoor meet. Michigan's last Big Ten outdoor championship came in 1983 at the end of a four-year championship run (1980-83).

Harris began the day by electrifying the crowd with his burst of speed on the home stretch of the 4x100-meter relay. Harris received the final exchange from fifth-year senior Stann Waithe (Towson, Md./Loch Raven HS) and was in the middle of the pack. But Harris blazed past everyone to give Michigan its first 4x100-meter relay title since 1982, posting a regional qualifying time of 40.26. Harris and Waithe were joined with freshman Troy Woolfolk (Sugarland, Texas/Dulles HS) and junior Andre Barnes (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS).

Harris also claimed Michigan's first Big Ten 200-meter dash crown since 1982 with a career-best and regional time of 20.75. Like in the relay Harris was tied for the lead until he reached the home stretch and out-kicked the second-place finisher by 0.18 a second, earning 10 points.

Harris and Woolfolk also ran in the 100-meter dash, finishing third (10.36) and sixth (10.58), respectively, and accounting for nine points. Woolfolk's time was a new personal record.

Harmsen won the 400-meter hurdles with a regional time of 51.12, leading a 19-point Michigan output with three Wolverines in the top five of the event. Harmsen is the first Wolverine hurdler to win the Big Ten title in the 400-meter hurdles since Neil Gardner did in 1997. Freshman Carl Buchanon (South Bend, Ind./Clay HS) and junior Rob Fiorillo (Holly, Mich./Holly HS) both posted career-best times to finish fourth and fifth with times of 52.53 and 52.54, respectively. The hurdles effort gave Michigan its first lead of the championships, and it was one they would not relinquish.

Waithe, co-captain Andrew Wechter (Shelby, Ohio/Shelby HS) and Barnes finished third (46.82), fourth (47.13) and fifth (47.22) in the 400-meter dash, earning 16 points. Waithe and Wechter both earned NCAA Mideast Regional qualifying times in the event.

Redshirt freshman Nicholas McCampbell (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech HS) finished sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.43. McCampbell was sitting in fourth before stumbling over the final hurdle.

Junior Justin Switzer (Waterford, Mich./Kettering HS) took fourth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:50.73. Switzer stayed in the middle of the slow pack before kicking at the 200-meter mark to finish 0.63 of a second behind Minnesota's Hans Storvick (1:50.06). Switzer's performance was good for five points.

Junior/sophomore Sean McNamara (Elmhurst, Ill./York HS) finished sixth in the 1,500-meter run with a time 4:06.02. The pace of the race was very slow and tactical, as the lead group contained four Wisconsin runners. McNamara ran with the lead group as nobody broke free from the tactic in the event. Samuel Borchers of Penn State won the event but was still 16 seconds off a regional time.

Barnes, Wechter, Harmsen and Waithe sealed the team title by winning the 4x400-meter relay with a regional time of 3:08.39. Waithe closed the door on the event and meet the same way Harris did earlier, outkicking the opposition down the home stretch. The first-place performance marked U-M's first 4x400-meter relay title since 1978 and brought the final team total to 129 points.

After a two-week hiatus, U-M will send its contingent of 14 regional qualifiers to the NCAA Mideast Regional on May 30-31 in Fayetteville, Ark. Events are slated to begin Friday, May 30, at 11 a.m. CDT with the hammer throw.


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Final Team Standings

1. MICHIGAN 129
2. Wisconsin 119
3. Ohio State 100
4. Purdue 94
5. Minnesota 84
6. Penn State 77
7. Indiana 69
8. Iowa 68
9. Illinois 59
10. Michigan State 19