Track and Field Newsletter
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February 1, 2010
Washtenaw County Trifecta...Kentucky Too! he beginning of the indoor season has come and gone and the Wolverines are in running in full force these past four meets. We’ve hit the Washtenaw County circuit the first three weeks, traveling to Eastern Michigan University for the EMU Invitational (Jan. 9), before hosting our rival Ohio State in The Dual (Jan. 16). We hosted our annual Simmons/Harvey Invitational (Jan. 23-24) before hitting the road for the Rod McCravy Memorial (Jan. 29-30) in Lexington, Ky. We didn’t travel far, heading over to EMU Invitational
fellow county school Eastern Michigan for the EMU Invitational. Carl Buchanon and David St. Amant won their respective events, with Buchanon taking the 60-meter hurdle title in a time of 8.02 seconds, while St. Amant won the quarter-mile in a time of 50.16. St. Amant was just one of a handful of Wolverines coasting their way into top times in the 400. Nicholas Neumann finished third, clocking 50.82, while Matt Wheeler and James Wade were fifth and sevPeddlar enth, respec-
tively. In the 200 dash some underclassmen saw some action, with Aaron Taylor running 22.35 (second), while Matt Campbell was fifth, running 22.83. The distance core was led by senior Peter Christmas, who took third in the 3,000 meters. In the field events, senior John Kipf took second in the high jump, clearing 6-08.25, while junior Robert Peddlar grabbed a mark of 22-08.50 to place third. In the pole vault, Austin DeWildt took seventh. Although not exactly the times or marks that were hoped for, the Wolverines trek on and continue to work hard as the weeks continue. Ohio State was next up for the Maize and Blue.
Kipf
The Dual It wasn’t the ending that we had hoped for, dropping a 92-70 decision to Ohio State in our annual dual meet as we had to relinquish the flag after claiming it outdoors last season. We had several impressive perfor-
2010 Schedule
January 9 EMU Invitational NTS 16 Ohio State L, 92-70 22 Simmons-Harvey NTS 23 Simmons-Harvey NTS 29 Rod McCravy Memorial NTS 30 Rod McCravy Memorial NTS February 5 Meyo Invitational 4 p.m. 6 Meyo Invitational Noon 12 GVSU Big Meet 4 p.m. 13 GVSU Big Meet Noon 20 Silverston Invitational Noon 27 Big Ten Indoor TBA 28 Big Ten Indoor TBA March 5 Wilson Invitational 7 p.m. 6 Wilson Invitational Noon 12 NCAA Championships TBA 13 NCAA Championships TBA 26 Bayou Classic Noon April 2 Tiger Track Classic 5:30 p.m. 3 Tiger Track Classic Noon 10 Ohio State Noon 16 EMU Invitational 5 p.m. 17 EMU Invitational Noon 22 Drake Relays 9 a.m. 23 Drake Relays 9 a.m. 24 Drake Relays 9 a.m. 30 Jesse Owens Invitational 6 p.m. May 1 Jesse Owens Invitational Noon Stanford Jordan Invite Noon 7 Paddock Invitational 6 p.m. 8 Paddock Invitational 6 p.m. 14 Big Ten Championships TBA 15 Big Ten Championships TBA 16 Big Ten Championships TBA 28 NCAA Regional TBA 29 NCAA Regional TBA June 9 NCAA Championships TBA 10 NCAA Championships TBA 11 NCAA Championships TBA 12 NCAA Championships TBA
<<<<Singleton @ Simmons-Harvey
Jerome Singleton 2008 Paralympic Gold Medalist
Jerome Singleton, a transfer student at the University of Michigan, trains with the track and field team and most recently, broke the world record int the 60-meter dash at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational. His mark of 7.34 shattered the previous record of 7.78. The Greenwood, S.C., native won the silver medal in the 100 meter T44 while also helping the U.S. to the gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2008 Paralympics. Singleton’s accomplishments are quite impressive. He had a great year in 2009, following his Olympic performance. was a silver medalist in the 100 at the VISA Paralympic World Cup, setting a new course record of 11.16. He won the gold in the 100 at the Boiling Point Track Classic in Windsor, Canada, and was a gold medalist in the 200 at the Loterias Caiza International Meetiong for Athletics and Swimming. won the bronze medal in the 100 T44 and the silver medal in the 200 meter TFF at the Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A full list of Jerome’s post-high school accomplishments can be found to the side. He transferred to Michigan to complete a dual degree after double majoring in mathematics and applied physics at Morehouse College. He will also study industrial engineering while at U of M.
2009: Silver medal, 100m T44; Set new course record 11.16 seconds VISA Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, UK 2009: Gold medal, 100mBoiling Point Track Classic, Windosor, Canada 2009: Gold medal, 200m- Loterias Caixa International Meeting for Athletics and Swimming, Rio de Janerio, Brazil 2009: Silver medal 100m- Loterias Caixa International Meeting for Athletics and Swimming, Rio de Janerio, Brazil 2008: Silver medal, 100m T44 - Paralympic Games, Beijing, China 2008: Gold medal, 100m; silver medal 200m - Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, UK 2007: Bronze medal 100m (T44), Silver medal 200m (T44) ParaPan American Games, Rio de Janiro, Brazil 2006: Gold medal, 100m, Long Jump, High Jump; Bronze medal, 200m Endeavor Games, Edmond, Okla. 2006: SIAC All-Conference All-Academic Team Track and Field;
mances in the meet. Buchanon won the 60 hurdles and Christmas took the 3K. In the field events, Kipf cleared 6-11.00 in the high jump, winning the event for the third straight year. Peddlar was successful in defending his triple-jump title with a mark of 48-03.50. He Christmas also took second in the long jump (23-10.50). In the throws, Sean Pruitt was second, just shy of an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, throwing 63-08.25 in the weight throw. In the shot put, he just missed out on a first-place finish, grabbing runnerup with a throw of 56-05.75. Simmons/Harvey
The annual Simmons-Harvey Invitational we honored our former track and field coaches, Red Simmons on the women’s side and Jack Harvey on the men’s. In the first night of competition, Pruitt grabbed first place in the shot put with a mark of 57-01.50. Peddlar won his third straight event, this time taking the long jump title going 24-01.50. We saw some fresh blood in the pole vault clearing collegiate-bests. John Greenlee took third, clearing 16-00.75,
while DeWildt followed in fourth, going 15-07.00. Kipf just missed out on first-place in the high jump, clearing 6-07.50, losing only due to misses. The second day featured just the races on the track. Neuman and Aaron Taylor were neck-and-neck for us in the 200meter dash, with Neumann taking the edge by two-hundreths of a second. We grabbed two more of the top six spots in the race as Kyle Terpak took fourth and Troy Woolfolk was sixth. We grabbed second and third in the 400 dash (Campbell and Matt Wheeler, respectively). Buchanon was the top collegiate runner in the 60 hurdles, running a season-best 7.99. Rod McCravy Memorial
We hit the road for our first road trip of the season. On Friday night’s events, we didn’t have too much going on but Kipf took third in the high jump and this week he cleared 6-06.00. Joe Strizich cleared 6-00.50. On Saturday, Brandon Fellows won the Bill Lee Mile Run. His time of 4:06.37 was a career-high for the senior. Buchanon took third inthe 60 hurdles (8.12) and fifth in the 400, the first time he had ever run the race in his collegiate career. Pruitt threw 56-11.25 in the shot put to take third, while Bobby April took sixth in the 3k and Sean McNamara was eighth. We ran a season-best 3:14.19 in the quarter-mile relay, as Campbell, Buchanon, St. Amant and Wheeler guided us to a fourth place finish.
Pruitt
The Spotlight...2010 Team Captains Carl Buchanon —Junior— Hurdles
Carl Buchanon (South Bend, Ind.Clay) returns to captain the 2010 squad. The junior had a tremendous sophomore season in 2009, winning the 400-meter hurdle title at the Big 10 Championship and garnering first-team All-Big 10 honors. He holds personal-best times of 7.97 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, 14.27 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, and 50.82 in the 400-meter hurdles.
Craig Forys —RS Sophomore— Distance
Craig Forys (Howell, N.J.-Colts Neck) will join Buchanon and Shotwell as captains for the 2010 squad. The redshirt sophomore finished fourth in the 5K with a time of 14:09.33 and seventh in the 3K at the 2009 Big Ten Indoor Championship. Ran an NCAA provisional time of 13:54.48 in the 5K during the indoor season. Forys returns with his eyes on the prize after redshirting the outdoor season last year.
Frank Shotwell —RS Junior— Multis
This redshirt junior has been nothing but outstanding for the Wolverines when it comes to the multi-events. He won the 2008 Big 10 Decathlon outdoors and the Indoor Heptathlon as a sophomore. His decathlon title was the first decathlon title in school history, setting an NCAA provisional and school record mark of 7,362, a career-best. So far this season, he has set a career-high mark of 15-07.00 in the polevault.
Block M “Bell Lap” Booster Club The University of Michigan, as you all are aware, has one of the most legendary and lengthy track and field programs in collegiate history. We intend to preserve and celebrate that history and help our current, and future teams, flourish. The Athletic Department provides a top rate budget for scholarships, travel and equipment, but we need your help in terms of state of the art training and analysis equipment, treadmills, ice therapy tubs and massage therapy, just to name a few. We need to get our top athletes to post collegiate junior and senior level national championships and we want to showcase our history with quality displays, documentaries and recognition ceremonies we can be proud of. You—our alumni, parents, supporters—are a tremendous resource. We need your skills and we need your financial support. Please join the Block M “Bell Lap” Booster Club by filling out and returning the form below with any amount of donation that you may with to contribute. Contact head coach Fred LaPlante at : coachfrd@umich.edu or 734.647-8999 for further information, suggestions and questions. GO BLUE!
Please return this form by mail to: Helen Nelson, 1000 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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A Final Word From Coach Fred... Greetings Wolverine Track & Field faithful,
I guess you could say we’re off to a fast start, as we’ve had four indoor meets before we could get you a season preview or fall update! Fortunately, Amanda Decker, recent EMU grad and “track nut” has stepped in the ring and volunteered her services to help our staff, by putting this one together. (You’ll proabably notice the increase in quality of this communication.) Thank you, Amanda! Though we did not win this year’s version of the indoor Dual with Ohio State, we did accomplish the milestone of having the first dual track & field meet to be telecast on the Big Ten network. We have filled the indoor track for both our home meets this season, averaging about 1,200 spectators per contest. Some highlights include Jack Harvey’s return to AA for the invitational named in his and Red Simmon’s honor, Red’s 100th!!! birthday bash(es), Lex Williams’ win in the Kris Eggle 3000m Memorial run, and UM engineering student, Jerome Singleton, who trains with the team, breaking of the world 60m dash record for amputees in the T-44 category of Paraolympians. Looking ahead we will soon have news on some of our recruit signees for next year, the announcement of our 2010 Hall of Fame Class of our men’s track & field program, and updated information on facility improvements. We thank you not only for your moral support, but those of you who have joined our “Bell Lap Boosters”. These funds are much needed and we encourgage you to nudge your fellow teammates to get on board and contribute to our future successes. We will continue to give you our best efforts. Go Blue! Fred LaPlante Head Coach
Men’s Track and Field 1000 S. State St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109