Thursday, June 09, 2005

Ellerton in NCAA Heats

NCAA Championships - Sacramento California

Nice run in the NCAA heats for Andrew Ellerton. See media release below:

Junior Andrew Ellerton (Sudbury, Ontario/Confederation HS) posted a qualifying performance in the 800m as the University of Michigan men's track and field team opened competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday.

Ellerton registered a season-best 1:47.88 to win the fourth heat in the 800-meter run and pick up an automatic qualifier to the semfinal round. Starting the race in the inside lane, Ellerton settled into the back of the eight-man field at the break and remained there through the first lap as the pack came through the opening 400 meters at 52.23 -- the fastest opening split among the four preliminary heats. The Wolverine cut to the outside down the backstretch and gradually pushed toward the front before coming out the bend in the third position. Ellerton used his kick to take a slim lead in the final straightaway as the top three finished just 0.25 seconds apart. Ellerton's time was the fastest of the preliminary round and improved his season best by 0.47 seconds.

Quotes: Andrew Ellerton
On his 800-meter preliminary ... "My race went better than what I was expecting. It felt really good. I was thinking I would have to work a little harder than I actually did. I ended up with the fastest seed time; I was a little surprised at how slow the other heats went. I was just shooting for a top three. I saw that Johnathan Johnson was in my heat, and he's probably the favorite coming in here. I was just expecting him to take it, and I'd run a comfortable top three. When it came down to the homestretch, there was a guy from Baylor starting to come on, and I didn't want to take any chances, so, I just pushed that extra little bit just to make sure. I didn't have to work too hard, and it felt pretty comfortable. It was also the fastest time I've run all year; it gives me a lot more confidence going into tomorrow and Saturday."

For more information:
http://www.mgoblue.com/section_display.cfm?section_id=199&top=2&level=2