Anyone that was there know why?
Anyone that was there know why?
The Michigan guys(ie - Brannen, Willis) seemed to be running tired the last half of the indoor season. Even still...they won the DMR and Mile...with a 4th in the 800m.
I'm surprised Willis did DNF...with his talent and only having a Mile prelim and final under his belt you think he'd have more in the tank for the 3K. Maybe winning that mile took alot out of him...as I'm sure that was his primary goal heading into NCAA's. A top finish in the 3000m would've been a nice bonus.
Solinsky had a great meet...3rd in 5K and winning the 3000m.
Willis DROPPING OUT of a race voluntarily is a huge shock. Something is not right there.
Nate Brannen had a very long indoor season, in my opinion too long for most, this is his races from tilastopaja.net and it doesn't even include his dmr legs(atleast 2 dmr legs)
800 m
1:49.07 OTi 1 Meyo Notre Dame IN 5 Feb
1:50.08i 1 Silverston Ann Arbor MI 19 Feb
1:52.43i h Big 10 West Lafayette IN 26 Feb
1:49.93i 2 Big 10 West Lafayette IN 27 Feb
1:47.51 OTi PB (18) 1r1 Wilson Notre Dame IN 5 Mar
1:48.70i 3h1 NCAA Fayetteville AR 11 Mar
1:47.71i 4 NCAA Fayetteville AR 12 Mar
1500 m
3:43.01+i PB (32) 2 Tyson Fayetteville AR 11 Feb
One Mile
3:55.11i NR PB (5) 5 BIG Boston MA 29 Jan
3:59.50i 2 Tyson Fayetteville AR 11 Feb
3000 m
7:58.07i PB (68) 1 Simmons Ann Arbor MI 22 Jan
8:05.89i 10 NCAA Fayetteville AR 12 Mar
Nick Willis's season was less intense, Brannen had to go after the 800 standard and had difficulty getting it
One Mile
3:58.07i SB (9) 1 Silverston Ann Arbor MI 19 Feb
4:26.71i 2 Big 10 West Lafayette IN 27 Feb
4:03.90i 2h1 NCAA Fayetteville AR 11 Mar
4:00.69i 1 NCAA Fayetteville AR 12 Mar
3000 m
7:48.65 OTi SB (15) 1 Meyo Notre Dame IN 5 Feb
7:55.94i 1 Big 10 West Lafayette IN 26 Feb
DNFi NCAA Fayetteville AR 12 Mar
From what I just read in an article, Willis had only 10 minutes to recover between the mile final and the 3,000. I know I'd be suffering.
Incorrect. It meant Willis had an extra 10 minutes more than Brannan's "little more than an hour" rest. Since the Mile was before the 800.
Willis and Brannen were entered in the 3k so Michigan had a chance at the team title. There probably was a point in the race when Warhurst pulled his guys knowing that Arkansas had it wrapped up. There is no need for those two guys hammering away indoors anymore with the long summer they'll have.
Honestly, why do they race so much indoors?
It's Diane Dixon and Regina Jacobs all over again.
It sounds like he simply lost concentration.
Willis:
"On his mile race ... "I couldn't have asked for a better situation. It was a steady pace, nothing ridiculously fast, nothing too slow. There was no jostling around; it was all nice and single file, and I could just sit back in the middle of the pack and gradually pick it up. The plan was to move in the last 200 meters down the back straight, and the Arizona guy made it with 200 to go, so I just sort of sling-shotted off of him on the back straight. I wasn't expecting it to be so comfortable, so it all boded well to set myself up to come back in the 3. Obviously, I might have used up too much mental energy for the mile."
On winning his first NCAA individual title ... "It was really nice. It was fun to win in front of the Arkansas crowd, because they always root against us. That was a big relief, and it was my first national title, so obviously, it was nice to do that. To be honest, though, a lot of the fun has been taken out of it, because of my selfishness in the 3k, pulling out of the race. I realized I let my team down and myself down as well as all my supporters for not being tough in the race. That's taken a lot away from it actually."
On the 3,000 meters ... "It was a pretty solid pace and someone made a move, and I was in last place, so I made a big move to get around about six or seven guys. After that, I just kind of had a lapse in my brain, and I just thought, 'I don't know if I can go any further,' and subconsciously, I just stepped off the track. I was really kicking myself after that. At the time, it seems like the comfortable thing to do, but really it was not good at all -- all that training is wasted on nothing. It's a shame it had to happen."
"It's a shame it had to happen." - Willis
Oh, yeah, Willis, "it had to happen," you just HAD to stop. What a laugh.
Sounds like a clear cut case of pussitis to me. Sorry to hear about his sickness.
Thanks malmo. I checked the michigan site last night, but they did not have any quotes up, so I figured I would post the question here. This is what makes you one of the better people to post on here, you have a fact based reality.
I was there; he looked so easy winning the mile; perfect set-up for the double victory; pussitis definitely!!!
Some people are team players and some are not!!! Brannen made a good effort!!!!
One race every week for 8 weeks is hardly overracing.
Especially when they are mixing up the distances of the races and no race is over 3k.
He shouldn't have dropped out, but at least he owned up to it and didn't make excuses. It doesn't necessarily make up for it, but it's worth something.
Anyway, here are his quotes below:
http://www.mgoblue.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=17579
On winning his (Willis') first NCAA individual title ... "...To be honest, though, a lot of the fun has been taken out of it, because of my selfishness in the 3k, pulling out of the race. I realized I let my team down and myself down as well as all my supporters for not being tough in the race. That's taken a lot away from it actually."
On the 3,000 meters ... "It was a pretty solid pace and someone made a move, and I was in last place, so I made a big move to get around about six or seven guys. After that, I just kind of had a lapse in my brain, and I just thought, 'I don't know if I can go any further,' and subconsciously, I just stepped off the track. I was really kicking myself after that. At the time, it seems like the comfortable thing to do, but really it was not good at all -- all that training is wasted on nothing. It's a shame it had to happen."
read the thread. the quote has already been posted.
uh...dude wrote:
read the thread. the quote has already been posted.
#@%$ my 2nd mistake this morning.
By saying some people are not team players I'm assuming you’re calling Willis a cop-out for letting down the team-but honestly who cares? This is an individual sport. Guys that are at the level of winning NCAA championships shouldn't even be concerned with winning 'team titles' at their own detrimental physical expense. Realistically they will all be looking at professional careers after University. Willis is a champion how dare you call him a pussy. His mental tenacity is unrivaled. Not many other athletes could have done the European circuit, Olympics, come back from a stress fracture of the femur to win a NCAA title the following season. If you call him mentally weak it would be to your disadvantage-any athlete leading a race coming into the last lap that believes Nick is broken won’t be there at the finish.
Team issue aside, the big problem you have when you you pull out of race (for reasons other than you physically cant move) is you set a sub-concious precedent which can be difficult to break. Its not a good habit to get into ie. when it gets tough - pull out. Willis needs to realise that not all races are about floating along effortlessly and kicking home opponents. There are races that are going to be tough and a grind - and you should never be afraid to finish a race JUST because you wont win, which is possibly what the case is here. The excuse that the races were close together is crap. An athlete of Willis' level should be able to handle it - not easy, but manageable. After all, Nathan Brannen (who is not as aerobically strong as Willis) had LESS time to recover after a much harder anaerobic effort (800 1.47 vs 1600 4.01) and still ran well. Brannen showed a lot about his guts and character yesterday, and unfortunately - despite Willis' preachings - he showed a lot about his.
You make it sound like he was going to hurt himself if he finished the 3K. Self-respect is important; he knows that he screwed up. He is a very talented athlete; I will not abuse him; just disappointed that his team could have finished a bit higher; they had great fan support, all of the way from Michigan and he let everyone down (including himself) Hopefully he learned a lesson!!!