Three members of the Michigan men's track and field team - freshmen Alan Webb and Nathan Brannen and senior tri-captain Mike Wisniewski - competed this past week in the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, La. All three will return to Ann Arbor with All-America honors in their respective events.

Michigan tied for 28th place overall with nine points, but the individual accomplishments of its three representatives were much more impressive.

"We didn't have a real successful Big Ten meet, but I'm pretty pleased with the way things have gone," coach Ron Warhurst said. "It's been really successful."

Wisniewski set the tone Thursday night with a 10th-place 29:47.74 in the 10,000-meter run, his final race as a Wolverine. His performance was good enough to earn him All-America status - an honor placed upon the top eight American finishers in each event - for the first time in his track and field career.

"It was a nice way to finish his senior year at Michigan," Warhurst said.

Brannen followed suit, placing fifth in the 800-meter run Friday night with a time of 1:46.00, breaking a six-year-old school record.

"Placing didn't really matter to me today," Brannen said. "Normally 1:46.00 would have been a solid second. I'm just pretty pumped."

In addition to earning All-America status, Brannen's time qualified him for the Commonwealth Games to be played this summer in England.

"It's going to be a bright summer," he said.

Webb capped off the meet with a fourth-place 3:43.23 in the 1,500-meter run. Webb broke out to an early lead, which he maintained for the first 1,450 meters of the race, only to be overtaken down the homestretch.

His time earned him his second All-America honor of the year, having been named a cross country All-American in the fall.

Whether Webb, the American high school record-holder in the mile, will stay at Michigan for his sophomore year, however, remains to be seen.

Webb has neither confirmed nor denied speculation that he will forego the remainder of his college career in order to become a professional runner. But he has made it clear that the decision will be made at some point over the summer.

Regardless, Warhurst maintains an optimistic perspective.

"(The meet) sets a good stage for next year and our incoming freshmen. It'll be fun."

Host Louisiana State took the team title with 64 points, edging out Tennessee with a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay.