WEST LAFAYETTE — As the competitors in the mile run came down the final straightaway, it appeared that Nick Willis would win by a few meters. But in the final strides, Sean Jefferson of Indiana pulled even with Willis. The times revealed that Jefferson beat Willis by one-hundredth of a second.

The finish in the mile epitomized Michigan’s showing at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in West Lafayette on Feb. 26-27. The Wolverines lost three races by a combined .04 seconds, which cost them eight points. Michigan finished fourth overall with 88 points and won just two races.

“I knew we couldn’t get any better than third,” coach Ron Warhurst said. “We lost a few places in the middle (of the meet), and Illinois won a few places in the middle (of the meet).”

In the 800-meter run, senior Nate Brannen trailed Trammel Smith of Illinois on the final lap. At the finish line, Brannen attempted to outlean his competitor but came up inches short. He finished with a time of 1:49.93, one-hundredth of a second behind Smith.

“Right on the line, I finally got beside to almost catch him, but I just ran out of distance,” Brannen said.

Another Wolverine who failed to win a close race was sophomore Jeff Porter, who was trying to defend his Big Ten Indoor Championship. He finished .02 seconds behind first-place finisher Ricky Pickney of Purdue to garner third-place points with a time of 7.91.

Both of Michigan’s victories during the Championships came in the first day of competition. In the 3,000-meter run, Nick Willis handled multiple attacks by his competitors to win his third straight Big Ten Championship in the event, setting a meet and Lambert Fieldhouse record with a time of 7:55.94. This marks Willis’s second NCAA automatic qualifying time of the season in the 3,000-meter run.

“They’re trying to find different ways to beat Willis, but they just can’t,” Warhurst said.

Michigan’s other victory came in the distance medley relay, where Brannen passed three teams in the final lap to earn the victory for Michigan. After trailing by as much as 40 meters, Brannen kicked into a higher gear with 250 meters to go and blew by his competitors.

Sophomore Stann Waithe performed well for the Wolverines, earning 11 points for the team with two individual top-five performances while contributing to the third place 4x400-meter relay. He placed fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.81 and fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.65.

“I wanted to do better than I did, but I guess I was happy with that,“ Waithe said.

Michigan scored in two field events. Michael Whitehead placed fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 50-5 1/4. In the high jump, senior Darren Adams and junior Brad Miller both earned sixth-place finishes by clearing 6-9 1/2, which was a personal best for Adams. Although the Wolverines did not earn any points in the weight throw, sophomore Chris McHugh bettered his personal best by four feet, registering the second best throw in Michigan history with a toss of 56-10.

The team also competed this week in the Alex Wilson Invitational at the Loftus Sports Center in South Bend on Friday and Saturday. The Invitational was a last-chance meet for athletes to post qualifying times for next week’s NCAA championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The Wolverines took advantage of the opportunity by earning two automatic qualifying times.

In the 800-meter run, Brannen did more than post an automatic qualifying mark with a time of 1:47.91 — he set a Michigan indoor record and looked poised to win his third straight NCAA indoor title in the event.

“I am relieved that everything worked out, and I’m very confident going into nationals,” Brannen said.

Michigan’s distance medley relay will also be in Fayetteville to defend its national title after a posting a time of 9:28.12. The relay team of senior Rondell Ruff, junior Andrew Ellerton, Willis and Waithe ran the fastest time in the nation this year.

“We’re happy with today’s performance,” Warhurst said after the meet.

Although the Wolverines do not have expectations of a national championship, they have hopes of a high finish.

“We are looking for a top-four finish,” Warhurst said. “A national championship is out of reach, I think.”