Morgan Trent knew the race was over as soon as he got out of the blocks.
- Morgan Morel
- In his first 60-meter race since high school, freshman Morgan Trent came within 0.03 seconds of beating teammate Adam Harris. (Shubra Ohri/Daily)
Running his first 60-meter race since high school, the redshirt freshman didn’t get the start he was looking for and trailed freshman teammate Adam Harris the entire race.
“My start was pretty slow,” Trent said. “I never really thought I had (Adam) after that. He got out good, and I tried to run with him instead of running my race.”
Trent’s fears proved well founded, and he ended the race with a second-place time of 6.86, 0.03 seconds behind Harris.
“I’ve been running against him all week,” Harris said. “I’ve been in front of him most of the week, so I figured I had enough power to push myself through the finish before he caught me.”
Harris and Trent were the story for the Wolverines on Saturday at the Harold Silverston Invitational at the Indoor Track Building in Ann Arbor. In a meet where many of the top runners sat out in preparation for next week’s Big Ten Championships, the two freshmen stood out, finishing first and second in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Trent won the 200 with a time of 21.92, 0.21 seconds ahead of Harris. The two raced in different heats.
” I wasn’t trying to match Morgan’s time,” Harris said. “Honestly, I was just trying to get through the finish line.”
Harris and Trent were the Wolverines’ most noteworthy performers, but their performances were not the only highlights for Michigan.
“Adam and Morgan obviously showed up,” coach Ron Warhurst said. “In addition, our two pole-vaulters and our high jumper Brad Miller performed very well. The people that were competing competed very well for us today.”
The pole-vaulters, Spencer Dowdall and Kevin Peterman, both posted 15-8 1/4 — a personal best for Dowdall – to finish second and third, respectively.
Miller posted a 6-11 1/2 – a personal best – to take second place in the high jump. Other notable performances included John D’Arcy’s victory in the 800-meter run. He won with a 1:54.93, besting his own record by 0.15 seconds.
Next week, Michigan travels to Iowa City for the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The Silverston was clearly little more than a precursor to the Big Ten’s, but Warhurst still saw many things to feel good about.
“If we go into the Big Ten meet and match what we’ve done all season, we’ll have a pretty good meet,” Warhurst said. “Everyone has to perform their season’s best, and some guys have got to be a little better, and we will be in really good shape.”