The Great Lakes State

Records 1 to 20 of 399

Kiwi runner Willis full of confidence
Posted by Matt
Kiwi runner Nick Willis has arrived in Hong Kong full of optimism ahead of the 1500 metre event in Beijing on the August 17.
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Ritzenhein, haunted by 2004, eyes Olympic medal
Posted by Matt
At 25, Dathan Ritzenhein is just getting started on his career as a world-class runner. Yet the end is already in sight. There's a short life expectancy in distance running, which is why most careers only last into the early to mid-30s. A 35-year-old is an old man in this sport, Ritzenhein said.
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Michigan runners ready for Olympic marathon
Posted by Matt
The men's marathon isn't until Aug. 24, which gives the U.S. contingent, including Ritzenhein - the other Michigan marathon man on the team - plenty of days to chalk up mileage and prepare for what will certainly be a challenging race because of the expected high heat, humidity and pollution concerns. With the hot weather in mind, Brian Sell was scheduled to leave Thursday for Orlando, where he'll continue training until Aug. 11, when he departs for China.
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Hope picks women's cross country captains (The Grand Rapids Press)
Posted by TheRunning
Hope College's women's cross country team will be looking to seniors Sarah Multer and Rebekah Woods for leadership this fall. Both have been named team captains for 2008. Multer is from Plainwell and Woods is from Lowell.
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Athletics: Willis to contest 800m at Beijing
Posted by Matt
New Zealand medal hope Nick Willis will contest the 800m as well as his favoured 1500m at the Beijing Olympic Games.
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Hope names cross country captains (The Grand Rapids Press)
Posted by TheRunning
Rob Bailey and Paul VanderVelde will share the team captain duties for the Hope College men's cross country team in the fall. (Grand Rapids)
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Flotrack to cover Nick Willis in his Olympic quest
Posted by Matt
Kiwi miler, Nick Willis is one of New Zealands best medal hopes for the 2008 games. Over the last year Nick has been very busy, he was married, ran in the World Championship in Japan, where he was 10th and now he is training for the Olympic games.
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Michigan women finish second at Big Tens
Posted by Matt
For just the third time in the last seven years, the Michigan women's track team didn't take home the Big Ten Title. The 18th-ranked Wolverines finished second, 33 points behind No. 14 Penn State.
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Willis wins on home track; Faumuina fifth
Posted by Matt
New Zealander Nick Willis hit form on his home track to win the 800m in the Len Paddock Invitational athetics meeting in Michigan over the weekend.
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Sell gets first River Run title
Posted by Matt
If Brian Sell's past achievements at the Fifth Third River Bank Run are any indication, then the 30-year-old can expect a positive showing at the Beijing Olympics. Sell hung around with Ethiopian Wellay Weldegiyorgis for the first 11 miles, then shifted into overdrive for an impressive overall winning performance Saturday morning in the River Run's USA Track & Field 25K championship.
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Sell wins third USA 25 km Championship
Posted by Matt
Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) successfully defended his men's national title running 1:15:07 while Paige Higgins (Littleton, Colo.) won her first USA road title in 1:30:49, Saturday at the USA 25 km Championships in Grand Rapids, Mich.
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Hillsdale Results College "GINA" Relays
Posted by Matt
Results from the Hillsdale College "GINA" Relays
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New Zealand selects eight athletes for Beijing
Posted by Matt
Valerie Vili heads a strong team of eight, four men and four woman, selected for the track and field events at the Beijing Olympic Games. Others who competed at the 2004 Olympics and who have gained selection again are Stuart Farquhar javelin throw, Nick Willis 1500m, Beatrice Faumuina Discus Throw and Kimberley Smith 5000m and 10,000m.
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Michigan State's Lisa Senakiewich wins 1,500m at Colonial Relays
Posted by Matt
The Michigan State track & field team finished the first day of competition on Friday night at the Colonial Relays, hosted by the College of William & Mary. Both the men and women sit in third place after the first day, with the men going into day two with 36 points and the women with 38 points
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Michigan's Bettie Wade wins heptathlon at Cal Multi Event meet
Posted by Matt
Michigan's Bettie Wade wins heptathlon at Cal Multi Event meet
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A Brief Chat with Keith Hanson
Posted by Matt
With his brother Kevin, Keith Hanson is the co-founder of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project. Their men's program is well known, thanks to such accomplishments as Brian Sell's third-place finish at last fall's Olympic Marathon Trials.
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River Run adds some big names
Posted by Submitted
Some of the top names in U.S. distance running again will converge on Grand Rapids for the 25K Fifth Third River Bank Run on May 10. Not all of them will need their running shoes. Defending 25K American champion and Olympic marathoner Brian Sell will be accompanied by four fellow members of the prestigious Hansons-Brooks Distance Project training team from Rochester to bolster the men's field for this year's USA Track and Field 25K championship race.
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Ryan Shay's death tied to irregular heartbeat*
Posted by Matt
Ryan Shays death during the Nov. 3 U.S. Olympic marathon trials was because of natural causes linked to an irregular heartbeat and an enlarged heart, the New York City Medical Examiner's office announced Tuesday.
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Local running star Ryan Shay's cause of death revealed
Posted by Matt
Joe Shay received official word Tuesday what caused his son’s (Ryan Shay)sudden death Nov. 3 at the U.S. Olympic marathon trails. But four months of testing on Ryan Shay’s heart tissue samples, by some of the nation’s leading cardiology forensic experts and geneticists, left unanswered the biggest question: Why
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HS: Nike Indoor Nationals Sunday coverage
Posted by Matt
Maverick Darling (Sr., Ovid-Elise, MI) and Octavia Rinehardt (Sr., Tallwood, VA) won their respective heats of the two-mile. While the top seeded flights are this afternoon, the first event of Sunday's finals were the first heets of this event.
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Some people believe that Ohioans gave Michigan the nickname “The Wolverine State” around 1835 during a dispute over the Toledo strip, a piece of land along the border between Ohio and Michigan. Rumors in Ohio at the time described Michiganians as being as vicious and bloodthirsty as wolverines. This dispute became known as the Toledo War.
Another reason given for the nickname is a story that has Native Americans, during the 1830s, comparing Michigan settlers to wolverines. Some native people, according to this story, disliked the way settlers were taking the land because it made them think of how the gluttonous wolverine went after its food.
Another nickname for Michigan is the “Great Lake State.” Michigan's shores touch four of the five Great Lakes, and Michigan has more than 11,000 inland lakes. In Michigan, you are never more than 6 miles from an inland lake or more than 85 miles from a Great Lake. From 1969 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1983 Michigan's automobile license plates featured the legend, GREAT LAKE STATE.
source: http://www.sos.state.mi.us/history/michinfo/michfaq/michfaq.html