Page 10-Tuesday, November 7, 1978--The Michigan Daily 'RETIRED' RUNNER COMPLETES COMEBACK: By ofCthe Ninth By RICK MADDOCK Elliott's return By DAVE RENBARGER Last year Steve Elliott quit Michigan's cross country team, claiming a total lack of motivation for the uniquely demanding sport. Last Saturday the same Steve Elliott led the Wolverine runners to a solid second place Big Ten finish, turning in the eighth-best performance in the con- ference. Such a turn-about would make him a leading candidate for comeback-of-the- year honors, if only the Cross Country Writers of America handed out such an honor. Instead, the senior from Pontiac derives only personal satisfaction from his efforts. ELLIOTT FOUND a new source of motivation last summer-he got married in August. Since that time, he has dedicated himself to a successful comeback, and in doing so, erased any lingering doubts that he is a quitter. At the same time, Elliott is better preparing himself for his primary in- terest-running track. "I don't particulary like the idea of racing for five or six miles, but I'm not Rparks h a quitter," said Elliott yesterday. "I'm a competitor." 1. That's the primary reason why Elliott came back to the harrier squad this seasun. Even though he prefers running one mile on a track, he tolerates the rigors of the up-and-down, 8,000 and 10,000 meter cross country mini-marathons. "MY WIFE helped talk me into coming back," said Elliott. "She's been giving me a lot of support all the way. But the decision was mine. I knew if I was going to come back I'd have to get myself mentally prepared. And I didn't want to have to do it all at once." Elliott began training in earnest late in the summer and has made steady progress all season long. His 8,000 arriers tremendously-mentally, physically and emotionally. That's a big thing in distance running." Elliott agreed with his coach, poin- ting to his lack of maturity as one of his initial reasons for leavingtthe team. "I'm a lot happier person this year. I had a few problems last year. I was commuting back and forth to Pontiac about three times a week. With that, plus training and school, it got to be way too much." SO HE DID what seemed obvious at the time. He quite cross country in the middle of his junior year. At the time he said he was through with cross country, a sport he "just wasn't cut out for." He was going to concentrate on track. As a talented but unpolished sophomore in 1976 he was the sixth-place individual finisher in the Big Ten cross country meet. As a unsettled and unmotivated junior, he was a retired has-been. "That was a bad -mistake. I thought that it (cross country) was hurting my track. I blamed it on cross country, but I was really just down on school in general. "The guys were kind of mad at me last year when I gave it up," said Elliott of his teammates. "They were disap- pointed and Ron (Warhurst) was disappointed. As a result, I got disap- pointed after track. I still had something to prove. I had to prove that I could get through it all right and have a little success. " Elliott hopes that his success in the Big Ten meet carries over into the next two weeks, as Michigan winds up the season with two more big meets-the NCAA Districts and the Nationals. "I'm just starting to come around now," he summed up. "I'm going to have two more good races. I've geared myself for this stretch all season." i i 4ACO AUTHENTIC MEXICAN FOOD 3 Minutes from the Union Not fast food-Just great food served quickly Eat In or Carry Out 11 a.m.-1 I p.m. Mon-Thurs p.m.-I 1 p.m. Sun, I1 a.m.-12 a.m. Fri. & Sat.. Located at Thompson and William Lowly 'Cats.. . Fuel for Blue tank The tension was building yesterday afternoon at Weber's Inn as the writers were waiting to hear the superlatives Bo had for lowly North- western. He took his time getting around to the Big Ten's cellar occupants. After all, just what could he say? Finally, a writer asked, "Well, what about Evanston?" And Bo's first words, after a slight hesitation, were: "Um, God." Then he added, "Offensively this team has been able to move the ball. Their problem is defensively. They have lost a lot of kids on defense to in- juries." The Wildcats are 0-8-1, with their only non-loss coming at the beginning of the year in a 0-0 tie with Illinois. Yes, they did move the ball against Ohio State, two weeks ago. They scored 20 points to the Buckeyes' 63. But last Saturday against Purdue their 31-0 loss showed neither offense nor defense. "Can they beat you?" Bo asked. "Well, anyone can beat you, but realistically this is a game we should win." Bo not only wants to win this one, but he wants to win it big. He wants his offense to look extra sharp this Saturday, in preparation for the real football games coming up after this comedy. "Offensively we have to come out of there with some improvement. We have to have some momentum," Bo said. Final pit stop He was in a relaxed mood yesterday, as if he realizes this week is his rest week. This whole week, including the game at Northwestern, is similar to the second place car at the Indianapolis 500 making'its final pit stop. There's a slight rest, followed by gassing up, putting on those last set of tires and then firing out of the pit lane as if all hell has broke loose. Northwestern is the pit lane. That's where Michigan must accelerate in- to high speed for that final stretch drive, which includes destroying North- western and then catching Purdue thanks to the momentum provided by Northwestern. "I'm gonna get our offense going," Bo said in his only semi-excited state all day. "Not I want to; I'm gonna. I think we'll get it going, don't get me wrong. But I want to do it this weekend." And one of the tires that's been getting patched up will be ready to go this weekend. "Huckleby will play this week. We're definitely going to run him ' this week, because if he can't run this week I'm not going to test him in that game we've got to win," Bo said. Huckleby may not start, but he has to get some action. Whether Iowa's defense was that tough against the run or not, Michigan did not have a good running attack without its senior tailback. He leads the club with 532 yards; and he sports an impressive 4.8 average. Full speed ahead And basically what Bo is talking about improving on is Michigan's rushing. He was not pleased at all with the Wolverine running game last .Saturday. "We can't get 200 yards rushing even with 24 yards on a fake punt," Bo said. "We can pass. I believe we can pass. That catch by Mitchell, that was a great catch, but I don't want to count on those very often." If the Wolverines manage to get their running game this weekend,-which they should have no trouble doing, then the Northwestern maintenance department better make sure a third column can be li under the Michigan side of the scoreboard. Bo sounds as though he plans on blowing the Wildcats right out of Dyche Stadium. Asked about coaches running up the score, Bo replied, "I think that's his (the winning coach's) business. It gets to the point where you do what you,, want to do." And Bo's business this weekend is that of a pit crew. He's got to get that Michigan racer ready to crank against those league leading Boilermakers. Everything has to be running as best it can-from the timing to the wheels. And the folks in Evanston better be prepared for the Michigan time trials. with the Wildcats getting run over. I ARMY SURPLUS 4' 10% off all merchandise 1 except sale items with this coupon coupon expires 10/11/78 i 201 E. 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