Page 14-The Michigan Daily- Friday, March 12,1993 MacDonald only Michigan men's harrier at NCAA championship I by Tonya Broad Daily Sports Writer And then there was one. One outstanding person who was experi- enced enough to qualify for the elite meet, the NCAA national champi- onships. Freshman Scott MacDonald rep- resents Michigan as the only partici- pant in the NCAA National track meet at Indianapolis today and to- morrow in the mile run. In a sport where most athletes hit their peak in their late twenties, MacDonald, who is the only freshman competing all weekend, is proving he is a serious national contender. MacDonald posted the fastest time in the Big Ten (4:02.03) and is ranked sixth in the meet, but the rank might be misleading. The top- ranked runner in the field boasts a time of 4:01, making the first through sixth seeds a mere second apart. The close margin transforms the race into a tactical game. Assistant coach Ron Warhurst coaches the distance runners and claims the NCAA has become a meet of the elite because the NCAA pays for all athletes' expenses. Warhurst believes there will be no outstanding person in the race. "It's a big head game at this level," Warhurst said. "No one is going to run away with the pack, it'll come down to the last two hundred yards." Both Warhurst and MacDonald emphasize focus on the prelims as a crucial factor. "The main thing is to try and make the finals," MacDonald said. "Hopefully the (preliminary race) pace will be fast and people will not stay with it, then I stay in a good position throughout the race and qualify for the finals." Warhurst will be concentrating more on the mechanics of the race. "The prelims will be mainly tac- tical," Warhurst said. "Everyone will hold back until the final two or three laps then the runners will try to out- kick each other. He's (MacDonald) a smart racer, but he hasn't raced any of these people, so we'll watch and see how they run (tactically)." MacDonald is not as inexperi- enced as some may think. He has participated in international meets as a junior in Canada. This gave him some well-needed exposure to high caliber competition. Although other teammates made the provisional qualifying standard, many were not asked to attend. MacDonald states that it is strange being the only one, since he ex- pected provisional qualifiers to par- ticipate and not spectate. MacDonald said he still feels team moral support is a great confidence booster. "It will help with them there," MacDonald said. Listed below are the Michigan athletes scheduled to participate in the NCAA women's track championships this weekend in Indianapolis. 3,000 meters (1st seed - 9:10.34): Courtney Babcock - sophomore - 5th seed * 9:19.19 qualifying time Molly McClimon - senior " 6th seed - 9:19.77 qualifying time Mile (1st seed - 4:39.24): Karen Harvey " sophomore - 13th seed Diving hopefuls head to NCAA regional meet 0 Northwestern University Summer Session '93 Think or swim. Our intensives in chemistry, physics, and languages draw students from all over the country. Call I-800-FINDS NU (in Illinois, call 708/491-4114) or mail this coupon. I'm thinking. Send me a free copy of the Summer Session '93 catalog with financial aid and registration information (available in March). Please send the catalog to C my home 0 my school. Summer Session, 2003 Sheridan Road Evanston, Illinois 60208-2650 Name School Address by Brett Johnson and Dave Kraft Daily Sports Writers For the past two weekends, the Michigan swimming teams have played the lead role as they at- tempted to qualify for the NCAA championships. This weekend, the men and women divers step into the spotlight for themselves at the NCAA Zone C Diving meet at Can- ham Natatorium. Both squads will be attempting to qualify for their re- spective national championships in late March. Divers choose to perform on two of the three boards (1-meter and/or 3-meter springboard or the 10-meter platform). They score points depend- ing on their finish on each board, and the divers with the highest combined point totals qualify for nationals. For the women, the top six divers at the meet qualify for NCAAs; for the men, the top seven qualify. The zone consists of schools from across the midwest, but most of the Wolverines' competition will come from the Big Ten. Other schools in the zone include Mid- American Conference (MAC) schools such as Ball State; northern Illinois and Chicago schools such as Illinois-Chicago; and independent Notre Dame. Diving coach Dick Kimball said he thinks the familiarity of the com- petitors makes for an interesting but tough meet. "It's a necessary evil," Kimball said. "You have to do it to see who gets to go to nationals, but no one wants to be here. You're diving against the same people as at the Big Tens. If you didn't do as well (at Big Tens), it's a chance to prove you can do better. If you did well at the Big Tens, you worry about 'whether I can do it again'. But I think (the re- sults) will come out similar to Big Tens." The men are looking to improve on their individual performances from Big Tens and qualify two divers for the NCAAs. The divers participating include Alex Bogaerts, Jeff Jozwiak, Abel Sanchez, and Eric Lesser. "I'd like to see at least two of our divers qualify for the NCAA compe- tition," Lesser said. "We have a great shot at top two (as a team at NCAAs) if we can perform well in springboard and platform, where it counts (platform does not count at the Big Ten championships). We can possibly win (the national title). Stanford doesn't have any (competitive) divers. That's a lot of points we can pick up." Kimball said he believes the plat- form diving will give the Wolverine men an advantage that they did not have at Big Tens. "It's hard to predict (the out- come)," Kimball said. "Based on the Big Ten meet Eric (Lesser) has an excellent chance. With tower scor- ing, I think our guys have a better chance (than at Big Tens)" Five women divers - Jennifer Rotundo, Margie Stoll, Martha Wenzel, Cinnamon Woods, and Car- rie Zarse - have all qualified for the zone meet, and each is looking for her first berth in the NCAA championships. Kimball believes that they may be able to qualify even more divers than the men. "Three girls have a chance, Car- rie, Margie, and Cinnamon," Kim- ball said. "It will be a close compe- tition. It's tough to get (to NCAAs). Only 30 people in the whole country make it." Woods agrees that the women have a solid chance at qualifying multiple divers for the NCAAs. "All of us have a very good chance," Woods said. "It just de- pends on the type of day everybody is having. Everybody looks really strong and have been working out very well." "Miami is clearly the best men's team," Kimball said. "The defending champion in women's diving from Stanford is back. If I can get the kids there, however, we'll do alright at nationals. We will do well on tower." Cit State Zip Home Address City State Zip 1 Northweternmis an equal oppor(flhii educatan ~fd employer. 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