The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, February 26, 1996 - 38 M' men take 6th in track at Big Tens By Kim Hart For the Daily It was a disappointing weekend in Co- bus for the Michigan men's track and ieldteam. The Wolverines finished sixth at the Big Ten Championships. After the first day of competition the Wolverines were in seventh place with 6 points, and six men headed to the finals of their respective contests. The first event was the heptathlon, where Alex Lengemann was in ninth place after the first four events. He fin- ished day one with 2,647 points, 471 oints behind the leader James unkleberger of Wisconsin, and hoped for more success on day two. a The 55-meter dash was the fourth event of the day, and the team might have ?md a better chance with the presence of Felman Malveaux, who posted the sec- ond-best time in the Big Ten before frac- turing his right foot. Damon DeVasher came in 16th place with a time of 6.59 seconds, and Kevin owman had22nd place with 6.81, keep- gMichigan out of the finals of the 55. The results of the preliminaries for the 200-meter run were tight, but the Wolver- ines were .4 seconds from tying for the fanal spot with the time posted by Andy Schoelch of 22.54. The highlights of the first day's com- petitions should not go unrecognized. Neil Gardner leaped into a third-place finish in the long jump with a distance of 7.37 meters and won his heat of the 55- eter high hurdles with a time of 7.44 seconds, qualifying for the finals. Todd Bumham was a qualifier for the 600-meter run with a time of 1:21.18, and returning Big Ten champion Kevin Sullivan (4:12.37) qualified for the finals ofthe mile run along with teammate Scott MacDonald (4:10.58). Trinity Townsend headed to the finals inthe800-meterrunrwithatimeofl:54.84, and Jeff Wood posted a time of 49.60 econds in the 400-meter run to give the Wolverines hopes in Sunday's competi- tions. "It's hard to say how things are going," Michigan coach Jack Harvey said after day one. "We're hanging in there, but it's going to be tough." The standings after the first day of events showed Wisconsin with 49 points, Purdue with 14.5, host Ohio State with 14, Minnesota with 12, Iowa and Illinois tied with 8, Michigan, Penn State and Indiana each with six and Michigan State none. The second day ofcompetition sent the men on a roller coaster ride in the stand- ings. In the high jump, Damon DeVasher marked at 6-feet-9 1/2 for eighth place and Alex Lengemann at 6-feet- 9 1/2 for ninth place, just shy of earning points. At the end of five events the Wolver- ines moved down to ninth place still at 6.5 points. Neil Gardner's time of 7.30 sec- onds in the finals of the 55 high hurdles put him in second place and the team in fourth. Kevin Sullivan repeated as the Big Ten champion in the mile run with a time of 4:12.18. Teammate ScottMacDonaldfin- ished fifth with a time of4:13.56, earning Michigan a combined 12 points in the event while moving the Wolverines up to third place. Jeff Wood finished in fifth place in the 400 with a time of 49.07 seconds and the Wolverines slipped to fifth place after seven events. Trinity Townsend sprinted his way to a second place finish in the 800-meter run, but as a team the Wolverines kept falling and were then in sixth place. Todd Bumham finished eighth in the 600-meter run (1:22.18), and Brian Wildfongplaced eighth in the shot put with a mark of 52- feet-10. Taiwo Okusanya came in 12th place of the triple jump at a distance of over 44- feet, and Alex Lengemann finished the heptathlon in eight place with a total of 4,684 points, but Michigan was still fight- ing. The Wolverines made a short climb to fifth place and desperately tried to hang on. In the final event, the 1600 relay, Michigan finished in sixth place with a time of 3:18.87, clinching a tie with Indi- ana for sixth place overall with 37 points. Wisconsin repeated as Big Ten cham- pions with atotal ofl23 points. Ohio State was second with 78, Minnesota finished third with 66, followed by Illinois with 61, Purdue with 41, Indiana and Michi- gan both with 37, Iowa with 31, Michigan State with 27 and Penn State with 25. Kevin Sullivan won the mile at this weekend's Big Ten Championships. TRACK Continued from Page 1B McGuire. Babcock was also impressive in the mile, earning another second-place fin- ish with an NCAA provisional-qualify- ing 4:46.61. Once again, Butlergrabbed the gold, coasting to a 4:40.80 first- place crown. Freshman Angie Stanifer established a new lifetime best in the 600 with a time of 1:32.84, good enough for third place. Fellow freshman Katie McGregor re- corded yet another NCAA provisional- qualifying mark in the mile with her sixth-place time of 4:50.51. Sophomore Tania Longe accumu- lated 4,112 points in the pentathlon, including a 5-feet-10 1/2 second-place mark in the high jump. Longe leaped to 18-feet-6 and fifth place in the long jump, as well as 40-feet-5 1/2" in the triple jump. Tearza Johnson, the reigning Big Ten champion in the 200, was denied the opportunity to defend hertitle. The senior sprinter was disqualified after a lane-line violation, but went on to a sixth-place finish in the 55 with a 7:15 effort. In the 3000, sophomore Michelle Slater took sixth at 9:47.03. Again, it was Wisconsin's Butler who dominated the field with her third first-place finish (9:38.09). Michigan's distance medley squad of McGregor, Babcock, freshman Sa- rah Hamilton andjuniorLamika Harper teamed up for a second-place finish with their NCAA provisional-qualify- ing effort of 11:30.23. Overall, McGuire notes, there were no real surprises. "We had a couple of bad breaks," he said, "but those things can happen in a meet." The team now turns its attention to the outdoor season beginning in late March. "We know we have a lot of work to do," McGuire said. "We're going to put our nose to the grindstone and get that done." Anti~ Zkkan 'pa Ze campusp neradmore t won't be long now: just six more months and four more days. It's not too far off- Aug. 31, that is. No, it's not my birthday. It's not graduation. Ostensibly, it's just another day in the life of an astoundingly mediocre columnist. But to the 'U' - and all you associated with the 'U' - Aug. 31 shall be quite a special day indeed. The last day of August is the first day of the Michigan football season, as the Wolverines host Illinois. And with that begins an entirely different season, a season that encompasses several sports, a season that endures for almost a full year - namely, hunting season. Aug. 31 is the day students, media and people spanning practically the entire globe begin taking their shots at Michigan athletic teams, coaches and players. They'll start with the football team, end with the hoops team and nail everyone who claims to be a Wolverine along the way. It'll be here soon enough, no doubt. But when it comes, I just hope the naysayers have something new to ... well, to naysay, because the present storylines are getting old. Anti-Michiganism was quite high during football season, beginning with the many boos voiced at Michigan Stadium at the season-opening Virginia game. It continued throughout the year, as the Wolverines never threw, scored or won enough to please anyone. But just as Albert White's vertical leap carries him to a level a bit higher than Will Carr's does, scrutiny of the Wolverines has reached an all-new plateau with the change from football to basketball season. These guys can't shoot straight ... Fisher can't coach ... the Wolverines don't play smart and as'a team ... You hear the criticisms so often, they resonate in your brain to no end, causing you sleeplessness and nausea and robbing you of the ability to concentrate in class, on a book or even on tying your shoelaces. Or maybe that's just me. Still, these are all criticisms we've heard before - heard often before. The players seemingly are never safe from the endless faultfinding. And nowadays, neither are the fans. They're not loud enough, we write in the paper - or in some cases, we write that to the paper. It's bad enough when your team is in sixth place in the conference. Being subjected to all of this negativity makes following the season all the less enjoyable. But wait: there's more. There's the issue of that car accident, the one Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and a few other players got into Feb. 17. Why didn't the coach suspend them ... what were they doing out that late ... What were they doing out that late? They were probably the same thing the rest of the University population was, except they weren't even drunk. Still, the accident has been portrayed as an incident, and it's become an indictment of the players and coach Steve Fisher. In short, it's all gotten way out of hand. That's why I can't wait for Aug. 31, when the new season begins. Hopefully, that day will be the start of a yearlong string of Michigan successes. Now, I don't wish for this because I'm a Michigan fan. I just wish it because it'll give people around here something different to talk about. Instead of treating Aug. 31 as the first day of hunting season, maybe Michigan students and fans can designate that day as the one on which they start truly backing their team. It shouldn't be too long 'til then - six months and four days, to be exact. Hopefully that day will come sooner than that. --Darren Everson can be reached over e-mail at evey@umich.edu. Next week ... Read "White on Target" Wresters down Eagles in dual meet y Wil McCahill Daily Sports Writer YPSILANTI - Road kill. To most of us, the phrase brings to mind flat, dead animals. To the Michi- gan wrestling team, it is also an apt description of what they did to Eastern Michigan last night. The No. 13 Wolverines dismantled .the Eagles in Ypsilanti as they jumped Out to an early 16-0 lead, before beating the Eagles by 22 points. The 28-6 final marked the most points the Wolverines have put on the board since a Jan. 12 pounding of Edinboro. The victory over the Eagles brought Michigan's regular season to an end. The Wolverines finished 12-5-1 over- all. and 6-2-1 in the Big Ten. Earlieryesterday, Michigan upset No. 4 Indiana by the skin of its collective ngs, 19-17, in a dual meet at Cliff Keen Arena. - The highlight of the day for the Wol- verines came against Indiana, as 190- pound Michigan senior Lanre Olabisi upset the Hoosiers' 13th-ranked wres- tler, Ben Nachtrieb. After racing to a 9-0 lead after two matches, the Wolverines allowed Indi.. ana to reel off 10 unanswered points in e next three. Sophomore Jeff Catrabone managed to stop the bleeding somewhat with a decision at 158,which put Michigan back in front at 12-10, only to have the Hoosiers win the next two. With the Wolverines desperately in need of a win to retain any hope of victory, Olabisi hung tough against his ranked opponent and gained a 4-1 vic- tory. Michigan was within two points at 17-15, easily in striking distance going 'to the final bout. As usual, sophomore heavyweight Airron Richardson was able to put the lid onthe opposition, recording an 8-0 major decision over Hoosier Jason DeVries to put another 'W' into the books for Michigan. "Lanre has got to be the star today," Michigan coach Dale Bahr sajd after the first victory of the day. "When you e a couple guys you depend on go own (150-pounder Bill Lacure and 177-pounder Jesse Rawls Jr.), then somebody else has got to step up, and I think that's been a key to this team all year long." The loss was Indiana's first in the Big Ten, and it came at the hands of a red- ._ here it's just like, 'Well, let's just go and get the job done.' It's like going to the office and working the three hours you need to work." "Basically, we wanted to get through this and get ready for (the Big Ten tournament, to be held March 9 and 10 at East Lansing)," Bahr added. A couple of highlights did indeed come out of the clipping of the Eagles, despite the lackluster atmosphere sur- rounding the meet. Freshman Jeff Reese recorded his first career dual meet victory at 142 pounds, by romping to a 16-3 major decision over Eastern's Noah Delaney. Catrabone's two victories on the day allowed him to finish the dual-meet season undefeated, having reeled off 18 consecutive wins. "I was happy to have a perfect season in dual meets," Catrabone said. "I was really nervous (before the 6Basically, we wanted to get through this and get ready for (the Big Ten meet3)" - Dale Bahr Michigan wrestling coach Indiana and Eastern Michigan matches) thinking, 'Don't let me screw it up."' The team will now turn its attention to the upcoming Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. "The weather's getting nice out," Bahr said. "It's time not to have duals anymore. "It's time for the Big Tens and NCAAs." ______________________________________ '4 wcome ~e 'Ctrs& t tzra + and t I u ci1 cauV ticvtF * '*,,'~Q,* . *~,*, I 4,-' .- '~ 4,, * , \'1~.~.' "4) CO$V~WN ClArA lk AA p i i,' its i, '. F or fast relief from the nagging ache of taxes, we recommend TIAA-CREF SRAs. SRAs are tax- deferred annuities designed to help build additional assets-money that can help make the difference between living and living well after your working years are over. QDA- 11. C------ As the nation's largest retirement system, based on assets under management, we offer a wide range of allocation choices-from the TIAA Traditional Annuity, which guarantees principal and interest (backed by the company's claims-paying ability), to TIAA-CREF's diversified variable annuity EY.WIiW ('Li&.,i4&* av&aQ - t Ii2.'t WQAiI ! "yal 4kVv*- 'Iz. , I