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February 29, 1996 - Image 10

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The Michigan Daily, 1996-02-29

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10A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 29, 1996

Silverston Invitational last chance
for women's track NCAA hopefuls'

+::g;.s. EA SE K EP W L ?CUA 0 M
UNIVERSIITY HOUSING
$0 Down.
8-Month lease.
Spring undt Summer Terms Optional.

By Jiten Ghelani
Daily Sports Writer
Final call for the flight to Indianapolis. Grab your spot now
or wait until next year. Step on the accelerator or you'll never
get there in sufficient time.
Some of the runners on the Michigan women's track and
field team face this scenario heading into the Silverston
Invitational. The Invitational will be held Saturday at the
Track and Tennis Building.
Who will participate in the invitational? That is still up in
the air.
"(We) don't know who all will be attending," Michigan
coach James Henry said.
Numerous teams will send one or two runners to the
invitational, Henry said. Each team will be represented by
participants who are still.trying to qualify for the NCAA
Indoor Championships. Scheduled for March 8-9 in India-
napolis, the National Indoors are just over a week away.
This meet is a bit different from a normal race. The major
focus of this invitational is to race against the clock, not
against other runners. In terms of atmosphere, the events will
be less tactical, with the make-it-or-break-it attitude domi-
nating.
The runners, worrying solely about their own times, will
only participate in one or two events each.
"They will be fresh. (It's) how motivated they are," Henry
said.
The invitational will be somewhat laid-back, but don't
expect any of the Wolverine runners to kick back and relax.
Because the runners will not be preoccupied with placing,
they will have to look elsewhere for motivation.
Overall, this weekend will more or less be an opportunity
for every individual to do her best and pick out the event she
is strongest in, Henry said.
Seniors Monika Black and Courtney Babcock are the only
two from the Michigan squad who already have sopts waiting
in Indianapolis. Babcock, a five-time All-American, will be
sitting out this weekend. Black, on the other hand, will
compete in the high jump even though she has already
qualified.
The only member left from the 1994 NCAA IndoorCham-
pion distance-medley team, Babcock may be running the

medley again in Indianapolis. It all depends upon how other
teams do this weekend. Babcock is certain to run the 3,000-
and 5,000-meter and mile events at the championships.
Currently, Iwo Wolverine distance-medley teams are
ranked. The ninth-place relay is run by Babcock, junior
Lamika Harper, and freshmen Sarah Hamilton and Katie
McGregor. The 10th-place team features the same mem*
bers except sophomore Michelle Slater runs in place of
McGregor.
The top 10 ranked relays qualify for nationals, and as of
rightnow one ofthe two teams wouldbe running. Michigan's
medley, however, will be idle because no other medleys are
expected to enter.
One contender putting heat on Michigan will be Provi-
dence, which will run the medley at a different site. If
Providence runs a faster qualifying time than either Wol-
verine tandem, the Michigan medley may be forced out of
the top 10 by any other qualifying relay. All the Wolveriner
can do is wait and hope they are still in the top 10 by the en
of the weekend.
Michigan has quite a few other runners on the bubble,
hoping to achieve personal-best qualifying times.
Senior Tearza Johnson will run the 60 and 200 sprints.
Freshman Nicole Forrester has a chance to qualify in the
high jump. Sophomore Tania Longe will compete in the
hurdles and triple jump. Hamilton and fellow freshman
Angela Stanifer will run in the 800. McGregor will try to
qualify in the 3000 or the mile. Slater is looking for a good
showing in the 3000. Also, the mile relay team of Harpeg1
Johnson, sophomore Brandy Taylor and freshman Sheryl
Omar may be able to squeak in.
Sophomore Pauline Arnill will not be able to compete
due to a sore leg. The diagnosis is presently unclear. Arnill
qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championship in the mile
as a freshman. Her date of return has not been determined,
but she probably will not be back before the outdoor season.
The freshmen on the brink should be pleased with their
progress and success whether their bubbles burst or not,
said assistant coach Mike McGuire.
The team as a whole expects only its best effort.
"They know they are capable of running faster. (It'*
time to put the pedal to the metal," McGuire said.

I

Men's track hosts weekend meet

By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's track team would just as soon forget
last weekend in Columbus.
After a lackluster sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Cham-
pionships last weekend, the Wolverines end their indoor
season quietly this Saturday at noon, when they host the
Silverston Invitational.
Nebraska, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois
will all be in town this weekend for the meet.
"This should be a relatively low-key weekend," Wol-
verine assistant coach Ron Warhurst said. "(Team mo-
rale) is low for (us), just about as low as among the
coaches."
The Michigan coaches gave runners the option to not run.
Therefore, most runners are using practice time to prepare for
the upcoming outdoor season, rather than Saturday's invita-
tional. This meet is primarily viewed as a last chance for
teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
"We have one goal this weekend -to qualify our distance
medley team for the NCAAs," Warhurst said.
The NCAA Championships will be held in Indianapolis on
March 8 and 9.
The Wolverines, defending national champions in the
distance medley, are still preparing for this weekend's
meet. Defending NCAA indoor mile champion Kevin
Sullivan will run the mile leg, despite nursing an injured
Achilles' tendon.
Scott MacDonald will run the three-quarter mile leg,
while Trinity Townsend runs the half-mile leg. Townsend
was runner-up in the 800-meter race at the Big Ten
Championships. The quarter-mile runner still has not been

decided.
The Wolverine distance medley runners aren't the only
ones who have to perform well Saturday in order to qualify
for the national championships. The invitational has special
importance for high jumper Jon Royce as well. Royce hao
outside shot at qualifying, and needs to do especially well in
order to have any chance.
"Jon Royce needs at least (a jump of) 7-foot-3 in order to
qualify," Michigan head coach Jack Harvey said.
Wolverine hurdler Neil Gardner also has a chance to
qualify for the NCAAs. Gardner, though, will not be able to
compete this weekend and bolster his chances of making the
cut.
Gardner is suffering from bronchitis, which he picked up
while in Columbus. Nevertheless, Gardner feels his runner-
up finish in the 55-meter high hurdles at the Big TensAt
weekend is enough to earn him a spot at the national ch -
pionships.
"Right now all I'm concerned about is getting better,"
Gardner said.
Gardner is not the only one with a difficult road ahead of
him. Sullivan faces a deeper field than last year. The condi-
tion of Sullivan's Achilles' tendon doesn't help his efforts to
repeat, either.
"(Sullivan's) not running as well as last year due to his
Achilles' (tendon)," Harvey said. "(The tendon) has ham-
pered his racing as well as his training."
Currently, Sullivan's mile time of 4:03 is ninth-best na-
tionally. George Mason University's Julius Achon and
Ibrahim Aden, who ran the best two times of the year so fai
(3:57 and 4:00 respectively), look to be the favorites. Six
other runners ahead of Sullivan have run roughly 4:02,

SWIMMERS
Continued from Page 8A
Natatorium competing at the Trials are
Tom Dolan and John Piersma.
First-time travelers on the Wolverine
squad are not strangers to the pool; though.
Mal chow and fellow freshmen John Reich
and Andy Potts have competed in India-
napolis at various national and qualifying
meets. Also making the trip is junior

Toby Booker.
Unlike most people looking to slow
down on their vacations and take time off
from theirjobs, the swimmers are looking
forward to speeding up.
"(Indianapolis) is a fast pool, which is
obvious from the way everyone swam
last year (at NCAAs)," Reich said.
But this week, the pool will have no
memory of the Wolverines, or anyone,
for that matter. The water is the same for

all in Indianapolis.
And like most vacation-goers, th
swimmers will not travel with copies o1
their resumes.
"When it comes down to the ra
really don't care that the guy next t( -
did this-that-andrthe-other-thing. But h(
also doesn't care that I did this-that-and-
the-other-thing," Lancaster said. "It's on
of the few times that it doesn't matterwh
plays, it's who wins that's important."

01

4

"We've got the

erfect key for the
72-Month lease lock."
RegistPation for
the campus-wide drawing
starts today.

01

S K

m

I

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