88 - The Michigan Daily -- SPORTSMonday - February 17, 1997 EMU invite sets stage for Michigan track teams By Chris Farah Daily Sports Writer Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. This famous relationship cliche describes Friday's Eastern Michigan Invitational quite nice- ly for the Michigan men's and women's track teams. First of all, the meet was held on St. Valentine's Day. Second of all, considering the lack of many top Wolverines at the meet, a lot of the men and women could very well have been on vacation at their respective planets of origin. Both the men's and women's teams will partic- ipate in the Big Ten championships next weekend, which, besides NCAAs, is the most important meet of Michigan's indoor season. Many Wolverines did not want to sacrifice their performances at Big Tens for the unscored Invitational and instead chose to use this weekend to rest or concentrate on training. NCAA champion Neil Gardner, junior sprinter Dwayne Fuqua and sophomore distance runner John Mortimer are just some of the athletes who didn't make the trip for the men's team. Gardner has an added reason for his brief sabbatical from competition - besides just conserving his ener- gy, he is also recovering from an injury. Many of the women's distance runners, includ- ing freshman Julie Froud, sophomore Marcy Akard and junior Katie McGregor, decided to abstain from Friday's competition. Two distance runners, freshmen Nell Shields and Elizabeth Kampfe, traveled to Houston to attempt to qualify for Team USA's junior cross country team and the World Trials in Italy. Kampfe managed to qualify by placing sixth in the race, while Shields just missed the mark. Despite all of the absences, Michigan still received several quality performances. Senior Damon Devasher placed first in the 60- yard dash. Freshman Steve Jenkins, normally right on Devasher's heels in the 60, finished sixth with a time of 7.01 - a decent performance con- sidering the conditions in which he was running. "I felt pretty good about my race," Jenkins said. "I didn't have spikes in my shoes, and I still felt pretty good." Friday's men's mile run had a slightly unusual twist to it. Instead of being timed chronologically, the race began with a countdown of 4:00 in order to pace the runners on a Bowen Field House record-setting sub-four-minute mile. Two runners managed to break the barrier and the record, while three Wolverines were right behind. Redshirt sophomore Don McLaughlin, senior Scott MacDonald and freshman Jay Cantin fin- ished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Cantin said he didn't regret his decision to run, but felt he could have done much better. "I didn't do as well as I wanted to," Cantin said. "If I could do it again, I would have run a lot tougher. I wasn't intimidated by the paced race. I'm capable of running with those guys - I can' probably hit around 4:02. I just wanted to stay with the guys in front." "(The meet) was ajoke" Forrester said. "It was too long and disorganized. Too many people entered (the competition) and not many were very good." Freshman Maria Brown, junior Tania Longe and senior Katy Hollbacher all turned in impres- sive performances. Brown finished first in the 200, breaking the school record with a time of 24.19 seconds: Longe and Hollbacher each fin- ished second in their respective events, the long jump and the 3,000. Michigan got a scare when freshman Lisa Ouellet tripped in the 800, preventing her from finishing. Ouellet was cut off by two Eagles - one i front of her and one behind her. Michigan an Eastern have a history of bad blood this season, but Ouellet didn't consider that a valid excuse for unsportsmanlike conduct. "I was scratched up pretty bad, but I'll be all right," Ouellet said. "It's really upsetting that my personal best is so much faster than theirs, but they'd try to win the race that way. This isn't foot- ball." mmmm - .__ Lecture notes sold at Grade A Notes, second floor of Ulrich's Bookstore and also at Michigan Book & Supply. Call 741-9669 for more information. JEANNIE SERVAAS/Daily Most of the members of Michigan's men's and women's swimming teams may have had a chance to relax this weekend, but that will all end soon. The women's team Cocks shines in comeback for 'M' tankers By Fred Unk Daily Sports Writer For most collegiate swimmers, the Michigan Open was an insignificant event. Because it is a United States Swimming event, not an NCAA meet, the Michigan Open primarily featured high school and club-level swimmers. With most of the Michigan men's and women's swimming teams taking the weekend off to prepare for the upcoming Big Ten championship, only a few Wolverines competed. Among those competing was Emily Cocks, who returned to com- petition for the first time since suf- fering a knee injury earlier this sea- son. Last year at this time, she was preparing to swim in the Big Ten and NCAA championships. This year, Cocks was swimming against club- level swimmers. Even though she isn't where she was last year, for Cocks, this, was still an important event. In October, Cocks had arthroscop- ic surgery to remove a buildup of tis- sue in her knee. Since then, the sophomore breaststroker has been rehabilitating the knee preparing to return. In November, Cocks returned to the pool. At first, she was only able to do a couple of breaststroke kicks at a time. Gradually, the knee became stronger and she could spend more time in the water. By late December, on the team's training trip to California, Cocks was able to resume a normal swimming routine and was able to do the breast- stroke with greater ease. "We just took it one step at a time," Michigan women's swimming coach Jim Richardson said. "Being able to resume training, being able to do some breaststroke kick, then a lit- tle more, and a little more. "I'm real pleased with (her progress)." Yesterday, Cocks returned to com- pete in her first official race since the injury. "It's been hard, really frustrating, but I'm really motivated now that I'm back breaststroking," Cocks said. On Saturday, in her first race in more than four months, Cocks swam the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:05.21, good enough for second place. In yesterday's 200 breast, she took sec- ond again with a time of 2:24.08. Even though her times were con- siderably slower than she was swim- ming at this time last year, Cocks was satisfied with her performance. "My breaststroke is basically my kick, so it's been really hard for me to go fast because I don't have my kick," Cocks said. "But it's coming back slowly. "For not having (in the) trained breaststroke in a couple of months, where I am right now, I think is pret- ty good." Cocks hopes to have fully reco* ered in time to compete for a spot at the U.S. nationals later this year. "She's got a goal this summer to qualify for the U.S. nationals," Richardson said. "I think she can do it." Other Wolverines competing at the Michigan Open included Jay Zawacki, John Stites and Scott Meyer. Zawacki won the 1,650 freestyl with a time of 16:01.96, 17 secon ahead of his closest competitor. Meyer and Stites finished first and second, respectively, in the 100 breast, the 200 breast, and the 100 free. Meyer also won the 200 individual medley, and Stites took first place in the 50 free. INTRAMURAL SPORTS / PROGRAM UPCOMING ACTIVITIES VOLLEYBALL Entries Taken: Mon 2/17 - Thurs 2/20 11am - 4:30pm (Pre-Season) Entry Fee: $30.00 per team Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Thurs 2/20 6pm IMSB Tournament Date: Saturday 2/22 at IMSB 7. AN ARMY SCHOLARSHIP COULD HELP YOU THROUGH MEDICAL SCHOOL The U.S. Army Health Professions Scholarship Program offers a unique opportunity for financial support to med ical or osteopathy students. Financial support includes tuition, books, and other expenses required in a particular course. For information concerning eligibil- ity, pay, service obligation and application procedure, contact the Army Medical Department Personnel Counselor: Cpt.Tanya Beecher (313) 930-0414 ARMY MEDICINE. BE ALL YOU CAN BE. S1 RELAYS MEET Entries Taken: until Tues 2/25 4:30pm IMSB (Main Office) Entry Fee: $25.00 per team Events: 2-Mile, 880 (1/2-mile), 1320 (3/4-mile), Mile Meet Date: Wednesday 2/26 at Track & Tennis Bldg VOLLEYBALL Instant Scheduling: Tues 2125 11am - 5:30pm IMSB (Reg-Season) Entry Fee: $65.00 per team 0 Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Weds 2/26 6/9pm MS Play Begins: Monday March 10 at IMSB MINI-SOCCER Instant Scheduling: Tues 3111 11am - 5:30pm IMSB Entry Fee: $65.00 per team ww.._...... x. a'.a- _r~_... ~r% .r1if r~r%1'C B ! ] A Managers meeting (Mandatory): vves o 6i p uatir uVIO Play Begins: Thursday 3/13 at Sports Coliseum (sth& Hill) VISIT YOUR CAMPUS BURGER KING® AND LET US QUENCH THOSE MUNCHIES' WE'RE OPEN LATE NITE HOURS!!__ Instant Scheduling for MINI-SOCCER and for BROOMBALL -.!E .1 ,l. ....I.". . s. rls *NlBAEtro~ 41 I I