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AL M&WLSports Desk: 647-3336
Mortimer
sets mark,
"
jyms meet
at Kansas
Wolverines defeat
Kenyans for 1st place
By Chris Farab
Daily Sports Writer
*For the Michigan men's cross country
team, nothing matters more than win-
ning the Big Ten and NCAA champi-
onships at the end of the season.
The rest of the meets might as well be
considered a tune-up for the all-impor-
tant season culmination. There's no real
reason a runner couldn't dog it during
the regular season, saving his energy for
a final all-or-nothing performance.
Tell that to John Mortimer.
Mortimer led Michigan to victory
Surday in its first scored meet of the
season, the Jayhawk Invitational in
Lawrence, Kan.
And he led them
in a big way, finish-
ing first overall in
the 8,000-meter
race with a course-
> record time of
25:19. Michigan
won the meet with
30 points.
"The course was
Mortimer pretty difficult,"
Mortimer said. "I had a good summer of
training and kept fairly sharp with a few
races, just getting in the competitive
mode. It just kind of came out."
The team closest to Michigan was
Butler (Kan.) Community College with
37 points. Kansas State came in third
with a whopping 116 points, while host
*nsas placed fourth in team scoring
with 126.
"I'm very happy," Michigan coach
ion Warhurst said. "That was a great
way to start the season. Butler County
beat Arkansas, the No. 2 team in the
country last week, so we did very well."
Facing Butler was definitely a sur-
prise for Michigan - not because
Butler ran so well, but because the com-
' unity college actually showed up.
Michigan had expected a dearth of
competition at the Jayhawk, not a team
that could run with powerhouse
Arkansas.
But wait a minute, a community col-
lege? Competing with Michigan and
Arkansas?
NAIA schools lack the eligibility
restrictions of NCAA institutions,
meaning the Wolverines weren't exactly
running against their peers.
"They actually have about five
enyans on their team," Mortimer said.
"There's a lot of shaky stuff going on
there. There's no age limits, no recruit-
ing violations - they can pretty much
do anything.
"Those guys are like 28 and 29 years
old."
Mortimer didn't just gain valuable
international experience at the Jayhawk
meet. Kansas' course is also designated
0 the site of the 1998 NCAAs.
Considering that Mortimer broke the
course record, he should be in pretty
good shape for 1998, right? Wrong.
"I'm going to be redshirting that year
probably," Mortimer said. "Then I can
come back and run my fifth year. I'd like
to think that I'd be better as a fifth year
than a fourth year, just out of years of
improvement:'
Mortimer wasn't the only Wolverine
- turn in a stellar performance.
Senior Kevin Sullivan placed third in
the invitational with a time of 25:38.
Sullivan was only seven seconds behind
Butler's Noah Lagat, who came in sec-
ond overall.
"I was pleased, but I wasn't really sat-
isfied with my performance," Sullivan
said. "I wasn't aggressive in the middle
of the race, but I made the effort to be
competitive."
Michigan's third finisher was junior
Todd Snyder, who placed fifth with a
time of 26:06. The Wolverines' top five
was rounded out by Steve Lawrence and
Don McLaughlin, who finished ninth
and 12th, respectively.
Even Michigan's sixth and seventh
finishers - who do not actually count
towards the team score - had dominant
Griese,
defense
give'M
27-3 wi
By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Daily Sports Editor
No last-gasp, Hail Mary pass was
needed Saturday. With Michigan
playing vicious defense and methodi-
cal, mostly mistake-free football,
Colorado hadn't a prayer to end the
game like the previous two between
these teams, and the 14th-ranked
Wolverines rolled over the eighth-
ranked Buffaloes, 27-3, before
106,474 at Michigan Stadium.
Quarterback Brian Griese, a fifth-
year senior who wallowed in a backup
role most of last season, nearly opted
for real life after graduating in May.
But he came back, and after he won
the starting job from junior Scott
Dreisbach this fall, he got the chance
to complete 21 of 28 passes for 258
yards and two touchdowns while his
father, Bob, announced the game
nationally on ABC Sports.
His lone interception, which
deflected off wide receiver Tai
Streets's hands in the first quarter,
was Michigan's only turnover of the
game.
"I'm very proud of our football
team," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
said. "Our defense was outstanding,
and offensively, considering we have
four young guys in there starting, we
made some typical first-game mis-
takes. But we showed signs that we
can have a pretty good offense."
Most of Griese's success came
behind a young - and much-penal-
ized - line on high-percentage pass-
es to tight end Jerame Tuman, who
had a career-high five receptions for
126 yards. Michigan's dominant
defense provided plenty of support,
hassling Colorado quarterback John
Hessler so badly that he threw four
interceptions and was close to throw-
ing more. The Wolverines "could have
had eight," said Michigan All-
America cornerback, Charles
Woodson, who intercepted Hessler to
kill the Buffaloes' second drive of the
game.
"We got our tails whipped,"
Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel said.
"Things didn't go well, and (the
Wolverines) played their butts off.
Griese played well, they got the run-
ning game going, and the play-action
stuff with the tight ends just killed us."
Neuheisel said earlier this week
that "nerves were a factor's for
Hessler in a 31-21 victory over
Colorado State last weekend., Arid
Saturday, before the seventh-largest
See BUFFALOES, Page 4B
Michigan running back Chris Howard soared over the Buffaloes and had a touchdown reception. The Wolverines' defense was just as spirited.
Polwd and expene4 o~oGriese rigihtforjob
Just a few words for Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr: Brian Griese is
your man.
Forget the quarterback controversy.
Forget that he started just one game last
season. Forget that he hit a plateau after
the 1995 season and didn't do
much in 1996. Forget all of it
because it doesn't matter any-
more.
Griese should be the start-
ing quarterback for the 1997;
Wolverines, plain and simple.
He is the smartest quarter-
back right now, and he should
keep the job outright. DANII
He has been criticized RUMC
before, for not having a big Rumor
arm, for not being very ath- Has It
letic or agile. But he has
always played smart, always
made big plays, always known how to
run the offense.
If there was ever any doubt about
who should start at quarterback this
season, Griese's performance against
Colorado on Saturday should erase
those doubts.
"Brian Griese, I thought, was excep-
tional;" Carr said. "We're gonna see a
guy who is a lot better thrower and
quarterback than he is given credit for"
Carr is right on the money - Griese
is a better signal caller than he's given
credit for, and he did play
really well.
Griese was, in a word,
magnificent. Despite an inex-
perienced offensive line that
showed its youth through 10
stupid penalties that resulted
in 93 lost yards, Griese still
threw for an amazing 258
LE yards on 21-of-28 passing
ZE and two touchdowns. He
barely got hit, never looked
frazzled.
He completed 21 of 28
passes - that's a 75 percent
completion mark.
He helped convert five of the
Wolverines' 16 third-down opportuni-
ties. And he pooch-punted - pretty
well, in fact. He punted one in the sec-
ond quarter that had a little too much
See RUMORE, Page 4B
EL
OR
re
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
While his father, Bob, announced the game on ABC Sports, Michigan quarterback
Brian Griese had a career day, completing 21 of 28 passes for 258 yards and two
touchdowns. His lone interception was the Wolverines' only turnover.
Blue soccer overcomes Eagles,
rough methods in 5-1 victory
By T.J. Barka
Daily Sports Writer
In every country, excluding the United States,
soccer is known as football. For a couple of
hours yesterday at Michigan Soccer Field, the
Michigan women's soccer team beat Eastern
Michigan, 5-1, in a game that was nearly as
physical as a typical American football game.
"The game was very physical, especially in
the first half," junior midfielder Jessica
Limauro said. "We moved the ball around more
in the second half, so it wasn't as bad."
There was also a lot of another thing going on
during the second half of the game - scoring.
The 16th-ranked Wolverines (5-1), after strug-
gling to a 1-0 lead at halftime, scored four times
in the second half.
"We started playing as a team, not as individ-
uals," coach Debbie Belkin said. "We didn't try
In the 41st minute, the Wolverines finally
broke into the scoring column when sophomore
defender Stephanie McArdle stole a clearing
pass and fed Beitel, who beat Eastern Michigan
goalie Erin'Norton to score her third goal of the
season.
"I took advantage of the goalie coming out of
the goal and chipped it over her," Beitel said.
After halftime, the Wolverines quickly went
to work in getting their second goal, as senior
forward Karen Montgomery delivered a cross-
ing pass to sophomore midfielder Emily
Schmitt at the left post. Schmitt deposited the
ball into the goal for her third of the season, giv-
ing the Wolverines a 2-0 lead in the 52nd
minute.
The Wolverines continued to press the action,
which resulted in their third goal. In the 65th
minute, sophomore forward Amber
M, k t