The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 5, 1998 - 11A
*Men's track to work
out kinks Saturday
Optimistic runners
off to Meyo Invite
Women's track team hopes for solid
showing in South Bend, eyes Big Tens
By Rick Harpster
Daily Sports \ritcr
After its third-place finish in last
eekend's Michigan Intercollegiates,
the Michigan men's track team travels
to South Bend this weekend to compete
in Saturday's Meyo Invitational.
Hosting schools such as Purdue, Notre
Dame and Kansas, the Meyo will give
the Wolverines a chance to see some
different opponents.
"We've really only been running
against Michigan schools so far,"
senior sprinter Brian Theisen said.
*'This weekend will give us a chance to
go against other competition."
Because the team score is not calcu-
lated at the Meyo Invitational,
Michigan is using the tournament to
evaluate some individual efforts and
prepare for next weekend's Central
Collegiate Championships.
Michigan coach Jack Harvey said he
hopes his team can build off a few of
last weekend's strong showings.
6 "I thought we had good perfor-
mances in some areas," Harvey said.
"But we expected a second-place finish
and were disappointed to finish third."
The distance squad continued to
pace this team with another solid
effort. All-American John Mortimer
won the mile with a time of 4:09.65
and was also victorious in the 3000-
meter run (8:37.58).
Kevin Sullivan, fresh off his school
ecord-breaking performance in the
,000, placed second in last weekend's
800 run with a time of 1:51.26.
Michigan was well-represented in the
Women's g
800 as Don McLaughlin placed fifth
(1:56.60) and Jay Cantin finished sixth
(1:56.73).
The sprinters also continued to make
great strides, as many of them turned in
personal bests at the Intercollegiates.
Theisen had a very impressive day,
finishing third in both the 55-meter
hurdles (7.60) and the 200 (22.14). But
Theisen was not the only Michigan
sprinter to come up with his best show-
ing of the season.
Steve Jenkins placed second in the
55 dash (6.38), just a hundredth of a
second out of first place, while Kevin
Bowman's time of 22.21 was good for
fifth in the 200.
"Five or six of us (sprinters) had our
best performances at the
Intercol1egiates," Theisen said. "We're
improving and will hopefully be where
we need to be by the Big Ten
Championships."
Like they have all year, the
Wolverines will be cautious not to put
too much pressure on any of their dis-
tance runners, none of whom will par-
ticipate in multiple events in South
Bend.
"There's no reason to wear ourselves
out now," Theisen said. "The Big Ten
Championships are our ultimate goal."
As Michigan passes the midway
point of the indoor season, Harvey said
he is pleased with his team's overall
performance to date.
"We've made some pretty good
progress this year," Harvey said.
"We're in about the same position that
we expected to be in at this point."
By Kevin Rosenfield
Daily Sports Writer
After posting yet another of the
dominating performances that have
come to mark the young season. the
Michigan women's track team looks
to continue its impressive start at
Saturday's Meyo Invitational in
South Bend on Saturday.
While the meet will not be scored,
it will give the Wolverines an oppor-
tunity to gauge their -----,-
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FILE PHOTO
The Michigan men's track team will use this Saturday's Meyo invitational to pre-
pare for the upcoming Central Collegiate Championships.
performance against ' ys
new opponents, includ- W N ichr ai
May o lnc ,ttfoi
ing top track programs :
such as Kansas and then:all day.
Notre Dame. Notables: After
The meet will also impressive perf
feature several unat- last week's Mic
tached Nike-sponsored Intercollegiate,t
runners. ranked Wolverir
After its stellar open- d krtd
ing month, the team is qaciycrpda
becoming increasingly
optimistic with each
passing meet.
During last weekend's battle of
intra-state rivals in the Michigan
Intercollegiate, the Wolverines dom-
inated and regained the title, an
honor they had lost the previous
year.
Michigan crushed the opposition
with 226 points while easily win-
ning the meet -- the nearest com-
petitor, Eastern Michigan, had 95
points.
The Wolverines, led by sprinter
Tania Longe and distance runner
Elizabeth Kampfe, were victorious
in 10 different events.
Longe set a new Michigan indoor
record in the 55-meter hurdles
Mal
hkie
the
lno
igai
6tio
(7.88) for the second straight week,
while Kampfe posted the nation's
fastest time of the season for the
3000-meters (16:38.30).
The Wolverines' dominance was
visible everywhere, as they excelled
in numerous other events in their
romp through the meet.
All-American Nicole Forrester
enjoyed her finest leap of the season
(6-0), giving her not only the event
----- victory but also provisional
het qualification in the NCAA
a the Indoor Championships.
:nd Sarah Hamilton
(2:10.98) edged out team-
En mate Katie McGregor
mancein (2:11.34) in the 800-meter,
gan while McGregor (4:54.01)
e2tst- upended teammate Lisa
s ook to Gullet in the mile.
minance Other victories were
tn posted by Tamika Craig in
the 400, Ouellet in the
3,000 and Nikki Keith in
the shot put.
"It really hasn't been that surpris-
ing to us," sprinter Maria Brown
said of the team's recent success.
"There's a lot of hard work that we
put in at the beginning of the year
that's paying off now."
With an impressive month under
its belt, expectations are beginning
to rise for a squad that has suddenly
found itself as one of the favorites
for the Big Ten title.
"The Big Ten championship is a
team thing and we all need dach
other," Longe said.
"We have a strong team this year
with a lot of good freshmen and
sophomores that we can lean on."
Trackwire Publications, which has
formed a system to rank collegiate
men's teams, now ranks Michigan No.
5 in the nation.
The poll, in which universities are
ranked based on where their current
showing would place them at the
NCAA National Championships, ini-
tially ranked Michigan No. 9. The
Wolverines will get an opportunity to
back LIp that ranking this Saturday in
South Bend.
ymnastics to take on Pac-lO elite
By Nita Srivastava
Daily Sports kriter
A three-zone time change could
prove to be a serious disadvantage
for the Michigan women's gymnas-
tics team as it heads to California
this evening to compete in the UCLA
Invitational on Saturday.
The eighth-ranked Wolverines are
looking at some close competition in
this invitational from No. 7 UCLA,
No. 13 Stanford and Cornell.
It is possible that the time adjust-
ment could make it harder for
Michigan to compete.
"The three-hour time difference
could really affect the athletes,"
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said.
"We're going to try to adjust to the
time difference by getting there late
Thursday. When we compete
Saturday, it's like beginning the meet
at 10 p.m."
The Bruins started the season as
defending NCAA champions and
were ranked No. 1.
They enter this competition with
an edge over Michigan, after win-
ning the previous meeting between
the two at the Magical Classic last
year.
"UCLA will be the toughest team
there," Plocki said. "But, I think it
will be a pretty even match-up for
us."
Michigan will have to continue its
trend of counting fewer falls and
making few mistakes, a strategy the
team has made a focus in practice
and previous meets.
The Wolverines started the season
counting eight falls in their first
meet, versus Ohio State, and
decreased to three falls in each of the
past two meets, against Utah and
Georgia.
"Our goal for this meet is not to
have to count any falls," Plocki said.
"We are progressing nicely, because
with stronger lineups come less falls,
and with less falls, more confi-
dence."
Contributing to Michigan's steady
improvement throughout the season
is the improving health of the team.
The Wolverines entered the season
nursing inj uries to many of their top
performers.
Sophomore Sarah Cain and
seniors Heather Kabnick and Lisa
Simes, who are all recovering from
injuries that kept them out earlier in
the season, could possibly be com-
peting in the all-around competition
on Saturday.
Plpeki knows the importance of
having all of her team members
healthy for the season.
"One injured athlete can make a
devastating difference for our team,"
Plocki said.
"We had a lot of injuries, which
are now aches and pains on the
mend, and we are now trying to move
conservatively so there are no further
setbacks."
With the continued improvement
in performance, health and ranking,
the Wolverines look positively at the
upcoming competition as well as the
remainder of the season.
If Michigan maintains its consis-
tency, this could be the first of two
trips to Los Angeles - the second
would be for the NCAA
Championships.
Women's indoor traCk schedule
Feb. 13-14 Canon Classic
Feb. 13-14 Husker Invitational
Feb. 20 EMU Classic
Feb. 28-March 1 Big Ten Championships
March 7 Sllverston Invitational
March 13-14 NCAA Championships
home meets in SOLD
'MarkMy Words'... COR
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RECTION,
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Senior Heather Kabnlck Is stilt recovering from an early-season injury, but may
compete Saturday when the women's gymnastics team travels to Los Angeles.
*Cohesive senior class
1s w1inning combo for
women s swimmers
The Authority of Seniority
Big Ten Women's Swimming Champions
Bendel Johnson
200 free relay* 200 free relay*
400 free relay 400 free rel ay*
800 free relay* 200 IM
100 free 800 free relay*
200 free 400 med. relay
400 med. relay '
200 butterfly
* Big Ten record holder
Bunting
800 free relay
Gustin
100 breaststroke
400 med. relay*
200 IM
200 med. relay*
By T.J. Berka
Daily Sports Writer
It's a practice as old as college sports
itself. As a team's season ends, the
seniors and the coach relive their careers,
often ending the nostalgia with heartfelt
emotion.
Michigan women's swimming coach
Jim Richardson is no different. As the
Wolverines get set for their last dual
meet of the season against Ohio State on
Friday, the realization that an era is end-
ing has set upon Richardson.
"I will feel a lot of sadness for some of
them because we realize that we won't
be able to do this anymore," Richardson
said. "However, I will also feel excited
for them, because it's an exciting thing to
go out in the real world and see if you
can do it out there."
the Wolverines ranked sixth nationally
and undefeated during the dual-meet
season. Although each senior is unique
in herown way, there are several cate-
gories in which each has assisted
Michigan's growth this season.
The superstars, Bendel and Riker,
lead the way with their fast times.
Having qualified for NCAAs already,
Bendel and Riker are continuing to step
up their training while their teammates
step down to prepare for the Big Ten
championships two weeks away.
Bendel can best be described as the
team's franchise performer. She is a 16-
time All-America and has won Big Ten
titles in seven different events.
"She is one of the most versatile
swimmers in the Big Ten," Richardson
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