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 -----,- ,. d i 1 3 I 1 1 i 1 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 If you are 'Still the Man' while enjoy- Advertisi ing 'Rose Beef', would lik turn on 'Farah's the ARM Faucet' and take a error in y student ii 'Sharat in the have beer Dark.' Cad Senior, Daily Sports 3 year sc Columns - Read We apolo them. inconven have cau Indianapolis Uncoln Ypsilanti East Lansing Ann ArIoor Indianapolis RECTION, higan Daily Display ng Department :e to apologize to 1Y ROTC for the yesterday's ad. The n the picture should n identified as let Steve lhrke School of Nursing cholarship recipient gize for any hence this may sed. --I 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 P 1 s I NTIp' 18 I Student Publications Board vacancy -_.._ --- _- "- --e -- ---a a0ffw- 3 %& -- - I