The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 2, 1998 - 13A
Men's track joins with rival
Ohio State to take on Pac-10
By Nick Koster
Daily Sports Writer
Kevin Sullivan knows what it feels
like to be the center of attention.
After all, the Michigan men's track
and field team captain and NCAA
champion has been in the spotlight
since his freshman year at the
University. But television is a dif-
ferent story.
The call came in to the Michigan
track office yesterday: Fox Sports
wanted to interview Sullivan, the
Wolverines' distance phenom, as a
prelude to the network's coverage of
the Pac-10 vs. Big Ten Four-Way
f Meet this Saturday.
"They wanted to interview Kevin
at 3 p.m, but he has class from 3-4,
so we couldn't do it," Michigan
assistant track and field coach Ron
Warhurst.
Sullivan, it seems, will be the
main attraction at this weekend's
meet in Los Angeles. Last week,
Sullivan, an NCAA champion and
n 4 , all-American, won the 800-meter
run at the Arizona State Castillo
Invitational.
:c qL y:. k: 2w >~> s~ fThe senior elected to sit out the
1.500-meter to rest up for the com-
MAttitRO MYERS/5aaiy petition this wveekend.
The Michigan men's track team will look to earn some bragging rights this weekend as representatives of the Big Ten confer- "Kevin is prohahly the main draw
once. The Wolverines will be paired with Ohio State as they take on members of the Pac-10 in this weekend's event. at the maet Warhurst satd He
Challenge of Pac-lO excites 'M' track Ic:
'Rose Bowl-imitation' format pits Michigan, Ohio State against USC, Arizona
the best athlete in the competition."
The Wolverines will need a strong
effort from Sullivan and the rest of
their deep distance squad this week-
end.
They will team up with Ohio State
to represent the Big Ten against
Arizona and Southern California of
the Pac-10 this weekend.
The Buckeyes don't figure to offer
much help against the scorching
sprinters of the Pac-10 schools, so
Michigan likely will carry the load
for the Big Ten.
"The competition is going to be
extremely stiff in the sprints,"
Warhurst said. "We are going to
have be able to do everything to be
competitive."
Unfortunately, the sprints are
exactly where the Wolverines are
most likely to falter.
Facing a Trojans squad with All-
Americans in each of the sprint
events, the Michigan sprinters must
step up their performance from pre-
vious meets if the Wolverines are
going to be successful.
"This meet will be good for our
sprinters," Warhurst said. "When
you compete against better competi-
tion, you see whether you can keep
up or not, and it helps us evaluate
where we are."
Keeping up may be a problem for
Michigan in the sprints, but with the
help of Ohio State, the Big Ten
should fare quite well in the field
events.
The Wolverines expect to score
points with their young field ath-
letes; Andrew Derr hurled the
javelin to a fourth-place finish last
week in Arizona, and Charleg
DeWildt soared to a third-place
result in the pole vault.
DeWildt and Derr provide a for-
midable threat in the field events
that the Wolverines lacked in 1997.
The only area where the Buckeyes
will make a large contribution is in
the hurdles. Sekou Smith is coming
off second and first-place finishes in
the 110-meter and 400-meter hur-
dles, respectively.
"We have to have a balanced pro-
gram to do well," said Warhurst.
"We have been very thin in the
throws and jumps, but we are pro-
gressing."
With a balanced effort from
Michigan and a little help from the
Buckeyes, the Big Ten could
dethrone Arizona and the defending
Pac-10 champion Trojans.
The action can be caught on tape
delay on Sunday April 5th at 8 p.m,
with coverage by Fox Sports West2
By Chris Duprey
Daily Sports Writer
Don't expect Erik Estrada, of "CHIPs" fame, or the Los Angeles
Lakers' Kobe Bryant to be rolling out the welcome mat for the
Michigan women's track team this Saturday.
They'll probably leave that job to USC, which will be hosting the
quadrangular meet in Los Angeles this weekend. Arizona and Ohio
State also will compete in the four-team war.
If the Wolverines were starting to fall into a rut after running in two
straight invitationals, this weekend's format should spice up the
atmosphere.
The meet will be scored in two different ways. The first and most
important to Michigan, is individual team scoring. So, in essence, the
Wolverines will be competing three different times -- once against
each squad.
In a twist, the meet will also be scored in a "Rose Bowl-imitation"
rmat. The two Big Ten conference teams will combine forces to
take on the Pac- 0's representatives. Michigan coach James Henry is
eager to take part in the modern-style event.
"This is a unique situation,' Henry said. "Hopefully, this will lower
some of our aggressiveness toward Ohio State."
The Wolverines will have added incentive to be on the top of their
game with Fox Sports West 2 televising the event, putting the spot-
light on all four teams, including the sport of women's track in gen-
Vral.
Having four teams participate should yield both positive and nega-
iye effects on the Wolverines, Henry said. Because of the number of
Wuads, each school will only be allowed to enter two athletes per
'vent. Michigan's trademark depth, sometimes as hefty as three or
four athletes strong, will be somewhat neutralized by the rules of the
meet.
Henry admits that the format may hinder a balanced team like the
Wolverines.
"I think we're a very balanced team, Henry said. "So that might
hurt us a little."
There is an upside, though. The acceptance of only two athletes
frritm each school xilllow Michigan to focus its top athletes on a
few select events, rathe than spreading them out. That should bene-
fit the performances o rulti-eveit specialists like Tanita Longe and
Katie McGregor.
Michigan's youngit rint team will surely get a tough test on
Saturday.
Ohio State's Donica Merriman had her ay at Big Tens, winning
the 55-meter hurdles. enty indicated that USC and Arizona also
sport very strong sprit lineups.
Despite a schedule il of invitationals, the \olverines have had
dual-meet experience. hey opened up their indoor campaign Jan. 17
in Bloomintont with at 82-67 dispatehing= of Indiana.
This weekend's four!- vay meet also aflords three injured Michigan
distance runners the opportunity to take another step towards full
strength.
Julie Froud made fher debut at the Arizona State Castillo
Invitational last weeke ld, finishing 12th in the 1,000 meters. Froud
had battled Achilles tcetdinitis since the start of the indoor season.
Junior Marcy Akard aho ran the 3000, virtually pacing with Froud,
and finishing only twq seconds behind her.
Allison Noe's retunt was the most impressive, though. The junior
took third in the 5000 ieters with a time of 17:50. The threesome's
return is good news fd the Wolverines, as they were all contributing
parts of last fall's NC A-qualifyinlg cross country squad.
Tania Longe and the rest of the Michigan women's track team will travel to Los Angeles
to compete against Pac-14 opponents Arizona and USC.
Tarkanian, NCAA finally teach agreement
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Jerry
Tarkanian's long and bitter dispute with
e NCAA is all but over.
ETarkanian, branded an outlaw basket-
ball coach the past two decades, will
receive S2.5 million from the NCAA on
today. Sources familiar with the case
said he will also receive a conciliatory
statement from the organization.
Settlement of the 7-year-old suit was
reached one month before it was to no
On trial here, the city where he had
ioached for almost 20 years. Tarkanian
Wd contended the NCAA targeted his
ams and made up evidence to try to
run him out of coaching.
They can never, ever, make rip for
all the pain and agony they caused me,"
Tarkanian said yesterday, speaking by
phone from Fresno, Calif., where he
coaches the Fresno State team.
"All I can say is that for 25 years they
beat the hell out of tme."
Tarkanian's wife, Lois. confirmed the
'ttlement figure yesterday, saying it
Sounted to a win for the oft-belea-
guered coach.
"We felt it was an amount that
,towed we had victory in this case," she
aid.
LVItile not admitting liability, the
atiment from the NCAA will say the
Grganization regrets the dispute, which
began 26 years ago when Tarkanian was
still coaching at Long Beach State, the
sources said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
The NCAA declined comment on the
settlement, saying executive director
Cedric Dempsey would talk about it
Thursday.
Tarkanian's attorney, Terry Giles,
said he was preparing to go to trial May
18 when he w as approached about a set-
tlement a few weeks ago by the NCAA.
Giles said testimony from former
players, officials and lawyers Would
have shown that, except for one minor
infraction, the NCAA had no evidence
to back up probations given to basket-
ball programs at Long Beach and
UNLV.
"We felt very confident about our
case for seven years," Giles said. "I told
Jerry and Lois that the day we were in
the courtroom picking a jury was the
day we were beginning to win the case."
Tarkanian, who led Fresno State to
the NIT semifinals last week, sued the
NCAA after he was forced to resign
from UNLV in 1992. The suit claimed
the agency singled him out while he
was at UNLV from 1973 to 1992.
During that time the university was
penalized three different times by the
NCAA.
It was the second suit Tarkanian had
filed against the NC AA. The first one
ended when a divided Supreme Court
ruled in 1988 that Tarkanian could not
sue because the athletic body acted as a
private organization and not with gov-
ernment authority.
"i'm just 'glad its over with,"
Tarkanian said. "You can't fight an
organization that bit' and that strong
and hope to survive. But I knew I would
never give tip.
Tarkanian said the st atement to be
released today by the NC NA woNld
serve as somie vindication for his claims
that he wasa target ofithe organization's
enforcement division.
"They're going to admit they made
some mistakes, guess," he said.
Sources said the NCAA statement, in
addition to expressing regret over the
]ong battle swill also say the agency
now has ' more understanding of
Tarkaniani' position and that the case
has chainged the enforcement process
for the better
It will also say the NCAA wants to
go forward with a clean slate, thinks
Tarkanian is an excellent basketball
coach and wants the wounds to heal.
The NCAA fought the Tarkanian suit
from its inception, trying unsuccessful-
ly to get it moved out of Las Vegas,
where NCAA attorneys said jurors
would be biased on Tarkanian's behalf.
Tarkanian's fight with the NCAA
first reached the courts after the UNLV
program was put on two years' proba-
tion in 1977 for what the NCAA termed
"questionable recruiting practices."
The NCAA ordered UNLV to sus-
pend Tarkanian for two years at the
time, but Tarkanian obtained a court
order blocking the action. Tarkanian
then sued the NCAA, beginning litiga-
tion that ended when the Supreme
Court threw out the case.
Tarkanian's last season at UNLV also
ended under an NCAA cloud when
UNLV was banned from postseason
play and live television appearances
because of alleged rules violations.
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Final suffers record-low rating
NEW YORK (AP) - The championship of one of the most exciting NCAA
tournaments in history brought CBS the lowest nighttime title game rating ever.
Kentucky's victory against Utah on Monday night got a 17.8 rating/28 share,
the lowest forthe NCAA championship game since the 1972 UCLA-Florida State
final, played in the afternoon, got a 16.0'35.
The rating is 6 percent below the 18.9 for Arizona's 1997 overtime win against
Kentucky and 22 percent below the 22.7 from the Michigan-Duke final in 1992.
Since that game, the ating has slipped every year except 1997.
Since 1992, the ratings for the NBA Finals have jumped 18 percent, the Super
Bowl is up 10 percent sitce and the World Series has slipped 17 percent.
The championship game did have a higher rating than last year's NBA Finals.
which averaged a 16.8/20 for six games. The highest-rated game fromthe Bulls-
Jazz series, the fifth game, got a 20.1/35.
The NCAA Tournament as a whole, with 18 games decided by fewer than three
points or in overtime, ended at 7.3/17, 2 percent higher than the 7.2/17 last year.
That rating is tied with 1995 for the second lowest since CBS began broadcasting
the entire tournament in 1991. Last year's tournament averaged a 7.2/17.
Each ratings point represents 980,000 homes. The share is the percentage of
televisions in actual use at the time.
Thainking Aboult
G;rad School?
The School of Information invites you to its
spring Open House to hear about the new
Master of Science in Information and its
specializations. Call 647-7650 or write to
kpalm@umich.edu and we'll save you a seat.
Don't forget to drop in on the Student Projects
Showcase, too, to meet students and see what
they have created. You'll be impressed.
Wednesday, April 15, 1998
Open House Student Projects Showcase
1 -3 p.m. 1 - 6 p.m.
311 West Hall 411 West Hall
RSVP, please Just drop in!
fo The School of Information
www.si.umich.edu
Y- IG ' Archives and Records Management
1a Human-Computer Interaction
Information Economics, Management and Policy
Library and information Services
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