The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 26, 1999 11
Men's track can use
depth to help fill
Sullivan's vacancy
Success means
challenges for 'M'
RDavid Mosse
Daily Sports Writer
As the Michigan Track and Field
team geared up for the 1999 season,
it faced the daunting task of replac-
ing Kevin Sullivan.
Sullivan, an All-American last
year, as well as NCAA champion in
the mile run, was unquestionably the
Wolverines' star.
His reputation went beyond Ann
or, as Sullivan was last year's
recipient of the U.S. Track and Field
Coaches Association indoor athlete
of the year award.
In addition to his enormous tal-
ent, Sullivan was among the leaders
of last year's squad that finished
sixth indoors and fourth outdoors, in
the Big Ten.
Michigan coach Jack Harvey did
t seem overly concerned with
acing Sullivan before the season.
In fact, he was remarkably optimistic
about the Wolverines' prospects for
this season.
Even more surprising was the
reason he gave for his optimism.
Not the return of All-Americans
John Mortimer and Jay Cantin, but
the presence of talented freshmen
and sophomores who add depth to
the squad.
"What I like is that we have depth
our guys this year," Harvey
said.
"This year we have guys fighting
for spots to make the team, which is
a nice problem to have."
Thus far, just three competitions
into the indoor schedule, Harvey's
optimism has been vindicated.
The freshman and sophomores
have shouldered a major load, espe-
cially in lieu of John Mortimer's
knee injury, which has sidelined him
for most of the year.
"We've definitely needed these
young guys and so far they've come
through," Harvey said.
"I'm very confident they will
only get better with time."
In a recent quadrangular, The
freshmen stole the show.
In only their second time wearing
the Michigan uniform, freshmen
Oded Padan and Ike Okenwa took
home individual victories.
Padan, a native of Tel Aviv, lived
up to his billing as the Wolverines'
blue chip recruit by capturing the
triple jump crown.
Okenwa sparkled in two competi-
tions. He ran away with first place in
the 200-meter dash and contributed
to the 1600-meter relay team.
Charles DeWilt and Andrew Derr
have not fallen victim to the sopho-
more slump.
Derr, last year's revelation, has
already achieved the reputation as an
outstanding javelin thrower.
By Stephen A. Rom
For the Daily
With success comes greater chal-
lenges.
One person who can appreciate these
words more than most is Michigan
women's track and field coach James
Henry. After chasing down a Big Ten
championship, as well as securing a
fifth- and 15th-place finish at the
NCAA Indoor and Outdoor
Championships last season, respective-
ly, greater challenges no doubt lie
ahead.
With a solid start in this 1998-99
campaign, the seventh-ranked
Wolverines are ready to do the work.
In fact, they already have.
Citing their two biggest concerns as
"performing well early" and "continu-
ing to improve," Henry said he is
pleased with his team's performance so
far.
And with personal and national
records going by the wayside as of late
- including one in the high jump set
by senior Nicole Forrester this past
Saturday at the Red Simmons
Invitational in Ann Arbor - the
Wolverines could be a force to be reck-
oned with.
Forrester skied 6-feet-4 to not only
surpass all jumpers in the nation so far
this year, but also to buy herself a tick-
et to the NCAA Championships later
this season.
This Michigan weapon should come
as no surprise to the competition. Only
a week earlier it was in full effect at the
Michigan Quadrangular, also here in
Ann Arbor. That day, Indiana, Kansas.
and Michigan State could do no better
than appear in Michigan's rearview
mirror, as the Wolverines steered their
way to another team victory.
In spite of these current perfor-
mances, Henry knows they could very
well be the exception, and not the norm.
"We need to improve," he said.
"Our goal is to continually take steps
to being ready to compete in the Big
Ten [Indoor] Championships in five
weeks."
It will probably take quite a few
steps, if not leaps, if this team is going
to head off the challenges of some of
the other capable, and oh, so purpose-
ful, Big Ten teams.
"There are those schools that will be
waiting for us to slip, only because
we're Michigan," Henry said.
As a Michigan graduate himself, and
currently at the helm of the women's
track team for the 14th consecutive sea-
son, Henry knows of what he speaks.
So exactly how will the women be
able to improve?
It's simple.
"We want to compete and train as a
blue-collar team with white collar per-
formers." This work ethic, in addition to
the "Two H's," - that being the drive to
stay "Healthy and Hungry" - Henry
says, will keep Michigan on track while
the challenges roll in.
And one of them already has.
Right out of the gate, the Wolverines
will have to do without the services of
two of their "white-collar" performers.
One is senior Katie McGregor,
Michigan's lethal distance-runner. And
the other is Tania Longe, field-event
specialist.
Out with an Achilles-related injury
since before the season began,
McGregor's anticipation of returning to
competition is as keen as ever.
Longe was last season's Big Ten ath-
lete of the year and "one of the best, if
not the best athlete I have ever
coached," Henry said. Her graduation
and subsequent departure has made
Katie McGregor the "bread and butter"
of the team, and if she [McGregor]
doesn't come back, "We don't have a
chance," he said.
Just how are the Wolverines going to
rise above such uncertainty?
By having no choice than to rely on
more of a team-oriented approach to
success, or "balance, as their coach
urges.
Henry knows that it is a lot harder to
climb the mountain of success than it is
to stay on top of it. So it is imperative
that his philosophies are applied consis-
tently.
If done so, each obstacle will become
a new opportunity, one that could
advance his team to yet another level of
success.
FILE PHOTO
Michigan track coach Jack Harvey has relied on a combination of depth and
youth to fill the void left by All-American Kevin Sullivan.
The Wolverines are in the early
stages of their campaign. Certainly
for the long haul, they will need a
healthy Mortimer, as well as the
leadership of juniors and seniors.
"Our nucleus includes Mortimer,
Snyder, Cantin and Lawrence," said
distance coach Ron Warhurst.
"Those four give us quality from
the 800 to 10,000, and we will need
them later on."
But for now, Harvey has no prob-
lem leaning on his team's younger
contributors, to get through the first
few weeks of the season. And those
contributors have responded.
Dia ie
agg vee Vrprto i et
The Associated Press
g obody was more surprised than
. DiMaggio when he saw a televi-
sion report that he had died.
"He was livid," his lawyer and
neighbor Morris Engelberg said yes-
terday. "Then I made him laugh. I
said, 'Joe, we must be in heaven
together."'
The two were watching a tape of
"Gunfight at the OK Corral" -
DiMaggio's favorite Western - at the
baseball great's home in Hollywood,
., on Sunday.
They happened to stop the tape just
when the report appeared as a "crawl"
across the screen during "Dateline
NBC."
NBC ran another crawl about 20
minutes later, saying its previous
report was inaccurate. The network
later said a technician in the New York
control room inadvertently sent the
NBC delivered an apology to
DiMaggio to Engelberg's office on
yesterday, spokesman Cory Shields
said.
DiMaggio, recovering from pneu-
monia and lung cancer surgery on
Oct. 12, already was upset by a story
in the New York Daily News that
described him as bedridden and in
grave condition.
The lead doctor on the team that
treated the 84-year-old Hall of Famer
during his 99-day hospital stay disput-
ed the Daily News report.
"He is progressing nicely since his
discharge from Memorial Regional
Hospital one week ago," Dr. Earl
Barron said in a statement to The
Associated Press. "Over the weekend,
his physical therapy has progressed to
the point that he is walking. Reports
of his condition worsening are not
true."
Engelberg, who lives next door to
DiMaggio and visits him at least once
a day, called the newspaper report
"absurd."
"He's walking. He's taking thera-
py." Engelberg said. "And he will be
at opening day."
Yankees owner George
Steinbrenner said last week when
DiMaggio was discharged from the
hospital, "Joe will certainly toss out
the first ball."
The Yankees open their home
schedule April 9 with a day game
against the Detroit Tigers.
"That's my goal now - to have Joe
at opening day," Engelberg said. "My
first goal was to have him get out of
the hospital, and that happened. A lot
of people didn't think it would. He's
miraculous."
Steinbrenner had wanted DiMaggio
to throw out the ceremonial first pitch
at last fall's World Series, but
DiMaggio was in the hospital by then.
General public shares pool,
illness with men's swinuning
By ion Zemke
ry Sports Writer
ickness has seemed to accompany
humans wherever they go, and it seems
to be a common companion for the
men's swimming and diving team at
Michigan.
"Mentally, we're a little drained due
to all the sickness," sophomore Scott
Werner said.
It has taken its toll the last few weeks,
disabling some of Michigan's top swim-
S. Senior Tom Malchow has had to
miss several practices, and the Dallas
Morning News Classic last week, from
a bout of pneumonia.
With the loss of Malchow and fresh-
man Tim Barry to the flu, the
Wolverines lost their two best butterfly
swimmers. Malchow is Michigan's pre-
mier swimmer and is referred to as
"money in the bank" by fellow senior
Andy Potts.
Aut when pneumonia withdrew
chow from the bank, it showed, as
Michigan didn't place in the butterfly
races in Dallas. Had Malchow been at
the meet, and healthy, he would have
been favored to win.
Barry and Malchow are not the only
swimmers suffering from colds. A lot of
the team is suffering everything from
lead colds to freshman Jason Mallory,
fighting Bronchitis.
4ichigan men's swimming coach
John Urbanchek and several of the team
members have speculated on what
might be causing the rash of illness
sweeping through the team.
"If you're sick it's not good to come
to for two reasons," sophomore Scott
Wrner aid.
Olympics.
So to accommodate the need to per-
form at peak success on those days
Urbanchek has instituted a system
called tapering.
Tapering consist of heavy workouts
during the summer that steadily
increase in the difficulty and the dis-
tance swam until they hit a climax point.
"The climax of our training was in
Hawaii at our training camp (during
winter break)," Werner said.
Since the Wolverines hit their climax
point of about 15,000 yards swam a
practice they have begun to taper off the
distance to about 10-12,000 yards in
preparation for the big meets.
Urbanchek said the distance will be
shortened the closer the get to Big Tens
in order for his swimmers to be well
rested and ready to peak.
The theory is that the swimmers will
peak once or twice a year about every
six months. And if the training schedule
is planned correctly they should be
A AY
swimming 3-5,000 yards a day before
they peak at Big Ten's or NCAA's.
"If you play it right and you hit your
taper exactly right at the moment of
shaving then you'll go faster," freshman
Tim Siciliano said.
INJURIES, INC.: Injuries have also
been ravaging the ranks of Michigan's
men's swimming and diving team.
Jason Mallory injured his knee this past
week while taking off from the starting
position and is awaiting the results from
the MRI he had on it this weekend.
Urbanchek said his prognosis is not
good.
Freshman Jon Arnt was lost for eight
months, Urbanchek said.
During a arothscopic surgery to tight-
en shoulder ligaments doctors found an
abnormal amount of scar tissue that
forced them to have major surgery.
The surgery was because Arnt suf-
fered his fifth dislocation since he orig-
inally sustained the injury from football
in high school.
A"T O
Contrary to reports witnessed by the
baseball great, Joe DiMaggio is making
a steady recovery from pnuemonla.
STUDENTS WITH
CROHN'S [DISEASE
OR ULCERATIVE
COLITIS
Please join
Dr. Ellen Zimmermann
Asst Professor of
Gastroenterology, U of M
for an informal discussion
of topics including:
eNUTRITION
eNEW THERAPIES
eLATEST RESEARCH
Next meeting will be:
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1999
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
3402 Mason Hall
Central Campus U of M
Monthly meetings planned
(734)763-7278
Are you looking for a different kind of spring break?
CHECK OUT THESE OPPORTUNITIES:
Backcountry Dog Sledding Trip in Northern
Ontario
Feb. 28- March 6
$600
Backpack Cumberland National Seashore
Feb. 27- March 6
$325
Backpack the Smoky Mountains
Feb. 27- March 6
$325
For more information call 764-3967 or check out our
website at www. recsports. umich .edu/outdooradv
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
INTERESTED IN A
CAREER IN PUBLISHING?
An editor from Detroit-area reference publisher The Gale
Group will be on hand in the Michigan Union's Pond
Auditorium on Monday, February 1, at 6 p.m., to talk about
careers in publishing, as well as educational opportunities at
the University of Denver Publishing Institute. The Institute is
a graduate level program that offers four weeks of summer
instruction-- in beautiful Colorado! -- with top professionals
in the publishing industry. Publishing Institute students get
an inside look at: trade publishing, children's books, scholar-
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and advertising), and production (design and manufactur-
ing). Field trips to Denver-area publis ers and nationally
known bookshops enhance the intensive-- but fun-- course of
instruction. Career counseling is featured during the final
week of the program. Underclassmen may attend the session
at the Union for informational purposes, but only college
graduates may apply to the Publishing Institute. For more
information, call Larry Baker at 800-347-4253, ext. 1219, or
email him at Larry.Baker@gale.com.
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