14A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 28, 1999 Blue to host area schools Saturday Freshman Okenwa out to fast start Duke tops 'Heels By Ron Garber For the Daily The state's track and field brag- ging rights are on the line as the Michigan Intercollegiate track meet pits Michigan's six Division I track teams against each other this Saturday at the Michigan Indoor Track Building. Field events are slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. and running events will commence an hour later. Michigan men's; track and field coach Ken Harvey n called the upcom- ing tilt the "best quality meet that (the team) has seen so far," as two of the schools Michigan will face are Michigan State and Eastern Harvey Michigan. Michigan has competed against Eastern twice already this year and Harvey said the Eagles are the favorite to win the meet. Eastern's team boasts former Nigerian Olympic team member Clement Chikuwu. Chikuwu, the reigning Mid-American Conference runner of the week, has had quite a season to date. Not only has he run the fastest 400- meter time in the nation, but he has also turned in the second fastest 200 time in the country. Chikuwu, however, is not the only star Nigerian sprinter that will be competing on Saturday. Michigan's Ike Okenwa, a fresh- man and also a native of Nigeria, will be competing against Chikuwu in the 200 as well as in the 4x400 relay. Okenwa, who said he is looking forward to running against Chikuwu, has enjoyed success of an unexpected magnitude this year. He has won his past two individual races, the 200 two weeks ago at the Michigan Quadrangle and the 60 last weekend at the Red Simmons Invitational. In addition to having to worry about Chikuwu, Okenwa also expects to be pushed hard by teammate Steve Jenkins, who Okenwa said is "amaz- ing out of the starting blocks." Several other Wolverines are com- ing off impressive finishes at the Red Simmons Invitational, which Michigan won, and expect big per- formances on Saturday. Patrick Johannson (35 lb. weight throw), and Josh Sellers (600) both won their events. Also notable are the performances of Chris Dewitt, who took second in the pole vault, and freshman Derek Applewhite, Okenwa's roommate, DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - For one game, Duke-Carolina was replaced by Avery-Cota. The point guards stood out in an epic matchup last night as No. 2 Duke beat No. 10 North Carolina 89-77 in the lat- est edition of college basketball's pre- mier rivalry. "When you look at the history of this series, that matchup tonight was a pret- ty good one," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said of his William Avery against North Carolina's Ed Cota. "Both of them played a great game. You just saw two of the better point guards in the country." Avery barely prevailed in the matchup with Cota. Avery finished with 21 points and five assists, while Cota had 20 points and seven assists. Avery, who had seven turnovers in the first half in an overtime win over St. John's on Sunday, finished with just one, while Cota, who was bothered by a pulled muscle in his left leg, had five. "I was trying to push him hard the entire second half," Avery said "His team feeds off him in so many ways. As he goes, they go." Still, Avery said it was never he and Cota but rather Duke and Carolina. "Maybe when I was younger I would have looked at it like that,"said Avery, a sophomore. Cota, a junior, had four points over the final 18 minutes when he was obvi- ously bothered by the leg cramps. "Every time I moved I just pulled my muscle, Cota said. "I was doing a lot of penetration out there and that kind of hurt my legs a little bit. I'm not going to use that as an excuse or anything. Had I not gotten hurt I know I could have done some better things out there. "They were denying me the basket- ball, Cota said of the deciding stretch. "I didn't do a good job of freeing myself up. I really couldn't make any cuts because of my muscle. We just did- n't the execution done." It was the Blue Devils' 15th straight victory overall and their 33rd in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In the rivalry of the schools just eight miles apart, Duke (20-1, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost 10 of the previous 12 meetings, including two of three last season. This one was supposed to be a blowout, as Duke was a 17-point favorite. The Tar Heels (17-5, 5-3) stayed right with the Blue Devils until a dry spell from the field for almost 5 1/2 minutes in the second half allowed Duke to pull away to its biggest victory in the series since 1993. "We certainly don't have any moral victories," said Tar Heels coach Bill Guthridge, who now has a 2-2 record against Duke. "I think we did a lot of good things and we've been improving. They played good defense the whole game and they came up with big plays, and that is what you have to do to win a game like this." Ademola Okulaja scored down low to give North Carolina a 68-65 lead with 8:58 to play. Duke went on a 12-1 run as the Tar Heels went 5:27 without a field goal. Freshman Kris Lang hit a hook in the lane to bring North Carolina within 77- 72 with 3:21 left. The Cameron Crazies were able to explode just 32 seconds later when Trajan Langdon hit his third inter of the game to give Duke an 80-72 lead. DHANI JONES/Daily Michigan hurdler Derek Applewhite and the rest of the Wolverines will battle for state bragging rights Saturday at the Michigan intercollegiate. who placed third in the 60-meter hur- dles. These athletes will need similar finishes for the team to challenge Eastern Michigan and fend off Michigan State, which Harvey expects will pose stiff competition. Okenwa thinks that the Michigan Intercollegiate promises to be an exciting meet. "Michigan has a lot of talent and we are looking at this as a pretty big meet," he said. "This is the starting point of the rest of the season. We need to start knocking out some first places." 'Canham Cathedral' ready Vignier's presence an asset to Wolverines CANHAM Continued from Page UOA weather of late. -"I think we did the best we could with the facilities that were avail- able in Ann Arbor," women's coach Jim Richardson said. "I won't say woulda, coulda, shoulda. Everybody involved did the best they could to provide the best training environment for us and in retrospect, there isn't any- thing I would have done different- ly." team's training regiment. "From a training standpoint, it's better than it was when it opened the first time;' Richardson said of Michigan's facility. "The air is much better, the lighting is much better. I think overall, the facility is one of the best training environments in the country." If nothing else, the new natatori- um will provide a picturesque set- ting for swimming and diving spectators for years to come. "If I were to rename it, I would call it the Canham Cathedral for Swimming and Diving," Lambert said. VIGNIER Continued from Page 10A (for a big man) from outside, or the Tractor's rim-bending bulk. "At the beginning of the season, he was kinda like, 'OK, I think I can do it,"' Young said. "But now he's like, he gets the ball and he's going to the basket." Against Minnesota last week, Vignier owned the low post in the first half. He would catch a pass, dribble once, and loft up a jump hook that found twine every time. In another game, against Michigan State on Jan. 9, two passes bounced off his hands and out of bounds. Before, he might have let that rattle him. But against the Gophers, when the ball squirted out of his hands as he rose up for another jump hook against the Golden Gophers, he calmly collected the errant ball and sank the shot. Loud or not, that's the kind of con- fidence that makes for presence in the post. "When he gets the ball in the post, he just takes that one little dribble and goes up and shoots his jump hook," Young said. "He doesn't even think about it. "If you think about kicking it back out or anything, they'll just double- team or triple-team you," Young said. As Tom Cruise's character, Maverick, in "Top Gun" would have put it had he been a center in the Big Ten instead of a fighter pilot in the Navy: There's no time to think in the low post. If you think, you're dead. The post, like any dangerous place, demands presence and confi- dence, most of all from its chal- lengers. The kind of people who "just go up and down the court and play and they can help their team- mates out." The kind of people like Vignier. Nevertheless, Richardson encouraged by the stability building will lend toward is the the Are you looking for a different kind of spring break? CHECK OUT THESE OPPORTUNITIES: Backcountry Dog Sledding Trip in Northern WOntario 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 DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Michigan center Peter Vignier has quietly helped the Michigan men's basketball team overachieve this season. JOIN DAILY SPORTS. CALL' 647-w3336.. Blue swimmers top Spe place finishes in the: SPARTANS 200 freestyle, and th Continued from Page 14A medley. Shakespeare Despite swimming a meet in the the first-place 200 fr middle of the week and being plagued the end of the meet th with injuries and illnesses leaving the victory for the Wolver team fatigued, the Wolverines main- Junior Jenny Arn tained their normal workout routine major factor for Mic for the week. both the 100 freestyle "We decided to swim it straight up stroke. and went regular workouts this morn- Contributions als ing and just did the things we normal- sophomore Missy Sug ly do," Michigan coach Jim 500 freestyle with th Richardson said. her career, and Crisma The fast start from Michigan State 100-yard butterfly an forced the Wolverines to make some ond in the 500 freesty lineup changes in the middle of the competed for the 20 meet to get the win. They pulled 200 individual medl sophomore Jen Crisman out of the which both took first1 200-yard backstroke and switched her "This was a great with freshman Lindsay Carlberg in some of our less exp the 100 butterfly. mers to have to step "Those were both pivotal moves where the meet was ti because they gave us a chance to win said. "Jenny Arndt d: both events," Richardson said. "If we job of stepping uj had gone with the people we original- freestyle." ly had, it could have made the meet The Wolverines wil even closer" dual meet of the st Junior Shannon Shakespeare led when they take on No. the way for the Wolverines with first- at 4 p.m. at Canham N CJL U.SPORTS@UMICH.EDU artans 50 freestyle, the e 200 individual also anchored ieestyle relay at at locked up the rines. dt was also a chigan, winning e and 100 back* o came from gar, who won the e fastest time of an, who won the nd finished sec- Ile. Crisman also 0 freestyle and ey relay teams, place. opportunity forW erienced swim- up at a point ed," Richardson id a really nice p in the 100 l host their final eason Saturday 22 Notre Dame Natatorium. We're Hiring! Be a Notetaker for Versity.com! Make money while you improve your grades. Bio Anthro 161 Chemistry 130 Chemistry 210 Chemistry 215 Comm Studies 101 Economics 101 Economics 102 EECS 100 History 111 Linguistics 210 Physics 125 Physics 140 Poll Sci 111 Poll Sci 140 Psychology 111 Psychology 330 Psychology 340 Psychology 350 Psychology 370 Psychology 380 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PLATTE VILLE Study Abroad Programs x - r Learn Your Way Around The World - Study abroad in England, Mexico, Japan, or Spain * Courses in liberal arts and international business * Fluency in a foreign language not required - Home-stays or dorms with meals ea Other Versity.com jobs are available. We need good people to distribute promotions, write feature stories, and work with our local sales force. Visit the site for details. ADnIv Online! 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 S