88 - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 1, 1999 0 4 Women tak Intercollegiate Both the xggg Michigan men and women's r track teams were S S in action this t weekend. The r women placed first in the t._ Michigan Intercollegiate,n which the men finished second. LOUIS BROWN/Daily By Arun Gopal For the Daily YPSILANTI -- The Michigan women's track and field team went into Friday's Michigan Intercollegiate Indoor Track & Field Championships at Bowen Field House with a simple goal. "We want to win;' Michigan coach James Henry said prior to the meet. "When there's a team championship at stake, we expect to win. We want to see more effort than last week, more team spirit than last week." The team didn't let Henry down. Despite the absence of such standouts as Nicole Forrester, Katie McGregor and Michelle Slater, who were all given the night off, the Wolverines came out victo- rious in the meet. The Wolverines amassed 181.5 points for the victory, outdistancing second- place Central Michigan by 65 points. Eastern Michigan came in third. The Wolverines defeated several schools from around the state, including Michigan State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Detroit Mercy. The Wolverines were paced by several solid individual perfor- mances. Maria Brown, Adrienne Hunter and Lisa Ouellet were all double-win- ners in the meet. Brown claimed victories in the 60- meter dash, with a time of 7.54 seconds, and in the 200, clocking a 24.43. "It was pretty good," Brown said of her performance. "My start was a bit bad, but I'm working on it." Meanwhile, Hunter was a winner in the 800, with a time of 2:11.14, and was a member of the 1,600-meter relay team, which topped Central Michigan with a time of 3:52.96. Ouellet triumphed in the mile run in a time of 4:57.21, in addition to contribut- ing to the 1,600 relay. "I know I can do better than that," Hunter said. "We're halfway into the sea- son, but we still have chances to get in faster times" Other Wolverines capturing first place included Nikki Keith in the shot put, Brandi Bentley in the long jump and the distance medley relay team. The quartet of Katie Clifford, Heather Burcar, Erica Murdock and Erin White outsprinted Central Michigan to win in a time of 12:02.41. Only one meet record was broken Friday night, by Hanna Palamaa of Eastern Michigan in the pole vault withy a height of 11 feet, 1/4 inch. Since all ofthe major schools from the state were participating, winning the title was still important for bragging rights. "This confirms that we are the best team in.the state," Henry said. "It was close at the end, and Central Michigan' made it exciting, but our depth and bal- ance won it for us. The Wolverines will next be in action this weekend in Indianapolis, Ind., at the Cannon Classic. EM-. - T-SHIRT PRINTING * LOWEST PRICES! K HIGHEST QUALITY! * FASTESTSERVICE! * 1002 PONTIAC TR. g * 994-1367 m MEN O. Great Brd '6 Tommwy Hilfigerf 1..loinein rdson's ,ticaI hrs: MNo-Tues-Thu-Fri 9-5:30 Wed & Sat 9-1 Student discounts on eye xams and eyeglasses XO S. State sit. (lower level of Decker Drugs) b 4~ Michigan men take second at six- team Michigan Intercollegiate Freshmen Padan and Okenwa continue to shine, earn victories 7/ k r /i Frustrated and disappointed with the University? Need help making sense of your U of M experience? Check out http://universitysecrets.com By David Moss Daily-Sports Writer It was a record-setting weekend for the Michigan men's track and field team. On Saturday, the Wolverines host- ed the Michigan Intercollegiate, an event bringing together the major schools of the state. As a team, the Wolverines amassed 123 points, placing second in the six-team field. Eastern Michigan lived up to its status as favorite by running away with the title, scoring 196 points. Michigan coach Jack Harvey was not the least bit surprised with Eastern Michigan's performance, but two other schools also caught his eye. "Western Michigan and Central Michigan were much better than I thought," Harvey said. "The level of competition was outstanding." Solid individual performances complemented the team competition, as several Wolverines scaled new heights. Once again, the freshmen grabbed the headlines as Oded Padan and Ike Okenwa continued to emerge as solid contributors, and Jeremy Schneider made his first big splash as a Wolverine. Padan captured the long jump, set- ting a meet record of 24 feet, 5 1/4 inches. Padan also won his specialty, the triple jump, with a meet record of 50 1/2. "Oded did a real nice job in both his competitions," said Harvey. "Ike just keeps getting better with each meet." Okenwa set an intercollegiate record in the 60-meter dash with a winning time of 6.83, but the sur- prise was Schneider, who won the .600. The victories did not end there for Michigan. Junior Todd Snyder, a cross country all-America, placed first in the 5,000-meter run, edging out teammate Mike Wisniewski, who came in third. In the midst of all the success, one Wolverine experienced an especially satisfying victory. Junior Jay Cantin, mired in a sea- son-long slump, broke out in style by capturing the mile run in a dramatic come-from-behind win. Cantin post- ed an impressive time of 4:08 for the victory. "I tried not do any work early on and save myself for the finish," Cantin said. "Those last two laps I really turned it on gave it everything I had." Cantin's performance drew praise from Harvey, who was pleased to see one of his team leaders step up and excel. "Jay's victory was the highlight of the competition for us, because he hasn't been running all that fast and really needed this for his confi- dence." Harvey said. The Wolverines proved they can compete with the top schools in the state. But, the most impressive individ- ual feat of the day came from James Nieto, a star high jumper for-Eastern Michigan. In his only jump of the day, Nieto set a meet record and the second-best jump in the country this season. "It was fabulous;' Nieto said. "I was just going for one jump today; because I'm gearing for a big meet in Iowa next week." As for Michigan, the competition- marked the last of four straight home meets to start the season. The Wolverines will split their squad next weekend, sending their athletes to both the Cannon Classic in Indianapolis, and the Meyo Invitational in Notre Dame. ; I TTrDJ STOP GAMBLING AND START INVESTING CALL FOR FRE RAOfE E W- -?25 WINYOU HWY PAT I ---- 6- nr r. a AW