The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 10, 1999 - 11

eSnyder, Wisniewski
emerge for 'M' track

By David Mosse
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's track and field
team has benefited all season from the
emergence of a fresh class of stars. In
recent weeks, freshmen Ike Okenwa and
Oded Padan have garnered much of the
attention. But the unsung heroes have
been two distance runners.
Junior Todd Snyder and freshman
Mike Wisniewski have transformed the
5,000-meter run into the Wolverines'
strongest event.
Two weeks ago, at the Michigan
Intercollegiate, Snyder ran to victory in
*the 5,000, coming within one second of
his personal best. Wisniewski, not far
behind, finished third.
This past week, the dynamic duo
reached new heights at the Meyo Classic
at Notre Dame. Snyder won again, shat-
tering his previous personal best with a
time of 14:26.69.
"Snyder's performance had to be the
most impressive of the day," Michigan
coach Jack Harvey said. "He ran a heck
f a race."
As an exhausted Snyder finished his
race, he looked over his shoulder to
catch a glimpse of the other runners. The
first uniform he saw was maize and blue.
Wisniewski -continuing the season-
long trend of strong freshman perfor-
mances - finished second.
"I was really proud of Mike
Wisniewski," Michigan distance coach

Ron Warhurst said. "He ran a very smart
race."
Wisniewski was quick to deflect the
credit for his cerebral performance,
instead praising his coach.
"All I did was listen to Ron,"
Wisniewski said. "He tells me what I
need to do for each race."
Snyder and Wisniewski entered the
season with different expectations.
Snyder, one of the most experienced
members-of the squad, scored in the Big
Ten championship last year. Heading
into this season, he looked forward to
continuing that trend.
Wisniewski, in his first season com-
peting for Michigan, was not quite sure
what to expect. Though he was untested,
no one doubted his talent.
"We all knew how fast Mike was
capable of running," freshman David
Cook said. "None of us are really that
surprised at how well he's done"
Snyder and Wisniewski have benefit-
ed tremendously from each other's pres-
ence.
"It's great to have another guy who
can push you in practice," Snyder said.
"We always give each other tips before
and after races."
Both have steadily improved week
after week. With their strong perfor-
mances, the Wolverines possess two
strong runners in the 5,000, a luxury that
will be valuable for the remainder of the
season.

DANA UNNANE/Daity
In recent weeks, Junior Todd Snyder has led the Wolverines to victory with
consecutive first-place finishes in the 5,000 meters. Snyder and freshman Mike
Wisniewski have begun to emerge as leaders for Michigan.

contact us through ourf "
representative at 1-800-776-7680.

-Tigers to appeal two sanctions


BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -
Louisiana State will get one last chance
to argue that the penalties the NCAA
imposed on the school in the recruiting
of Lester Earl were too harsh. School
officials will go before the NCAA's
appeals committee Feb. 27 in Atlanta.
"We submitted our rationale for
reducing the penalties and the infrac-
tions committee submitted their rebut-
tal. Now we have a last chance to make
our arguments before the final ruling'"
associate athletic director Bo Bahnsen
said yesterday.
The school is appealing the ban on
postseason play this year, the loss of
one more scholarship and a limit of two
new scholarships in each of the next
*two seasons. Those were only two of
the sanctions imposed by the NCAA.
The penalties were imposed after an
investigation found several infractions,
including that a Louisiana State boost-
er had paid Earl $5,000 to induce the
former high school All-American to
sign with the Tigers. Earl later trans-
ferred to Kansas.
The committee's sanctions were
added to Louisiana State's self-
imposed sanctions, which included a
loss of five scholarships during the
next three years, a reduction of six offi-
cial recruiting visits, forfeiture of five
games in which Earl played and the dis-
association of two Louisiana State
boosters.
Reasons for the appeal include:
U The school was not found to have
a lack of institutional control.
The school did not gain a signifi-
cant competitive advantage.
* N No sanctions were imposed on
then-coach Dale Brown and assistant
Johnny Jones.
EThe penalties are inconsistent with
those placed on other schools with sim-
ilar violations.
O There were no systematic viola-
tions since only one athlete was
involved, and the violations were most-
ly secondary in nature. "I don't know
:&how long it will take them to rule, but
we're hoping to get at least a verbal
decision later in the day because the
SEC tournament is the next week,"
Bahnsen said,

AP PHOTO
The Louisiana State basketball program will find out Feb. 27 if its appeal of the
sanctions It received for the recruiting of Lester Earl will be approved.

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