M0 womn pepfor nationals i California Thursday, April 15, 1999 - The Michigan Daily -11A B Dona Krischer Daily Sports Writer Five days from now, Michigan students and spectators will be witnessing the spectacle known s the Naked Mile. And while Tuesday's runners have been posing in the mirror all week to find their "best side," Michigan's women's track team has been prepar- ing for something else. This weekend, the Wolverines head out west for the second time in two weeks for not one, but two relays in California. The team will first compete Friday in Pomona, Calif. This meet will be a low-key, relaxed competition in which the Wolverines can prepare for the Mt. SAC relays the following day. I And although most of the same teams will be articipating in both meets, the atmosphere is much more intense at Mt. SAC. Mt. SAC "is not a scored meet," senior high jumper Nicole Forrester said. "It's more of a check to see where each individual is at. It's not as team- focused as the others." Mt. SAC is an invitational elite meet where nearly 20 teams will be there to gauge where ath- letes stand in terms of qualifying for nationals. "Last year, only one out of every five athletes qualified for nationals," Michigan coach Anne Marie Takacs said. "This year, UCLA, LSU, Arizona and Texas are probably the toughest com- petition." Will the Wolverines be tough opponents? They proved themselves this weekend when they came out on top by one point over three other teams this past weekend in San Diego, without the aid of some of their top athletes. "We have a really strong team," junior sprinter Lisa Ouellet said. "The coaches always empha- size that each meet in a stepping stone for the next. Improvement is what. we want, and this weekend is a great opportunity to do that. This is an amazing opportunity, and we're taking advan- tage of it." "Last week was a learning experience for us," junior sprinter Kenise Bocage said. "There were only so many people that we could put in and see how far they've come." This weekend, Michigan will have to do without junior distance runners Julie Froud and Elizabeth Kampfe. Froud has been slowly recovering from a strained Achilles, and has missed all of the out- door relays. After her strong performance in San Diego, Kampfe is going to be taking the week off to train for her 10,000-meter race the following weekend at the Penn Relays, one of the biggest meets of the season. "All of the big dogs are going this weekend," Takacs said. "The only people who aren't going are the ones who are redshirted or preparing for the Penn Relays. It's hard to go to three big pro- files in a row." In addition, Michigan junior throwers Julie Presley and fiance Patrick Johansson will be returning to Mt. SAC for the first time as Division I athletes. The two are junior transfers from Mt. SAC, and this will be a big homecoming for the both of them. DHANI JONES/Dl ya Although the Mt. SAC relays are not a team scored event, senior high jumper Nicole Forrester and the rest of the Michigan women's track and field team will use the event to prepare for nationals. Jien's track looking to SAC the competition Dwight runs for both kinds of dirty birds By Ron Garber Daily Sports Writer After spending last weekend in San Diego, several members of Michigan's men's track and field team are going ' ck to Cali on Friday. They will head Walnut, Calif. to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays. Unfortunately for the team, they have not been enjoying the beach or frequenting Disneyland. Instead, they've been winning track meets. After two successful tuneup meets out west earlier in the season, includ- ing last weekend's victory in San Diego, the Wolverines will need to be the top of their game as this meet ers their toughest competition to date. "They have very hard qualifying standards for this one," assistant coach Ron Warhurst said. "This will be a good, high quality meet." Last year the field included Olympic silver-medal sprinter Ato Bolden. While the sprinters will no doubt Dave their hands full if Bolden returns, s the distance runners who are being counted on to score the bulk of the Wolverines' points. And as of late, the talented group of junior Jay Cantin, junior Steve Lawrence, and sophomore Mike Wisniewski have been coming through with big-time performances. Last weekend at the San Diego State Quad, Cantin won the 800- and the 1,500-meters, Lawrence took second in the 1,500 and was victorious in the 5,000, while Wisniewski placed sec- ond in the 5,000. While Cantin and Lawrence are hot in the 1,500, they will be competing against a field that will include two of the NCAA's best. Both Stanford and Southern Methodist will send runners who are ranked in the top 10 national- fy. "That race will have one hell of a field," Warhurst said. It is that kind of tough competition that the coaching staff is hoping the team will benefit from this weekend as they approach the Big Ten Championships. While several distance runners and a 4x100 team will be competing in the Mt SAC, many Wolverines are taking a weekend off from the meet circuit. They will be staying in town to train for the Penn Relays which take place next Thursday. The field event specialists will get some well deserved time off after a weekend in San Diego in which they dominated " their competitors. Collectively, the group won five of eight events. The competition in Penn will offer a more challenging field, and a weekend of training rather than travelling to compete in California should serve the group well. B Matt Bowen e Daily Iowan IOWA CITY (U-WIRE) - Since the end of Super Bowl XXXIII, Hawkeye fans have been asking ques- tions about Iowa hero Tim Dwight and not receiving many answers. Tuesday, Dwight and track coach Larry Wieczorek spoke out in a press conference at the Hayden Fry Football Complex. "I came back because I want to compete and I think I'm a team play- er," Dwight said. "I also missed being around the guys."' Wieczorek was the first to com- ment that the return of Dwight to Iowa's track and field team is for the betterment of the team, and not a dis- traction. "It is real important to have Tim back," Wieczorek said. "Just being around him is a great experience for our guys." Wieczorek also stressed the impor- tance of having Dwight around his team which consists of mainly younger athletes. "Even though it is a younger group, it is a good group," Dwight said. Dwight has dropped around eight pounds to reach 175, and sees his times in the 200-meter dash around 21 seconds and in the mid 10's in the 100-meter dash. He has yet to show his newly refined body and skills. He was scratched from competition at the Hayward Relays in Eugene, Ore., due to cramping in his hamstring before the meet. "I felt like excess baggage out in Eugene," Dwight said. "I had a deep tissue massage two days before the meet and it should have been three." Wieczorek did not want to jeopar- dize the rest of Dwight's future over one meet. "I didn't want (Atlanta Falcons coach) Dan Reeves calling me up," Wieczorek said. Even though Dwight could not compete in the meet his impact was felt by the members of the team. "After the meet Tim said some very wise things to our team," Wieczorek said. "It is just how hard he works and how disciplined he is." Dwight will hopefully be in action this weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays in Calif., one of the major events in the country. "We are hoping he will be ready," Wieczorek said. "We will use him in the 4x 100, 4x400, the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter dash." An estimated 4,700 people showed up in Eugene to watch Dwight and others run on an unpleasant day. Again, the impact of Dwight's return is already being felt. "Why is it that he is of such interest?" Wieczorek said. "It is because of his atti- tude, desire and his aggressiveness." DHANI JONES/Daily The Michigan men's track and field team will face tough competition at the Mt. SAC relays in San Diego this weekend. Last year's field Included sprinter and Olympic silver medal winner Ato Bolden.