24A -The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 11, 1999

THE KIDS WHO CAN HAUL

By Ryan C. Moloney
Daily Sports Writer
If you ask an average Michigan stu-
dent to rattle off some notable Canadian
names on campus, you-might be prone to
hear "Molson" or "Labatt" before any-
thing else.
But those who have followed the
Michigan men's and women's cross
country teams' remarkable ascension to
Big Ten prominence this season know
that there are other Canadian names fuel-
ing the good times - Jay Cantin, Sam
Dorri, Julie Froud, Steve Lawrence and
Lisa Oulette.
The Kids Who Can Haul.
Going into the season, the men's
team looked about as threatening as the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Super
Bowl. Now, the Wolverines are possibly
the biggest surprise in the NCAA and
are a volatile threat in this weekend's
Great Lakes Invitational.
The women's team has survived a
rash of injuries and a roller coaster sea-
son. But coming off a courageous sec-
ond-place showing at the Big Ten meet,
the Wolverines could rip their dreaded
"hard-luck" label to shreds with a strong
showing in Terre Haute, Ind.

And what powers this blue, high-
combustion cross country engine?
Maple leafs, of course.
'M'-A SOUTHERN SCHOOL?
Though each Canadian on the team
emphasizes the academic advantages of
attending Michigan, the word that comes
up over and over in conversation about
making the decision is "opportunities."
"When I first got here, I traveled to
Arizona, San Diego, all these places I
never would have seen if I had stayed in
Canada," Cantin said.
Collegiate athletics in Canada is
either an honorable, forthright institution
or a wholly old-fashioned one, depend-
ing on who you talk to.
The governing body of collegiate
athletics in Canada, the CIAU, does not
allow scholarships or financial reim-
bursements of any kind for their athletes.
In turn, the revenue generated by sports,
miniscule in comparison to the NCAA
system, goes back into funding academ-
ic resources.
While some athletes in the United
States are leading the grandstand cheer
for "pay for play," many Canadians find
themselves paying to play.
"If I stayed in Canada, they would

have said 'here's your uniform, return it
at the end of the season,"' Oulette said.
"Canadian athletes need to buy their own
shoes, warm-ups and they need to rent
out the course themselves."
What's worse, the traditionalists see
the exodus as a form of defection.
Because of the strict academic stan-
dards of the Canadian job market, few
universities in the United States offer
degree programs applicable for Canada.
Michigan is one of them.
"There are hardcore people who are
really stupid about (our decisions),"
Dorri said. "But it's a letdown if you
aren't a good enough athlete to come to
the states."
COLD ENOiCH FOR YA?
As a sport, running is generally the
most popular in the southern part of the
North American continent because the
climate is more conducive.
In Canada, most of the running is
done from the car to the house and vice
versa.
Oulette is a native of Sudbury, Ont.
- 10 hours due north of Ann Arbor.
"We've had our pipes freeze before it
was -52 degrees on Christmas Day last
year: Up there, you are either born on

skates or skis," Oulette said.
In the land of the Great Gretzk, it
takes a special breed to want to take offt
the skates, lace on the shoes, and brave
everything the Great White north can
throw at you.
"I remember meeting with my club
team at 5 p.m. everyday in the winter,
just freezing my ass off," Cantin said.
Once again, money is an issue.
Though the interest in America's mega-
sports - football, basketball and base-
ball is marginal, hockey's stranglehold
on community financing left even high
school phenoms Cantin and Lawrence
without an indoor track.
"The winter is a weeder for those
who don't want to take it seriously"
Consecon, Ont. native Lawrence said. "I
used to drive to Toronto twice a week
just to train.
"Two hours there, two hours back,
twice a week, eight hours in the car."
SULLIVAN FOR PRIME MINISTER
When you mention the name "Kevin
SulliEvan" to any of the Canadian run-
ners, you might as well sit back and lis-
ten. You aren't going to get a word in
edge-wise for a while.
"Kevin Sullivan is like a God in

Canada," Dorn said.
Currently an assistant coach for the
men's team, Sullivan is arguably the best
distance runner in the history of
Michigan, and possibly, Canada.
Sullivan was a four-year All-
American in cross country in the mid-
90's and has set countless records in his
native Canada ever since his prodigal
beginnings as a 14-year-old.
How appropriate he is from the same
town - Brantford. Ont. - as Gretzky,
"Growing up, everybody our age
became excited about running because
of Kevin Sullivan," Cantin said.
Sullivan's secretariat-like leads in his
teenage years, up to 100 meters or more,
are the stuff of lore and fond sentiment
among the Canadian cross country con-
tingent.
More importantly, Sullivan's ram-
pant success during his years at
Michigan muffled the intimidation tac-
tics of the "hardcore" traditionalists and
made the decision to compete in the
United States easier for Canadian ath-
letes in every sport.
"He's kind of given us this sense that
'Yeah, we can compete with the
Americans,"' Lawrence said. "He's

proven that coming over here can work
out."
"A SPECIAL BOND"
If you spend enough time in the
classrooms, on the sidewalks, or in the
Diag at Michigan, you notice a kinship
between the athletes.
Often, two athletes on different
teams will say "hello" in passing, though
they've never met before.
For Michigan's Canadian athletes,
the connection is that much stronger.
"When I see another Canadian going
to class I think 'awesome,"' Froud said.
"There's another one choosing to pursue
their goals.
"There's a little bit of a special bond."
You probably couldn't tell a
Canadian athlete from an American ath-
lete at first glance. But the little things
come out - the accents, the 'M' maple
leaf tattoo on Steve Lawrence's leg, the
Canadian Olympic ring on Shannon
Shakespeare's finger.
When Michigan's cross country
teams line up for the biggest race of their
season on Saturday, the Canadian con-
nection the pride isn't just maize and
blue.
It's red and white too.

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League Programming Office: A division of Student Affairs

'M' shoots for NCAA berth

By Arun Gopal
Daily Sports Writer
Two weeks ago, the Michigan women's cross!
country team went to Penn State for the Big Ten
Championships with a huge question hanging over
its head - could the Michigan runners shake them-
selves out of a slump and hang with Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Michigan State, teams that were all
ranked ahead of them?
Michigan answered that question with an
emphatic "yes", upsetting both the Spartans and the
Golden Gophers en route to a second-place finish
behind Wisconsin.
This weekend, Michigan will look to build on its
momentum at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional
Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. on the campus
of Indiana State. The field includes teams from
Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
Once again, the Badgers are the heavy favorites.
Ranked fifth in the latest national poll, Wisconsin is
expected to run away with the regional title. A large
portion of the credit for the Badgers' dominance
should go to their trio of outstanding sophomores
- Erica Palmer, Erin Aufderheide and Bethany
Brewster, who finished 1-2-3 at the Big Ten
Championships.
"Wisconsin's going to win," McGuire said. "The
fight for second will probably come down to us,
Michigan State, Notre Dame, and possibly Akron,
which won the MAC Championship."
The top two teams from the Regional meet
advance to the NCAA Championships in

Bloomington. In order for the Wolverines to be one
of those two teams, they will have to run better than
they did in State College.
"We're certainly capable of running better,"
McGuire said. "At this point, we're still trying to
piece everything together.
The Wolverines have some familiarity with the
Terre Haute course - last year's Great Lakes
Regional was also run in Terre Haute. The course
will be a solid challenge to the runners' ability.
"This is a good cross-country test," McGuire
said. "The layout is a lot like Bloomington."
With an entire season's work on the line and a
berth in the national championships at stake,
Michigan has shown some added focus and deter-
mination in its' training during the last two weeks.
"The girls have been running pretty good,"
McGuire said. "We've been missing some people
due to conflicts with classes. It's a little disconcert-
ing, but they are students first, so it goes with the
territory."
In any sport, a team will look for an advantage
that it can gain over its' opponent. In Michigan's
case, the Wolverines may have a psychological edge
over Michigan State, possibly Michigan's toughest
challenger for second place on Saturday.
The Spartans were expected to finish ahead of
Michigan at the Big Ten Championships, but strug-
gled and finished fourth.
"I think they assumed that they would beat us,"
McGuire said. "This time out, things will be a little
different, because they'll be looking out for us."

LOUIS BROWN/Daigf'
Elizabeth Kampfe and the Michigan women's cross country
team hopes to run Into the NCAA finals this weekend.

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