The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - January 16, 2001 - 3B Women's track answers challenge Bulletin board material by Indiana coach doesn't show up in meet DAVID DEN HERDER By Rhonda Gilmer Daily Sports Writer Last week, Indiana women's tratk coach Randy Heisler told the Indiana Daily Student that he antici- pated an easy victory over Michigan. "I don't expect us to have a close meet all year," Heisler said. But the Wolverines proved him wrong. Michigan was anything but second best, tying the Hoosiers 81- 81. The dual meet at Michigan's indoor track building went down to the wire. With the triple jump as the day's final event, Michigan trailed by five points. Indiana needed a top- two finish to clinch the victory. But the Wolverines came in first and sec- ond, just what they needed for the tie. Sophomore Teyonna Simpson won the triple jump with a distance of 39-feet, 3.75-inches. Junior Tahsa Phillips locked up the tie by placing second. Michigan could have tried for the victory had they used some of their runners in more than one event. But Michigan coach James Henry decid- ed not to overuse them this early in the season. "If we absolutely, positively had to win the meet, we could have dou- bled runners up," Henry said. "I'm slowly finding out that what I want is a balance between the field events, sprints, middle-distance and distance events." , Throughout the head-to-head meet, Michigan showed its strengths in the middle-distance and distance events. Sophomore Jane Martineau won the one-mile run with a time of 5:01.4. Running at a steady pace, Martineau had a strong kick in her running style throughout the race. Freshman Lindsey Gallo took third place in the mile at 5:08. The quick-paced 600-meter dash gave the Wolverines a chance to sweep the event, as Indiana is a little weaker in the mid-distance runs. Senior Regine Caruthers set the pace for the race with a time of 1:33.2. Senior Adrienne Hunter came in second at 1:35.30 and senior Tameka Craig finished up the Michigan one- two-three finish with 1:35.70. For the 800-meter event, sopho- more Rachel Sturtz ran 2:13.4 for first place. "That was a real good time for Rachel, particularly this early in the season," assistant coach Mike McGuire said. "She just went a little over a second too fast that first lap. But similar to taking a deposit out of the bank, she had to pay it back with interest on the last lap." Senior Katie Jazwinski came through for her teammates Saturday. Despite a back injury, she decided to run in the dual, which had the poten- tial to make or break the meet for Michigan. Out during the past week due to injury, Jazwinski did not get a chance to prepare until Thursday's practice. The rustiness didn't ham- per Jazwinski, as she won the 3-kilo- meter with a time of 10:07.46, giv- ing the Wolverines some extra points on the board. "They told me they wanted me to run, and I just had to make up my mind that I was going to do it and not think negatively about the back injury," Jazwinski said. From the start, of the race, fresh- man Katie Easton came out strong, setting the pace. After about five laps, Easton dropped behind Jazwinski and Indiana's Erin Womble. Coming in third, Easton showed a good finish with a time of 10:23.20. Indiana showed most of its strengths during the sprints. The 60- meter hurdles were won by Indiana's Danielle Carruthers with a time of 8:47. Indiana also won the 60-meter and 200-meter with senior Lorraine Dunlop running in both of these' events. One Indiana runner in particular stood out among the rest - junior Tia Trent. With her strong biceps and incredible size, she brought her teammates out of an unbelievable deficit during the four-by-four relay. After the third baton pass, Michigan was strides ahead of Indiana. ' At the switch to anchor, Michigan was still in the lead, but Trent fought hard to catch up. Then came the final lap where Trent closed up a large gap to give her team the first- place finish. Former M' starsfind a sure thing i*n ABA ETROIT -There are few good things that come from spending dreary Ann Arbor afternoons lying on my couch and waiting for the Snackster sandwich maker to finish my grilled cheese. But every so often -just when it seems like soap operas and Michael Jackson marathons are ruling digital cable - Comedy Central will play an obscure, phenomenal '80s comedy. Luckily, I was mulling around for one of the best ones. "The Sure Thing," starring John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga might be my favorite of the genre. It's funny, romantic, and like every '80s come- dy has a sappy, happy moral. But this movie's'o simple lesson stuck Ed O'I with me past the was at J closing credits, after my grilled cheese Arena, i and through a cold to 'Who evening in downtown Dogs O Detroit. There's no such every sa thing as a sure thing. Anybody that is a sports fan will tell you that. But nowhere did it ring truer than the floor of Joe Louis Arena Thursday night as the Detroit Dogs played host to the L.A. Stars of the ABA 2000. Of course, "The Sure Thing" is not a flawless sports metaphor. The movie opens with a young Cusack away at college, having recently developed a crush on a beautiful young brunette, played by Zuniga. The story gets interesting when a friend from L.A. (Anthony Edwards) calls Cusack with news that - should he make it across the country in several days - a Barbie- doll blonde will be waiting for him, happy to relinquish her virginity before traveling abroad for the semester. It is, Cusack's friend assures him, a sure thing. Now, the ABA 2000 is not a flaw- less production. In fact, the Dogs usually play at Cobo Arena, but were forced to relocate on account of the Detroit Auto Show Thursday - sending at least one journalist on a frantic search for the ballgame. But once courtside, things were incredibly familiar. The Dogs roster includes former Michigan players Sean Higgins, Travis Conlan and Willie Mitchell. The L.A. roster boasts UCLA stars Ed O'Bannon, Toby Bailey and JaRon Rush - as well as former Michigan forward Jerod Ward. If the date were no factor, you might go so far as to call this game a star-studded affair. In their days playing NCAA basketball, hype was high for these players - Willie Mitchell was a part of the "second coming" of the Fab Five, Sean Higgins was busy hitting buzzer- eh L gut beaters in the Final Four and Jerod Ward was tabbed by some recruiting analysts as the best player ever to come out of high school in 1994. Ed O'Bannon led UCLA to the NCAA title as a junior in 1995. The same year, he forwent the remainder of his college eligibility and declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft, where he was a sure lot- tery pick. O'Bannon was supposed to be a sure thing for some NBA team.- Yet somehow here he was at Joe Louis, listening to "Who Let The Dogs Out" after every Detroit slam dunk. And somehow, I didn't sense any despair. As the plot flies by low in "The Sure Thing," innon reluctant travel part- e Louis ners Cusack and Zuniga end up falling stening into puppy love by the et The time they reach L.A. t' after - though they refuse n to say so amidst their i dunk+ adventures on the road. At the climax - without each others' knowledge - Zuniga dumps her boyfriend and Cusack, unexpectedly, dumps his chance with the sure. thing. In true '80s fashion, of course, the two return to school in the ' autumn and finally admit their love. But it wasn't until an evening with the Detroit Dogs that I realized I may have misinterpreted the moral of the story all along. Because per- haps this Barbie-doll blonde, the sure thing, the motivation for the entire plot wasn't the real sure thing after all. Maybe the movie's title referred to the fact that, despite all the con- flicts, Cusack and Zuniga would be together in the end. I used to think there was no such thing as a sure thing in sports. The players of' the ABA 2000 probably didn't expect their story- lines to twist through minor league basketball. But growing up everyday loving basketball - dreaming basketball dreams - maybe the sure thingwas that somehow, they would end up living basketball lives. Higgins is the first to admit that this "isn't the NBA, isn't the Final Four." But he said he likes playing bas- ketball and really likes playing with friends. I might argue that he loves it. "It's always fun to play in front of the people you grew up with and your family," said Conlan in the bowels of Joe Louis Arena. "I feel real fortunate that they started this league. It's been a great opportunity for all the guys sitting in this room." - David Den Herder ca he reached at dden@umich. du. DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daiy Jane Martineau won the mile in Saturday's tie over Big Ten power Indiana. Michigan hosts the Red Simmons Invitational next weekend. Hoosiers return favor against men's track By Kareem Copeland Daily Sports Writer Saturday, the Indiana track team came to Ann Arbor looking to exact some revenge. In last year's dual meet, the Wolverines traveled to Bloomington and defeated the Hoosiers on their own turf, 85-78. Judging by the way it performed, Indiana had not forgotten. After trailing most of the day, the squad don- ning the red and white came out with an 85-77 victory. The Wolverines were strong with wins in the 4x400 relay, the triple jump, and the 200-meter. But a few injuries and lackluster events allowed for the match tQ slip away. "A couple key people weren't here," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "We just wanted to compete as best we could." Without senior Josh Sellers and junior Derek Applewhite, some were forced to compete out of their normal positions. Shorthanded, the team would rely on strong performances from the dis- tance runners. Although the Wolverines took both second and third in the mile and 3000-meter, the results were still disappointing. "Our distance runners turned out flat," Warhurst said. Mike Wisneiwski - who usually leads the pack - had a tough outing, taking third in the 3000 meters and lost the mile by a minuscule 0.58 seconds. Carrying the team on their shoulders, Ike Okenwa and Jeremy Schneider gave huge perfor- mances for the Wolverines. Okenwa easily blew away the competition in both the 60 and 200- meter races. After having troubles with back spasms Wednesday, Okenwa was surprised to run so fast. "I'm not used to being that far ahead," said Okenwa. "I was just trying to put points on the board." Okenwa blazed out of the gate to finish the 60- meter in 6.86 and the 200-meter in 21.64 seconds. The latter was enough to beat Indiana's Ash by over a second. Schneider - who ran the 600-meter and the anchor of the relay - was pitted against rival Ryan Huber in both races. As two of the top 600- meter runners in the Big Ten, they have faced each other repeatedly throughout the years. "He's the only guy to beat me since freshman year," said Schneider. "I just thought about how I would beat myself" Both races were about as close as could be. Schneider's time of 1:19.78 barely edged out Huber's mark of 1:20.00. The two were pitted against each other again as the anchors of the 4x400 relay. The final and most exciting race of the day came down to the wire with Schneider out kicking Huber to the finish line. Official times of the race had Michigan winning in 3:18.92 com- pared to Indiana's 3:19.07. Other Wolverines also fared well. Nick Rodger's placed second in the shot put and a third in the weight throw. Kevin Rogan and Terrance Rindler placed 1-2 in the 800-meter with times of 1:55.41 and 1:55.64, respectively. Oded Padan took first place in the triple jump with a leap of 49'02.25". Randle El, Anderson stay in school INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Two years ago, Antwaan Randle El was pleading with Adewale Ogunleye to play his senior season at Indiana. Ogunleye, a junior defensive end then, was projected as a high draft pick. He graduated and thought his stock could only rise. But in the sixth game of the season, Ogunleye suffered a season-ending knee #jury. So when Randle El found himself pondering the same decision, he couldn't help but think back to that awful image from two years ago. Randle El knows exactly what risks and payoffs an extra year of college foot- ball can provide, but still decided to take the chance and run Indiana's offense for another season. "Injury has been a big concern. But I eel like being conditioned and lifting "'eights will help, so I didn't focus a whole lot on injuries," Randle El said. "But I am taking out an insurance policy:' ANDERSON TO STAY: Anyone surprised by Damien Anderson's decision to stay at Northwestern for his senior year doesn't know the running back very well. EARLY NFL DRAFT ENTRIES Player Keith Adams Hakim Akbar Michael Bennett Josh Booty John Ca pel Quincy Carter Nate Clements Ronney Daniels Heath Evans Robert Ferguson Jamar Fletcher Todd Heap Renaldo Hill Rudi Johnson Willie Middlebrooks Freddie Mitchell Ryan Pickett Dominic Raiola Koren Robinson Justin Smith David Terrell Ja'Mar Toombs Michael Vick Kenyatta Walker Gerard Warren Reggie White Adrian Wilson Position LB S RB QB W R CB WR FB WR CB TE CB RB CB WR DT C WR DE WR FB QB OT DT RB SS School Clemson Washington Wisconsin LSU Florida Georgia Ohio State Auburn Auburn Texas A&M Wisconsin Arizona State Michigan State Auburn Minnesota UCLA Ohio State Nebraska N.C. 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