6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 18, 2002 40 Okenwa leads Webb-less Harners into By Kareen Copeland Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's track and field team came home on Saturday for its final meet before the Big Ten Championships. Visiting Ann Arbor to compete in the Harold Silverston Invitational were Western Michigan, Calvin College, Hills- dale Detroit Mercy, Waterloo, Toledo, Windsor, Akron, Grand Valley and representatives from various professional running clubs. The contest was also the last time that the seniors competed inside the Michigan Indoor Track building donning the maize and blue. With the departing veterans looking to peak and leave their mark on the program, Michigan won six events as Ike Okenwa led the way. "This whole week I've been thinking about the Big Ten meet. I was just using this to fine tune for that meet," Okenwa said. ' The senior tri-captain highlighted the day with victories in the 60-meter dash and the 200- meter dash. Okenwa beat out Ken Mannie, who ran without a team, by .004 seconds in the 60- meter dash. Freshman Nathan Taylor continued his impressive year with a third-place finish in the same sprint. He crossed the line in a paltry 6.94 seconds. Unfortunately, freshman phenom Alan Webb has officially been redshirted for the season. Webb, who ran the fastest mile ever for a high- schooler, came into Michigan with very high Big Tens expectations. Those expectations were realized as Webb dominated the Big Ten in cross country by winning the individual championship. Webb has tendonitis in his Achilles that has kept him sidelined for the past several weeks. The team had hoped to rest him after a long cross country season until close to the Big Ten Championship in track. Webb should be physically healthy in two weeks and should be ready by the time the outdoor season starts on March 21. Michigan also swept the 600-meter dash with Dan Cooke taking first in 1:21.08. Darnell Tal- bert took second while senior Kevin Rogan's 1:22.31 was good enough for third place. The Wolverines third sweep came in the mile, in which Ryan Hessleink controlled the race and crossed first in 4:14.68. Terrance Rindler and Dave Sage rounded out the top three with times of 4:16.97 and 4:19.68. Just missing the cut was senior tri-captain Mike Wisniewski, who fin- ished in 4:19.82. Wisniewski has already provi- sionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter. Senior tri-captain Derek Applewhite had his best performance of the year in his last home meet. Applewhite, who has been struggling with hamstring problems all year long, posted a career best in the 60-meter high hurdles. His time of 8.00 seconds took second place behind LaShawn Alexander of Toledo. "Applewhite was a nice, pleasant surprise. He hasn't run the hurdles in quite a while because of injury," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. Adams br( By Ryan Leventhal For the Daily TOM FELDCAMP/Daily Michigan runners used this weekend as a last chance to fine-tune before the Big Ten Championships. "Confidence is the biggest thing going into Big Tens. Confidence is everything." Freshmen Nathan Brannan was held out of the weekend's meet. He will be available for the Big Ten meet, and he has already qualified provisionally for the NCAA meet in the 3,000- meter and the mile. Now all eyes turn to the Big Ten Champi- onships. The team can no longer train to get .stronger and faster. The key is to prepare everyone mentally to put forth their best per- formance. "It would be nice for everyone to get a (personal record) and their season best at the Big Ten meet. You would really hope that would happen, but sometimes it doesn't," Warhurst said. The Big Ten championship meet will take place in Minneapolis on Feb. 23-24. The Wolverines will rely heavily on their freshman class to contribute some points next week. The team is in position to finish anywhere from first to fourth depending on how well a fresh- man compete on such a grand scale. Fisher, Phillips set marks-, By Jacob Leonhardt For the Daily The Michigan women's track team broke a pair of school records on Saturday in the non-scoring Harold Silverston Invitational at the Indoor Track Building. Anna Fisher shat- tered the school record for the sec- ond straight week by clearing 12 feet in the pole vault, earning sec- ond place. She beat her previous personal record by more than two and a half inches. Fisher's continued success will be important for Michi- gan at the Big Ten Championships. "If Anna can duplicate what she did this weekend here at home, she could be successful at the Big Ten Championships next weekend," head coach James Henry said. "Anna has been somewhat inconsistent this year, but has tremendously improved this weekend." April Phillips was the other record-setting Wolverine, breaking her own record by throwing 60-feet, 6.75 inches in the weight throw. She won the event for the fourth straight week, and for the seventh straight week she threw for an NCAA provi- sional mark. "She is the best thrower in the country for her size, but (she) must improve on her throws to be an Olympian," Henry said. "April is a relaxed performer. She focuses on her performance for each individual week, not on her previous records." Henry said that if Phillips focuses particularly on her throws this week, she should earn an eighth straight NCAA provisional mark. The team's strengths will be tested this weekend against the defending Big Ten champion, Indiana, and against other competitive teams, such as Illinois. Braking your own Over the course of the season, jun- ior April Phillips has emerged as Michigan's best thrower and one of the top performers in the nation. This season Phillips has set Michi- gan team records in the shot put and weight throw. Weight throw Date Distance Jan. 12 55 feet, 3.2 inches Feb. 2 57 feet, 5 inches Feb. 16 60 feet, .5 inches Shot put Date Record Jan. 5 52 feet, .3 inches 0 aks out at Silverston Invite On a day when most runners were looking to take it easy and avoid injury while preparing for the Big Ten Champi- onships, Michigan freshman Darren Adams had a breakout meet at the Harold Silverston Invitational. Michigan coach Ron Warhurst described the runners in general at the meet as "a little apprehensive overall. They don't want to take a chance of hurting themselves." But Adams was anything but appre- hensive. After coming to Michigan from athletic powerhouse St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, he displayed a noticeable tenacity on both the track and field events. Adams started off the day with a respectable fourth-place finish in the long jump. Adams is better known for his high jumping, an event in which he took third place at the George Mason Invitational two weeks ago. Next up for Adams was the 60-meter dash, in which he ran a time bf 7.l4,sec-" onds. That time put him in seventh place, third among Michigan sprinters, behind regulars Ike'Okehwa aridNathan Taylor. In the finals, Adams showed determination and improved his time, earning sixth place with a time of 7.08 seconds. Adams most impressive showing came in the finals of the 200-meter dash. After watching senior sprinter Ike Okenwa smoke the field with a time of 21.56 seconds in the first heat of the finals, Adams had a mission. After a solid start out of the blocks, Adams pulled away from the pack and never looked back. When his surprising time of 21.93 was put up on the board, Okenwa yelled to Warhurst that he was responsible for that unexpected performance. Warhurst did- n't anticipate that time from Adams either. "Yeah, it's a surprise," Warhurst said. "But when you have a kid with as much ability as he does and he starts doing stuff, it's a pleasant surprise." Adams' raw ability and blazing speed are things that he has been looking to harness in practice this past week. "Darren is one of those guys who doesn't think when he runs, he just runs," Okenwa said. In practice, the senior leader, Okenwa, saw Adams struggling while running with the other jumpers. Okenwa approached Adams in practice on Friday "in hopes of helping the youngster improve. "I noticed he was getting beat horribly on the block," Okenwa said. "I was giv- Making the cut So far this season, five Wolverines have posted NCAA provisional marks in 11 events. Here is a list of some of the provi- sional marks: Nathan Brannan 800-meter run . 1:48.73 1,600-meter run 4:01.4 3,000-meter run 8:09.06 Brian Turner 1,600-meter run 4:05.29 Jeremy Schneider 800-meter run 1:50.11 ing him some pointers on what I do to help him fine tune his skills." Okenwa also was on a mission to improve the starts of his own races. "I'm the kind of guy who comes out toward the end," Okenwa said. "My main focus today was fine tuning, getting my start down better." Thanks to tutelage from experienced runners like Okenwa, the Wolverines are hoping for more outstanding perform: ances from Adams like the one he had on Saturday. With any luck, the Wolver- ines might just get another outstanding performance this weekend when Michi- gan takes part in the Big Ten Champi- onships in Minneapolis. 4 BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily Darren Adams had a breakout day at the Harold Silverston Invitational, including a fourth-place finish in the long jump. I I. REC spolr INTRAMURALS The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHATS HAPPENING REC IN+1?hAMURALS "he University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHAT'S HAPPENING 9 Intramural Volleyball Officials Needed!! w VOLLEYBALL ENTRIES TAKEN: Mon 2/18 ONLY 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $78 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Weds 2/20,6:00 PM, IMSB r ... RELAYS MEET ENTRYDEADLINE: Tues 2/19,4:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $25 per team MEET DATE: Weds 2/20 U ofM Track Building EVENTS: 800m (each runs 1 lap) 1200m (2=1 lap; 2=2 laps) 1600m (each runs 2 laps) 3200m (4=21aps, 2=4 laos) * No Experie Necessary nce @" T- Get a Free =Shirt PLAY BEGINS: Monday 314 IMSB I q '9 SPORTS " Officials are " Paid for All INTRAMURALS Games Worked a' AML RACQUETBALL ENTRIES DUE: Thurs 3/14, 4:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $5 for Singles $9 for Doubles TOURNAMENT DATES: Fri, Sat & Sun 3/15, 16, 17 IMSB r' j Flexible Yours DIONAL ATHLETE'S- OP4-TIE-YEAR Athletic Excellence Good Sportsmanship Extensive Participation Contributed to Quality of InmuralPwgram RESIDENCE HALL GRAD/FACULTY/STAFF SORORITY FRATERNITY INDEPENDENT - WOMEN INDEPENDENT- MEN CO-RECREATION I Training Clinics Continue Tonight Make sure to check the Intramural Sports Program All-Year Point Standings to see if your teamis in the running for the All-Year Championship In your division.