2B - February 9, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
2B - February 9, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Switzer speeds below
four-minute mile mark
Delaware State
game is lose-
lose for 31'
Senior's 3:58:86 time
is fifth-best time in
Michigan track
and field history
By ROGER SAUERHAFT
Daily Sports Writer
The sub four-minute mile has
long been the measuring stick of
great long-distance runners, and
Justin Switzer joined the elite club
Saturday.
Switzer's 3:58.86 mile, although
just good for second place behind
Michigan State's Shane Knoll,
gave the senior the fifth-fastest
mile time in school history. Swit-
zer also earned the first NCAA
automatic bid of the season for the
No. 18 Michigan men's track and
field team.
"It's a big deal to break four
minutes in the mile," Michigan
coach Fred LaPlante said. "You
break four minutes - that's every
miler's dream."
Nate Brannen's 3:55.11 time in
2005 remains the fastest time in
school history.
LaPlante wasn't surprised by
his distance runner's stellar time
at this weekend's non-scoring
Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.
Switzer also won the 1,500-meter
run in the 2007 Outdoor Big Ten
Championships as a sophomore,
and his coach said more top marks
might be on the way.
As Switzer and the Michigan
distance runners ran in South
Bend, the sprinters, hurdlers and
field athletes competed in the
Nebraska Husker Invitational in
Lincoln, Neb.
Michigan's 4x400-meter relay
(3:14:45) finished less than a sec-
ond behind No. 16 Nebraska, a
team LaPlante described as a very
formidable opponent. The time
was the team's fastest of the sea-
son and aided by senior All-Amer-
ican Andre Barnes, who returned
from an ankle injury that was
bothering him for six weeks.
Although Barnes ran in last
week's Indiana Relays, Barnes's
48.3-second split in the 4x400
marked more of a return to form.
"He's not where he's going to
"You break four
minutes - that's
every miler's
dream."~
be three weeks from now, but this'
week for him was great," LaPlante
said. "It's been a pretty tough time
for him ... but the other guys know
if he's running well, they get excit-
ed."
Barnes and senior distance
runner Lex Williams are get-
ting healthy just in time for the
Big Ten Championship meet in
three weeks. And senior Dan
Harmsen, another member of the
4x400-meter relay team, said this
weekend's meet also helped as a
confidence booster for next week-
end's Akron Open.
"We really needed to get a good
time," Harmsen said of his relay
team. "It started some momentum
for us, and hopefully we can push
that time down for next week at
Akron."
CHRIStOMBOAK/Oaily
Senior Justin Switzer ran a 3:58.86 mile at the Meyo Invitational on Saturday,
good enough for fifth-best in Michigan men's track and field history. Although he
didn't win the event, the time earned Switzer an NCAA automatic bid.
Athletic Dept.
should schedule
non-conference
games sooner
Circle Oct. 17on your cal-
endar. Michigan football
will lose on that day.
The Athlet-
ic Department
announced
Friday that
Delaware
State, a Foot-
ball Cham-
pionship
Subdivisionf
team, would
be the Wol- NATE
verines' oppo- SANDALS
nent on that
open date.
"I am happy
that we are able to announce
the completed football schedule
for this year," Athletic Director
Bill Martin said in a statement.
"We discussed the open date
with multiple schools and were
able to reach an agreement with
Delaware State. It's very difficult
to line up an opponent this late
in the process and we appreciate
the efforts made by each institu-
tion that we spoke with."
No matter what happens at
Michigan Stadium against the
Hornets, can only come out on
the short end of the equation.
Martin makes a good point
about the difficulty of schedul-
ing an opponent this late in the
game. But really the only per-
son he has to blame is himself.
Martin has control of football
scheduling, and perhaps with
a little bit more prior planning,
Michigan would have a chance to
win on Oct. 17.
Here's why Michigan is des-
tined to lose that Saturday:
First, Michigan is expected to
win, and even a 50-point victory
won't impress everyone.
Second, Michigan is expected
to win. And if it loses, it will be
the Apocalypse all over again.
Third, a win over a second-tier
opponent could prevent Michi-
gan from a trip to the Rose Bowl.
The Big Ten's third tiebreaker
for the conference title reads as
follows: "If there is still a tie for
the championship, or if the tied
teams did not play each other,
the team that played more games
against Football Championship
Subdivision (FCS) teams shall be
eliminated."
The Wolverines are going to
lose on Oct. 17, even though the
scoreboard will probably show
them ahead of Delaware State at
the end of the game. There's no
time to fix this problem for this
coming season, but it can cer-
tainly be avoided in the future.
Martin needs to start looking
for top-notch home-and-home
agreements with other BCS
schools.
The Notre Dame series is
excellent, and maybe both pro-
grams will be good again some-
day. But there will always be
tradition in that matchup which
should continue.
Beyond the Fighting Irish,
Martin should be looking for
another big non-conference
opponent.
Oregon hosted Michigan in
2003 and won. The Ducks came
to Ann Arbor in 2007 and won. It
was a 0-2 series for the Wolver-
ines, but those games generated
a lot more excitement than the
Delaware States of the world
ever will. In addition, the chance
to play against top opponents like
Oregon will better prepare Mich-
igan for the Big Ten schedule and
a potential bowl game.
Of course, money is a signifi-
cant issue when it comes to craft-
ing the non-conference football
schedule. Home football games
aren't just good for the Athletic
Department coffers, they're more
like winning the lottery seven or
eight times a year.
It's a significant loss in rev-
efue when the football team has
to give away a future home game
to bring in a big-name oppo-
nent to the Big House. Martin
deserves credit for arranging
home games against Vanderbilt
and Utah in recent years with-
out having to return the favor at
their place.
Michigan doesn't need a big
home-and-home setup every
year, but every few years would
be a good idea. Think about the
hype Ohio State has gotten for
its recent home-and-home with
Texas and its current series with
Southern California.
Scheduling a quality home-
and-home might actually bring
money to the Athletic Depart-
ment in the long run.
If Martin can schedule a game
against a school ina city with a
big alumni base (think Michigan
versus Rutgers at Giants Stadi-
um), there could be big donations
to help soften the blow of losing a
home game.
Michigan can continue sched-
uling two MAC teams, an FCS
team and Notre Dame each year,
and it will still sell out every
home game and be one of the
most popular programs in the
country.
But doing so is a disservice to
both the fans and the team, both
of which deserve better.
- Sandals can be reached
at nsandalstumich.edu.
Brady sports retro suit, mustache
to break Spitzs SU pooi record
The Wolverines
haven't lost to the
Spartans in a dual
meet since 1976
By RYAN A. PODGES
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - Michi-
gan men's swimming and diving
coach Mike Bottom was pretty
excited when he realized junior
Chris Brady would have a chance
to break one of Mark Spitz's final
collegiate pool records this Sun-
day at Michi-
gan State.
But there a
would be'some
rules. y
Bottomt
wanted it to be
done as close
as possible to BRADY
the way Spitz
himself set the
record.
To do that Brady had to do three
things: swim fast, wear just a sim-
ple Speedo suit (instead of a high-
tech Speedo LZR racer bodysuit)
and, most importantly, grow one
of Spitz's signature mustaches.
When the Wolverines and
Spartans met in East Lansing, his
preparation paid off. Sporting a
traditional Specdo suit and a mus-
tache, Brady smashed Spitz's pool
record in the 100-yard butterfly by
1.61 seconds. The record had stood
since 1972, the same year Spitz
won a then-record seven gold met-
als at the Munich Olympic Games.
Spitz set the record as a senior at
Indiana.
"It was pretty awesome because
it was Mark Spitz, and everyone
knows who he is," Brady said. "It's
so exciting to do because of who
he is and what he has done. So its
special. Mike told me I should be
trying to beat it, and he wanted me
to look as retro as possible."
No. 3 Michigan went on to win
the meet, 176-109. The victory
completed the team's regular-sea-
son competition. The Wolverines
were perfect in Big Ten dual meets
(6-0) and lost only once all year, to
No. 1 Texas in November.
The final results were surely no
surprise to either team. The Wol-
verines lead the all-time series
between the in-state rivals 79-5.
The Spartans' last win in the
annual battle came in 1976. No
other Michigan varsity team has
a longer active win streak against
Michigan State.
Despite the lopsided series, Bot-
tom said his team still had a lot to
gain from the competition.
"I think that it's good for these
guys to come over and swim in a
pool they're not used to," he said.
"This is not an easy pool to swim
in. It's a six lane pool. It's shallow
at one end, and you're starting off
the bulkhead, which is different
"It was
pretty awesome
because it was
Mark Spitz,"
for us. Any time we come into a
different situation, it's good for us
to learn how to adjust and learn
how to race."
But adjusting was never an
issue for the Wolverines, who won
14 of the meet's 16 events and went
on to set two more pool records, in
the 200-yard medley and freestyle
relays.
Two Michigan swimmers won
two events each. Senior co-captain
Matt Patton won the 200-yard
freestyle and backstroke events
and freshman Dan Madwed won
the 100-yard backstroke and the
200-yard individual medley. For
the second straight meet, senior
co-captain Jamie Martone won
the 50-yard freestyle with a time
of 20.23.
The Wolverines also took the
top two spots in the one- and
three-meter diving events. Senior
Kyle Schroeder won both.
Because Michigan can bring
a limited number of athletes to
away meets, the Wolverines also
competed without some key swim-
mers. Sophomores Tyler Clary and
Neal Kennedy and juniors Alon
Mandel and Andr6 Schultz all vol-
unteered to practice in Ann Arbor
instead of competing in the meet.
Regardless of the easy victory,
Bottom acknowledged that he had
higher expectations for his team
in areas like the 200-yard butter-
fly and breaststroke events- the
only two that Michigan did not
finish first in.
"We did show a couple weak-
nesses," he said. "And we could
have swam faster in some areas,
but it's always good to come out
swim one of your rivals."
The Wolverines have three
weeks off before swimming in the
Big Ten Championships on Feb.
26-28.
M' throwers get
first chance to
compete indoors
Government
Career Fair
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
2-6 pm at The Michigan Union
" Meet with 10+ state and federal agencies
" Discuss internship and full-time positions
" Register on-site the day of the event
- For a list of organizations scheduled
to attend visit: careercenter.umich.edu
For more information contact us at:
321 SAB (734)764-7460 - www.carcercenter.umnichi.edu
FREE STANLEY ROBINSON POSTER.
E-MAIL ANDYREID@UMICH.EDU.
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Thursday, February 12th
8:00-9:50 PM
Yost Ice Arena
www.umich.edu/yost
Discus throwers
record tosses in
Kentucky's Nutter
Field House
By AMY SCARANO
Daily Sports Writer
It's no surprise that the throw-
ers on the Michigan women's track
and field team don't get any real
practice during the winter months
in Ann Arbor.
Instead, they practice their
form by throwing into a net in the
Indoor Track Building. But they
never know how far their throw
actually would have gone.
This weekend, at the Rod
McCravy Memorial in Lexington,
Kentucky, Michigan throwers
tried their arm with the discus -
and this time, there was no net.
Kentucky Nutter Field House
is big enough to host indoor dis-
cus throwing, and although discus
not an NCAA event during indoor
season, the meet provided good
practice for the start of the outdoor
season in March.
Sophomore Emily Pendleton
recorded the farthest throw in the
event (52.47 meters).
"We went down there to have
some fun and see what would hap-
pen," Pendleton said. "It was a
really relaxed atmosphere. I just
wanted to go out there and see
what I could do and give myself a
starting point."
In their upcoming home meet
on Feb. 21, the Wolverine throw-
ers are hoping to use the spacious
Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in asimilar
manner.
Meanwhile, Michigan's run-
ners won three events at the non-
scoring Meyo Invitational at Notre
Dame's Loftus Sports Center this
weekend.
Senior Geena Gall won the 500-
meter dash with an NCAA auto-
matic qualifying time (2:03.91).
Senior Tiffany Ofili, who did not
compete in the team's last meet at
Eastern Michigan on Jan. 30 and
31, won the 60-meter dash with a
time of 7.49 seconds:
And the Wolverines won the
distance medley relay in 11:10.23,
an NCAA provisional qualifying
time.
For now, the discus throwers
will continue practicing with the
net as they, and everyone else,
await warmer temperatures and
the outdoor season.
P1
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