Sports
Page 16 Wednesday, May 20, 1981 The Michigan Daily
4
.(
Traeksters prepare for Big Tens
Michigan-hosted event, placed third in "You have to figure they will get a few
ss B r c athe X00-meter dash with his time of 10.68 extra points because they are the home
seconds. An unaffiliated runner, Elliot Yspired."The
Tabron, took first in that sprint with his Spartans are strong in the triple jump
time of 10.47. and have a 400-meter relay team that
s se e S t t le rep ea t Michigan's Shelby Johnson literally placed third at the Big Ten Indoor
ran away with first place in the 400- Championships.
- meter intermediate hurdles. Wolverine MICHIGAN'S chances of repeating
By JOE CHAPELLE Wolverine long jumper James Ross track coach Jack Harvey looks for both as champs are not those of a longshot
Several Wolverine tracksters shar- took first in that event with a jump of Johnson and Woolfolk to do very well at by any means. It will rely heavily on the
pened up for next weekend's Big Ten 24'3 ", while teammate Derek Harper the Big Ten's. performances of several standouts.
Outdoor Track Championships by com- placed second with his leap of 23'9 ". The Wolverines, last season the Big Ross, who holds the Wolverine record
peting last Saturday in the Ann Arbor Ross is favored to win the long jump at Ten outdoor champions, hope for a of 24'3%", is a strong possibility to take
Relays, an open meet featuring college the Big Ten Championship, as well. repeat performance in 1981. Illinois, the the long jump. The Wolverines also ex-
and area amateur thinclads from BUTCH WOOLFOLK, one of the current Big Ten indoor champion, pect a strong performance from
around the midwest. - other Wolverines competing in the might have the edge over Michigan this Woolfolk in the sprints. He will
year, however. probably see action in the 200-meter
"I would say that Illinois is favored in dash for the Wolverines, an event in
the meet," Harvey conceded. "They which he holds the Michigan team
are the indoor champions. We expect it record with his 1980 time of 20.59 secon-
to be a very close meet." ds.
ILLINOIS' strengths lie in its shot- Harvey also has high hopes for sprin-
By BUDDY MOOREHOUSE putters and intermediate distance run- ter Andrew Bruce, who set a new team
ners. Juniors Scott Jennings and Mike record this year with his time of 10.38 in
Lehman are expected to turn in fine the 100 meters and who ran a 10.47
performances. Jennings placed first in against the Chicago Track Club, as
Big Ten tourney a success. . . the shot put at the 1980 Pan-American well. -
Championships, while Lehman was the Other Wolverines who should fare
..".H oo l Sabo in the clutch Big Ten Champion, both indoors and well at the championshipsmeet include
0 . .~7.YI outdoors, in 1980. Brien Ciemer in the steeplechase,
In the intermediate distance events, Shelby Johnson in the hurdles, and
Big Ten baseball banterings: junior Jon Schmidt, who was the Big Gerard Donakowski in the 10,000
... At first, I didn't like the idea of a tournament tu decide the Big Ten Ten 880-yard run champion last year, meters.
champion, but after seeing what a huge success last weekend's was, I've and senior Dave Ayoub, the winner of Michigan's 400-meter relay team is
changed my mind. Interest in college baseball, which has never been very the 100-yard dash at the Big Ten cham- currently rated third in the Big Ten.
high in this part of the country, was given a boost as almost 10,000 fans tur- pionships last year, should both place The Wolverines also expect shot-putter
ned out to watch Michigan grad the conference title for the second straight well at this weekend's. meet. Illinois is John Neilson to put in a strong perfor-
year. The tourney also earned notice from the Detroit media, something that also strong in the discus, high jump, mance. He finished second to Ohio
has been lacking in the past. and mile relay. State's Kevin Akins with his toss of
... Sunday's 7-6 Wolverine win over Purdue can be placed in the Harvey does not see the Illini as in- 588" in the Ann Arbor Relays. Akins
"Michigan Hall of Fame of Exciting Finishes" alongside Anthony Carter's vincible, however. Among those he ex- set a new Ferry Field record to capture
game-winning touchdown two years ago against Indiana. With Michigan pects to be in a challenging position is first place with his heave of 64'0". Ohio
trailing 6-5, in the ninth inning, freshman third baseman Chris Sabo Michigan State. "Michigan State could State,however, is not a likely contender
delivered a clutch two-out two-run double that won the game and proved to be the sleeper at the meet," he said. for the team title.
4
the 4,000 or so delirious Wolverine fans that college baseball is, indeed, ex-
citing.
... Sabo earned all-tournament honors at his position, playing most of the
time like anything but a rookie. Aside from a couple of "freshman
mistakes," such as allowing himself to get picked off of second base and
making a bad throw to first that allowed Purdue to take the lead from
Michigan, Sabo displayed tremendous ability to come through in the clutch
- something that the Wolverines are going to need if they hope to advance
past this weekend's NCAA Mideast Regional at Fisher Stadium.
... Tourney MVP and Michigan catcher Gerry Hool had a fantastic
series, going 10-for-14 at the plate, including several clutch hits. Couple it
with his stellar performance in last year's NCAA tournament, Hool has
shown that he's a standout when tourney time comes around.
. . .Regardless of how well the baseballers do in the NCAA, my vote for
Michigan coach-of-the-year goes to Bud Maddaugh. The second-year head
coach has taken his squad to the league title for the seconf straight time, cer-
tainly not an easy thing to do. Middaugh had proven to be an excellent
teacher of young players, particularly pitchers. Last year's newcomers to
the mound corps were Scot Elam, Scott Dawson and Steve Ontiveros, all of
whom have developed into top-notch Big Ten hurlers. This year, Middaugh
brought in Gary Wayne, Rich Stoll, Bill Shuta, and Dave Kopf, and all have
proven to bea big part of Michigan's success this year.
The ump gets dumped
... The most humorous sight of the tournament came in Michigan's
opening round win over Illinois, when the umpire at third base took atumble
while chasing a foul grounder, much to the delight of the Fisher crowd.
... Teams from the Sun Belt have traditionally been the powers in college
baseball, but the Midwestern teams are starting to gain respect. In addition
to Michigan and Eastern Michigan, which won the Mid-American conferen-
ce tournament, both Minnesota and Central Michigan received at-large bids
to the NCAA tourney. Central Michigan will play in the Northeast Regional,
while Minnesota travels to the South Regional in Florida, where the Gophers
will face Miami (Fla.), probably the best team in the country.
... Michigan's first-round opponent is the University of New Orleans, an
unknown quantity in these parts. UNO is currently 47-14, with a team batting
average of .336, good for 10th in the country. Add to that two pitchers with
10 wins on the year, and it would appear that New Orleans is not going to be a
pushover for the Wolverines.
Deily Photo by PAUL ENGSTROM
WOLVERINE CATCHER JERRY Hool is mobbed after reaching home
plate during Michigan's 7-6 victory over Purdue during the Big Ten baseball
championships. Hool had a fantastic series. He was 10-14 from the plate,
giving the Wolverines several clutch hits.