14 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, May 22, 1996 SPORTS 'M' women's track places 3rd in Big Tens; men finish 7th. By Chris Farah and James Goldstein Daily Sports Writers STATE COLLEGE - Coming into the Big Ten Championship in a rebuild- ing year after losing much of the talent that propelled it to conference domi- nance in 1993 and 1994, the Michigan women's track team was looking to place among the top four teams. .> Last weekend at Penn State, the Wolverines surpassed these expecta- tions. Michigan finished a very strong third with 95 points. Favorite Wisconsin beat out Illinois by one point to capture the team title, 149-148. "We exceeded our goal in the sense that we've come in a really respectable third," Michigan coach James Henry said. As for the Michigan men's track and field team, it wasn't expecting to com- pete for the team title because of a lack of depth. The Wolverines placed seventh with 72 points, yet they were just one point behind Ohio State and two behind Illinois. They were only nine points behind third-place Penn State. Wisconsin made it a school sweep by capturing its second consecutive team title by blowing away the rest of the field with 147 points. Minnesota followed far behind with 104.5 points for second place. Individually, though, the Wolverines showed their might. Hurdles specialist Neil Gardner highlighted the Wolverines' perfor- mances. He won the 400-meter hurdles (50.56 seconds) and took second in the 110-meter hurdles (:13.81). Both times qualified Gardner for the NCAA Championships to be held in Eugene, Or. on May 29-June 1. of an inch short of Ohio State's Shandelier Boyd-Pleasant. Though pleased with her perfor- mance in the heptathlon. Longe said she still missed the competition of her main rival, Purdue's Corissa Yassen. Heptathlon-favorite Yassen decided to focus her energies on other events this year. "[Winning] feels all right," Longe said, "but coming in here and winning with Corissa would have been better." After a disappointing sixth-place fin- ish in the 3,000-meter run Saturday. Babcock came through in the 5,000. Babcock placed second, behind dis- tance favorite Kathy Butler of Wisconsin. "It was really nice to come back," Babcock said. "Obviously I felt bad about yesterday. Today was a lot closer (to how I usually perform)." According to Henry, Babcock's determination mirrored the team's per- formance at the championship. "There would be one athlete who would do something less respected and come right back and do it better the next throw or the next jump, like Courtney, and redeem themselves," Henry said. "That was pretty much indicative of how this team is" Just like Babcock, Gardner was able to improve from one event to the next. The junior from Kingston, Jamaica, who qualified for this summer's Olympics earlier this season for the Jamaican team, said he lost the 110- meter hurdles at the seventh hurdle. But in the 400-meter race, everything worked out. "What I tried to do was get a good start so I have the momentum going into the wind," Gardner said. "The advantage I had was I was right behind (second place finisher Indiana's Russ Pernus), so when he was not making a move, I could see and react." Royce, on the other hand, said he felt his high jump victory was bittersweet* "Winning was great, but I woul have preferred to wits and qualify for nationals as well," Royce said. "I just wanted to make it to nationals my senior year and to go to the dance, but I got left home." Michigan senior Trinity Townsend didn't get left home. He automatically qualified for the NCAAs by finishing second (1:47.25) in the 800-meter run. Townsend ran in the 800-meter run for the first time in the Big Ten tourname He raced the 1500-meter run in last year's conference tournament. The distance squad missed Kevin Sullivan and Scott MacDonald, who both red-shirted this year to concentrate on making the Olympics for the Canadian team. But Wolverine freshman John Mortimer made a name for himself by placing second in the 3,000-mete steeplechase (9:08.95) and fifth in t W 5,000-meter run (15:00.40). Other Michigan scorers include Stan Johanning, who qualified for nationals and finished second in the javelin with a throw of 229-9 feet. Felman Malveaux placed seventh (:10.60) in the 100-meter dash. Damon DeVasher wound up eighth in the high jump. In the relays, the Wolverines took third in the 4-x-400-meter relay and fifth in the 4-x-100-meter relay. r Michigan senior sprinter Tearza Johnson and the women's track tee third at the Big Ten Championships. The men's team placed sevens Also, Michigan's Jon Royce took first place in the high jump by clearing the 7-1 1/2-foot bar. He missed qualify- ing for nationals when he failed to clear 7-1 3/4 feet. Point scorers for Michigan's women team included seniors Katy Hollbacher and Mayrie Richards, who placed third and fourth in their first-ever shots at the 10,000-meter run. Senior Monika Black placed fourth in the high jump, and freshman Stephanie Wigness placed third in the discus. "We demonstrated that we might not have all the marquee athletes, but we're a very balanced squad and I think we overachieved this weekend," Henry said. Leading the Wolverines in their bal- anced attack were sophomore Tania Longe and senior Courtney Babcock. Longe finished first in the heptathlon and second in the long jump, a quarter . J UTONI GET 1 FREE ON ALL MICHIGAN T-SHIRTS, SWEATSHIRTS, AND COTTON HATS. 304 S. State Street OPEN 7 DAYS 4 durs South of Liberty A WEEK 099-448- . NTI E : Pusztai set to represent Blue men's1 By Richard Shin earned a berth in the NCAA Daily Sports Writer Individual Championships with an The Michigan men's tennis team's impressive 37-14 record. Pusztai is season is over, but for the team's No. ranked No. 25 in collegiate tennis and I singles player Peter Pusztai, the end will compete in the 64-player field of the season is just the beginning. May 22-26 at Athens, Ga. Pusztai, a native of Ann Arbor, This season as co-captain, Pusztai tennis at NCAAs enjoyed his best year, winning the Big Ten Singles Championship. He was also honored as the 1996 Conference Player of the Year, and was named to the All-Big Ten Conference team for the second con- secutive year. lk __________________________ p ~DRUGS 320 South State St. 663-4121 The place to shop for all your Summer needs! * Sunglasses * Coolers * Sun block e Frisbees ' Insect repellent * Fans (RAVE $2 ON ANY FAN IN STOCK Think You're Pregnant? " Free Pregnancy Test - Information about pregnancy}1'1It and optionsC!"!ar " COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL Pregnancy Counseling Center Women Helping Women (313) 434-3088 (24 hours) 2950 Packard, Ypsilanti, MI (1 Block East of Golfside)