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Men's track hosts weekend meet

The Michigan men's track team would just as soon forget last weekend in Columbus.

After a lackluster sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last weekend, the Wolverines end their indoor season quietly this Saturday at noon, when they host the Silverston Invitational.

Nebraska, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois will all be in town this weekend for the meet.

"This should be a relatively low-key weekend," Wolverine assistant coach Ron Warhurst said. "(Team morale) is low for (us), just about as low as among the coaches."

The Michigan coaches gave runners the option to not run. Therefore, most runners are using practice time to prepare for the upcoming outdoor season, rather than Saturday's Invitational. This meet is primarily viewed as a last chance for teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

"We have one goal this weekend -- to qualify our distance medley team for the NCAAs," Warhurst said.

The NCAA Championships will be held in Indianapolis on March 8 and 9.

The Wolverines, defending national champions in the distance medley, are still preparing for this weekend's meet. Defending NCAA indoor mile champion Kevin Sullivan will run the mile leg, despite nursing an injured Achilles' tendon.

Scott MacDonald will run the three-quarter mile leg, while Trinity Townsend runs the half-mile leg. Townsend was runner-up in the 800-meter race at the Big Ten Championships. The quarter-mile runner still has not been decided.

The Wolverine distance medley runners aren't the only ones who have to perform well Saturday in order to qualify for the national championships. The invitational has special importance for high jumper Jon Royce as well. Royce has an outside shot at qualifying, and needs to do especially well in order to have any chance.

"Jon Royce needs at least (a jump of) 7-foot-3 in order to qualify," Michigan head coach Jack Harvey said.

Wolverine hurdler Neil Gardner also has a chance to qualify for the NCAAs. Gardner, though, will not be able to compete this weekend and bolster his chances of making the cut.

Gardner is suffering from bronchitis, which he picked up while in Columbus. Nevertheless, Gardner feels his runner-up finish in the 55-meter high hurdles at the Big Tens last weekend is enough to earn him a spot at the national championships.

"Right now all I'm concerned about is getting better," Gardner said.

Gardner is not the only one with a difficult road ahead of him. Sullivan faces a deeper field than last year. The condition of Sullivan's Achilles' tendon doesn't help his efforts to repeat, either.

"(Sullivan's) not running as well as last year due to his Achilles' (tendon)," Harvey said. "(The tendon) has hampered his racing as well as his training."