Put your money where your mouth is.
Three weeks ago, after the Michigan women's track team dominated the Wake Forest Invitational, Michigan coach James Henry said he wanted the Wolverines to face tougher competition.
He may have questioned whether Michigan was really ready for stronger opponents, however, after the Wolverines garnered just one first-place finish at the Raleigh Relays the weekend following the Wake meet.
This weekend, Michigan will have another chance to respond to Henry's challenge at the Duke Invitational, where the Wolverines will again face top-notch competition. Making the trip to Raleigh, N.C., will be teams such as Georgetown and North Carolina, as well as a slew of smaller colleges.
Rather than being intimidated, the Wolverines are anxious to improve after the letdown.
Junior Tania Longe, Michigan's multi-event answer to Superwoman, has been working on problems she had at the Raleigh meet and expects to do better this weekend. One of the main problems she addressed was hurdling. Normally a strong hurdler, Longe's performance fell flat at Raleigh - literally.
"I didn't get down on myself or anything," Longe said. "The last two meets I've learned stuff that I need to be more focused on, and I just feel that I'm ready. And I worked on something in the hurdles, so I won't fall again, because I fell the last time."
The Wolverines are finishing up a two-week layoff from competition that wasn't much of a vacation - they faced intense training, particularly in the first week of the "break."
Freshman distance runner Lisa Ouellet said the time off should prove to be a definite advantage at Duke.
"We're two weeks stronger, two weeks fitter and two weeks faster, so we'll just see what'll happen," Ouellet said.
Like Longe, Ouellet has had some frustrations in her events, the 800- and 1,500-meter runs. Ouellet has had problems adjusting to the physical nature of the races, which often involve jostling for position and can even require some strategically-thrown elbows.
And like Longe, Ouellet has also learned to deal with the particular challenges of her events.She expects to take advantage of her new-found aggressiveness to help the Wolverines.
"In my particular race (this weekend), there's going to be a lot of girls to race with, which I like," Ouellet said. "I just don't like the physical part, but I'm getting used to that. Where I used to race, I was never really involved in physical contact. I've never been a physical runner, which I've had to learn.
"I'm ready for physical now."
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
Freshman sprinter/hurdler Marcella Cornell and the rest of the Michigan women's track team are heading back to Raleigh, N.C., again, after competing there last weekend in the Raleigh Relays.