Woo Pig Sooey!
This has been the call at the end of 13 of the last 14 NCAA indoor track championships and during the last five NCAA outdoor track championships.
This weekend, the No. 13 Michigan men's track and field team will try to derail No. 1 Arkansas' dynasty at the Arkansas Relays in Fayetteville, Ark.
"Try" is the operative word for the Wolverines, as the Razorbacks represent a collegiate dynasty that would make John Wooden jealous. Since coach John McDonnell was hired in 1984, Arkansas has won 19 out of a possible 27 championships in both the indoor and outdoor ranks.
To celebrate this run, Arkansas is bringing back their 1984 national championship indoor team, which started the run of championships, for a reunion this weekend.
Needless to say, the top-ranked Razorbacks are loaded again, boasting top-flight talent in both the running and field events. David Levy paced Arkansas with a victory in the 1,500-meter run last week in the Texas Relays. The Razorbacks also pulled out victories in both sprint medley relays.
Arkansas is also talented in the jumping events, as they boast indoor triple jump and long jump champion Robert Howard and 1996 junior college high jump champion James Ballard.
Michigan's best bet at challenging the Razorbacks is in the distance events, as Steve Lawrence and John Mortimer are coming off victories in Texas last weekend. Lawrence notched his first victory of the season in the 5,000 and Mortimer won the 3,000 steeplechase, qualifying provisionally for the NCAAs.
The Wolverines also got a victory last week in the 400 hurdles from Neil Gardner, his third win of the outdoor season.
Tomorrow, Gardner will be hard pressed to win his other signature event-the 110 hurdles-as he will be challenged by Arkansas' Kevin White, an NCAA qualifier.
The Arkansas Relays also represent the smallest field that Michigan has competed against this season, as there are only nine teams. The Arkansas Relays is the first all-college event on Michigan's schedule.