The moment has lived on in the minds of Trekkies and normal people alike: Spock, giving the Vulcan sign meaning "live long and prosper" for supposedly the last time in Star Trek II.
In a burst of courage, the pointy-eared alien sacrificed himself to save the rest of the Enterprise from certain doom.
The Michigan women's track team, though perhaps not sci-fi fans, will be asked by Michigan coach James Henry to make the same type of sacrifice at tomorrow's Eastern Michigan Invitational in Ypsilanti.
The Wolverines, too, will have to give up a portion of short-term glory for the greater good - in this case, not for the safety of the Enterprise, but for ultimate success in the Big Ten championships, just one week after the unscored Eastern Michigan Invitational.
In order to ensure a peak performance from the Wolverines in Big Tens, some of their top athletes will do something tomorrow that is often unheard of in the world of college sports - they'll hold themselves back. Some won't even compete.
"We have some athletes that will take the weekend off, or run out of their event," Henry said. "Things have been proven pretty much for that group of people. We're just wanting them to take it easy and make sure nothing really goes wrong - just rest for the (Big Tens)."
For Henry, this is a necessary step for Big Tens, which, besides the NCAA championships at the end of the season, is the Wolverines' most important meet.
"This momentum should carry us on, it's yet to be seen," Henry said. "The team has accomplished nearly everything we've asked from them, (but) we haven't had a letdown. So, to a certain degree, we're intentionally letting ourselves down. Sort of like the quiet before the storm.
"I don't know what type of storm there will be, but I do know that we're saying, 'Let's just go easy, make it nice and quiet, until the weather gets crazy,' and that's going to be at the Big Tens."
The Wolverines' traveling squad is only allowed to compete with a limited number of athletes. This means that, although tomorrow may equate to a day off for some Wolverines, for others it will provide a chance to prove that they also deserve to be in Michigan's Big Ten equation.
"We have other athletes - our second or third tier - the kids that haven't proven themselves as of yet," Henry said. "They're still wanting to make significant improvements, and we're going to need that group of people as well.
"We're still wanting them to bring the pressure upon themselves in terms of their performance, the efforts and the results."
The Michigan coaching staff hasn't made the final determination of who will not compete, but the list will probably include freshmen Julie Froud and Maria Brown, who specialize in distance and sprint events, respectively.
Surprisingly, three Michigan blue-chippers will not abstain from tomorrow's relatively unimportant meet.
After struggling with the stomach flu for the past month, freshman sprinter Kenise Bocage will use the meet to regain some of her pre-illness form in the 60- and 200-yard dash.
Junior Tania Longe, despite finishing in the top-three in the long jump, 60 hurdles and triple jump at last weekend's Canon Classic, is not satisfied with her overall performance thus far.
"As well as Longe has performed this year, she still wants to better her performance," Henry said. "She will be long-jumping to try to qualify for the NCAAs, and she will also be hurdling. She was not happy at all with her hurdle performance, (considering) that she had one terrible race in the preliminaries at (the Canon Classic)."
Sophomore high-jumper Nicole Forrester will also compete tomorrow. Forrester experienced problems due to her relative lack of jumping at the 1996 outdoor Big Ten championships, where she failed to qualify for the finals.
This season has been an entirely different story for Forrester, who hasn't lost once in four meets. According to Henry, she's not about to break her winning rhythm by skipping a meet.
"Forrester doesn't want to lie on her laurels as of yet," Henry said. "She thinks she can jump much higher, and it will only help her confidence if she can continue to improve."
Even though the Eastern Michigan Invitational will not feature some of the Wolverines who usually compete, those who do show up will not lack competition.
"This is (going to be) a carnival," Henry said. "When I say carnival, there will probably be 30 or 40 schools there. There will be a number of club teams, and a number of smaller Division I and II teams there - it will be a very long and very big meet."
Even Spock had to come back to life sooner or later - the Wolverines will continue to face tough workouts in practice to make sure they can enact the same type of resurrection at the Big Tens.
"This week will probably be our hardest week of workouts," Henry said. "We're wanting to work them very hard. We cannot back off the intensity of our training, so we might drop the performances in terms of competing, but we will not back off our training."
FILE PHOTO/Daily
The Michigan women's track team will ready itself for next weekend's Big Ten championships by holding back at this weekend's Eastern Michigan Invitational. While some Wolverines will sit this meet out, others, like freshman Kenise Bocage and junior Tania Longe, will take the opportunity to improve their form.