Last Saturday's Phil Diamond Invitational gave the Michigan men's track team valuable competitive experience - in more ways than usual.
Of course, the meet at Ferry Field meant a chance for many Wolverines to sharpen their performances before the Big Ten championship in two weeks.
Others, taking the meet off or running out of their usual event to concentrate on training, gained a somewhat different kind of experience. Senior Neil Gardner, for example, whose track resume includes two national championships in the 400-meter hurdles, added a new skill to his long list of accomplishments - raking the long jump pit.
"It's hard work raking the pit, but it's fun," Gardner said. "A little diversity never hurt. I took off this meet just so I could train harder during the week."
Those Wolverines involved in more traditional track pursuits also tired themselves out, but not in vain.
Junior Brian Thiesen took advantage of Gardner's absence in the 400 hurdles to take the spotlight himself, winning with a career-best time of 51.33 seconds - good enough to provisionally qualify for the NCAA championship.
Senior Kevin Sullivan managed a close second-place finish in the 1,500 meters, but said he was well on his way to reaching his former level of dominance. Sullivan, a three-time NCAA track champion, has been plagued by injuries for the past year.
His time of 3:42 in the 1,500 on Saturday was a season best and NCAA provisional qualifier, evidence that Sullivan is approaching his old championship form.
"I don't think I'm at that level right now," Sullivan said. "I'm getting there. It's hard to say - it's a matter of time more than anything. I've got three weeks (until NCAAs), and I don't know whether it will be enough, but it'll be close. Definitely within six weeks I should be back to where I was."
Whatever intensity the Diamond meet lacked due to the absence of stars like Gardner was more than counterbalanced by others like senior Damon Devasher. Devasher placed second in the high jump and 100-meter dash while competing out of event in the 200, garnering a respectable seventh place.
"I expected to do better," Devasher said. "But this week I worked so hard in practice that I think a lot of us are tired. We broke ourselves down completely this week. I expected to run faster, but I can't complain too much."
Devasher said he is anxious to repeat his solid all-around performance of Saturday at the upcoming Big Tens.
"I've got a busy day at Big Tens," Devasher said. "Hopefully, I can place in the top five in all my events and help bring the team a Big Ten championship.
"We have the possibility of winning, but everybody's got to go out there and do their job. I'm a senior, and they look up to me to win points, so I take that as my duty to go out there and do it."
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
The members of the Michigan men's track team had varied experiences at the Phil Diamond Invitational - from running relays to raking the long jump pit.