CHAMPAIGN - John Mortimer went into last weekend's Big Ten championships with NCAA provisional qualifying times in three separate events - the 10,000-meter run, the 5,000 and the 3,000 steeplechase.
If there had been any doubts in the ability of one man to dominate each of those races in one single meet, none remained when the sophomore left Champaign on Sunday.
Mortimer led the Michigan men's track team to a third-place finish at the Big Tens with a tremendous individual performance. Wisconsin won the meet with 145 points, followed by Minnesota with 110 and Michigan with 97.
Twenty-eight of Michigan's 97 points came from Mortimer, who placed first in the 10,000 and steeplechase, and second in the 5,000.
What was most impressive about his performance was not simply his placing, but his utter dominance. Mortimer was casually checking his watch as he crossed the finish line of the 10,000.
Although Mortimer only placed second in his last event, the 5,000, fatigue takes its toll - even on Mortimer.
"Definitely in the 5,000 I was a little tired," Mortimer said. "The other guys were fresher, so I was at a disadvantage."
Mortimer started each race at the back of the pack, moving his way to the front.
"In a Big Ten championship like this, which is so tactical, probably the smartest way to run it is as easy as you can and still place as high as you can, to come out with a lot of points," Mortimer said. "It just takes a little patience and confidence in your ability to come back at the end."
Mortimer was far from alone among successful Wolverines.
As a whole, Michigan's distance crew stepped up in a big way - accounting for 38 points aside from Mortimer himself.
Senior Kevin Sullivan demonstrated an impressive return to form after nagging injuries slowed him down in 1996. Sullivan breezed through the 1,500, winning with a time of 3:46.75, and placed third in the 5,000.
"We've got a really strong distance crew and a lot of depth from the 800 up to the 10,000," Sullivan said. "We were banking on a lot of points from the distance guys this weekend."
Carrying Michigan's end in the non-distance categories was senior Neil Gardner. As usual, Gardner dominated the hurdles, winning the 400-meter hurdles by close to a second with an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 49.67.
The 110 hurdles proved to be a tighter competition. Gardner placed second with a time of 13.84, losing to Wisconsin star Reggie Torian.
"My main focus here was the 400, because I haven't been working on the 110 much this year at all," Gardner said. "Finishing second is where I figured I'd be. The only person that should beat me, on a good day, is Reggie."
For Gardner and the other Michigan seniors, the Big Tens represented the last chapter of their team legacy. Gardner said he was satisfied with their final mark.
"Our team scored as well as we expected to, and we finished higher than they thought we would finish," Gardner said. "It was the last time I'll be competing with the majority of the team, so I'm happy to be contributing well.
"I'm satisfied with my four years, and I'm happy I came to Michigan."