Dynamic duo rolls on at Wolverine

Men, women have home-course edge

John Mortimer and Kevin Sullivan are having a lot of fun with cross country this year, and yesterday's Michigan Interregional at the Michigan Golf Course was no exception. The duo hammed it up, "raising the roof" as they approached the finish line well ahead of the nearest competition.

Mortimer and Sullivan sewed up a Michigan victory in the men's race. The women's team was not completely upstaged but finished third in a disappointing performance.

LOUIS BROWN/Daily In a sight familiar to Michigan cross country fans, John Mortimer and Kevin Sullivan finished first and second this weekend at the Wolverine Interregional.

The men's victory was an impressive one. The Wolverines defeated three ranked opponents - No. 17 Washington, No. 19 Missouri and No. 23 James Madison. The win was their fourth invitational championship of the year, continuing a perfect streak.

The Michigan men's team was defending its Michigan Interregional team championship, scoring a mere 38 points to defeat the field. Mortimer and Sullivan crossed the finish line as a pair, with the victory given to Sullivan. Both posted a time of 24:12, destroying the course record by 22 seconds.

The individual win closes out a solid home career for Sullivan on the Michigan Golf Course.

"(Our course) is intimidating," Sullivan said. "It's maybe the toughest college course in the country."

Not all visiting runners saw the course as an intimidating presence.

"I loved it, our last three meets were on really flat, boring courses," said Erin Windler, a runner from Missouri and the third-place individual finisher.

The course played a negligible role in determining Michigan's fate.

Depth has been the men's strong point throughout the 1997 season. The Wolverines' third, fourth and fifth men have been interchangeable this year, and yesterday was no different.

Steve Lawrence finished 11th in a time of 25:15, heading up a large Michigan pack. Todd Snyder finished 13th (25:18), and Jay Cantin rounded out the top five with a 14th-place finish (25:21). While Sullivan and Mortimer gave the Wolverines a great start, Lawrence, Snyder and Cantin closed the door on the opposition.

Depth has been a factor in the women's season as well, but not in the same way. The womens' fourth and fifth runners finished 45th and 47th overall, weakening the team's score. The separation between the third and fourth runner has caused trouble for the women all season.

"A lot of people got in between (Elizabeth) Kampfe and (Lisa) Ouellet," McGuire said. "That's where the work's got to be done."

The Wolverines did not sweep the top three places - a first for the team this year. Instead, the usual top trio of Katie McGregor, Julie Froud and Kampfe, finished second, fourth and sixth overall. The women's team finished third, behind Washington and Georgetown. The Hoyas successfully defended their Michigan Interregional title with 69 points.

Several women on Michigan's team are middle-distance runners now adding cross country - a distance event - to their repertoire. As the season has progressed, these runners, usually the infamous fourth and fifth runners, have gotten stronger. They will need to improve on their past performances if the Wolverines want to be competitive the rest of the season.

"They just have to run like hell," Froud said.

10-20-97