Intense competition between teammates Mortimer and Sullivan pushes both men

Consider the gauntlet thrown.

The duel is on, and the opening round of the season-long battle between Michigan cross country stars John Mortimer and Kevin Sullivan could hardly have had a more definitive outcome.

Make the tally Mortimer 1, Sullivan 0. In impressive fashion.

"Sullivan's training about 100 miles a week," Mortimer said. "So he's not going to be real sharp, because he's going to be tired. But he'll be there, and it'll be great for us to both race together and train together."

FILE PHOTO The Michigan men's cross country team won the Jayhawk Invitational over the weekend, while John Mortimer set a course record with a time of 25:19.

Not that Sullivan's performance was by any means mediocre. The senior placed third in the overall field, coming in second for Michigan. His time of 25:38 put him 19 seconds behind Mortimer and seven seconds behind second-place Noah Lagat of Butler (Kan.) County Community College.

"I was with John up until about two miles, and then he broke away from me," Sullivan said. "Then I started coming back on him a little bit, but he dropped me on a hill. He's in really good shape right now, he's got a lot of confidence, and he's running really well."

This season marks the first opportunity for both runners to go head to head in top condition.

Two years ago, it was Mortimer who wasn't quite prepared. A freshman on the cross country team, he hadn't learned the ropes well enough to effectively compete with Sullivan.

That year, Sullivan won the Big Ten and NCAA District IV championships for the third consecutive time.

But the next season was Mortimer's turn to shine, as he began to realize his own potential while Sullivan was sidelined with an ankle injury. In his turn, Mortimer also managed to capture both the Big Ten and NCAA district titles, giving Michigan the individual conference and district championships for four consecutive years.

Having both runners healthy in the same season is key to Michigan's chances of success. Sullivan, however, hasn't entirely recovered from the nagging injury of a year ago - undoubtedly one of the primary reasons for Mortimer's domination in Kansas.

"It's been years since I ran cross country," Sullivan said. "So I'm really kind of re-learning it."

Sullivan considers himself to be at about 85 percent, but says he is steadily improving.

"I'm in good shape," he said. "It's just a matter of fine tuning and getting back into it mentally."

Once Sullivan regains his old form, expect him to be a lot more competitive with Mortimer. And expect Michigan to benefit as the result.

"For us to be even more competitive as a team, I need to close the gap between John and myself," Sullivan said. "Especially when we get in against competition where I can't be 20 seconds behind John because that'll put four or five runners in front of us.

"It'll come in the next few meets, I'm sure."

09-15-97