Men finish third in California

Saturday's track meet at the University of Southern California brought together the consistent and the inconsistent for the Michigan men's team.

The inconsistent factor was the weather. It rained throughout the meet, keeping many Wolverines from performing up to their potential at Cromwell Track and Field Stadium in Los Angeles.

The consistent factors were Kevin Sullivan and John Mortimer. The pair became NCAA qualifiers in their events. Sullivan earned a provisional qualification in the 1,500-meter run with a winning time of 3:43.95, a Cromwell Field record. Sullivan also won his second straight 800-meter run with a time of 1:41.24.

Two-time all-American Mortimer, a sophomore, got an automatic qualification in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, his specialty. Mortimer led the race from beginning to end as he won with a time of 8:43.5.

The event was called the Big Ten vs. Pac 10 Challenge, but in reality, the Big Ten put up very little of a challenge.

The Pac 10 team, made up of host USC and Arizona, defeated the combined Big Ten team of Michigan and Ohio State, 136-33.

The Buckeyes finished in last place in team scoring with 19 points. Michigan came in third place with 35 points, while Arizona edged USC, 78-71.

While Sullivan and Mortimer were Michigan's only race champions on the day, several other Wolverines performed very well. Todd Snyder ran the 5,000-meter run in 14:21.30, good for a second-place finish, while Mortimer finished third in the event.

Brian Theisen also ran to a second-place finish with a time of 52.38 in the 400-meter hurdles.

The time was Theisen's best of the year, improving on his previous personal record by more than a second. Theisen also finished in third place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.69.

From a team viewpoint, Michigan's best event on Saturday was the 800-meter run, in which Jay Cantin and Don McLaughlin took third and fifth place, respectively, after Sullivan's first-place finish.

In the field events, Michigan finished no better than third. Taiwo Okusanya took third place in the triple jump and Charles DeWildt took third in the pole vault.

04-07-98