Mortimer and Cantin win indoors

John Mortimer and Jay Cantin started the Michigan men's indoor track season the same way they finished their cross-country season this fall - ahead of the pack.

Mortimer won the 5,000-meter run Saturday at the Michigan Open with an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 13:48.47. His time was the second best time in school history. Cantin was one of four Wolverines to win an event this weekend, as he took the 3,000 with a personal-best time of 8:31.53.

Other Michigan athletes to collect victories include Kevin Bowman in the 200 and freshman Charles DeWildt in the pole vault.

Running away: The Michigan women's track team started its indoor season impressively at the Michigan Open this weekend, winning eight out of 11 events.

Katie McGregor and Nicole Forrester led the way at the Open by turning in NCAA provisional qualifying efforts. McGregor won the mile run with a time of 4:49.06, and Forrester took the high jump with a leap of 5-foot-10.

Five other Wolverines emerged victorious. Maria Brown, Sarah Hamilton and Alison Noe ran to victories in the 200, 600, and 3,000-meter events.

Michigan also did well in the field events, with Sarah Clauw winning the weight throw and Nikki Keith taking the shotput.

Doing Flips: The fourth-ranked Michigan women's gymnastics team started off its schedule with a 190.65-190.15 victory over Ohio State in Columbus on Friday night.

The Wolverines, who rested Sarah Cain and Nikki Peters for the meet, got quality performances from senior Heather Kabnick and freshman Bridget Knaeble. Kabnick led the team in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise routine, which led to an all-around score of 37.55. Knaeble didn't show butterflies in her first collegiate meet, compiling a score of 37.275. Lisa Simes tied Knaeble in the uneven bars with a score of 9.75. The Wolverines also got good perfomances from Sarah-Elizabeth Langford and Katie Nellans.

01-12-98