Men's track comes home

In its first home meet of the outdoor season, the Michigan men's track team garnered some impressive victories at the Phil Diamond Invitational this past weekend. With strong showings from teams such as Ohio State, Toledo, Eastern Michigan and Siena Heights, the two-day invitational was well contested.

Both days saw a mix of sun and clouds, as brief rays of sunshine were quickly covered by gray, sweeping clouds every time they peeked through. The victories and bright spots for the Wolverines were just as intermittent - the wins were there, but there just weren't many of them to bask under.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily John Mortimer didn't win any races at this weekend's Phil Diamond invitational, but he's probably proud that his teammates won three events Friday, more than they did at last year's Phil Diamond Invitational.

Saturday, the final day of competition, Michigan came away with one win - the 4x100 meter relay. The relay team, made up of Steven Jenkins, Martin and Kevin Bowman and Brian Theisen, won its second straight Diamond Invitational and its first outdoor race of the season with a pace of 41.29.

Aside from this victory though, Saturday was relatively quiet for the Wolverines. Theisen also came away with his best 110-meter hurdle effort of the outdoor season with a second-place time of 14.29.

Kevin Bowman also had a strong individual effort in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.86. This time earned Bowman a victory in his heat but only placed him third overall. The other highlight for the team came from Ricky Turner, who won his heat of the 400-meter dash, placing him sixth overall.

Friday afternoon provided the bulk of the Michigan victories in the Invitational, with three coming the Wolverines' way. The most exciting race came in the 1,500-meter run. With the clouds hanging ominously and the wind picking up as runners warmed up for the race, the conditions didn't seem like the backdrop for a great result. But little seemed to bother any of the Michigan runners competing in the event.

NCAA mile champion Kevin Sullivan, running to cheers of "Sully," led from start to finish with a final time of 3:44.69. He was joined by three other Wolverines in the top five - Jay Cantin finished third with a time of 3:46.39, his best finish as a Wolverine. John Mortimer and Don McLaughlin came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

The other two wins on Friday came from Todd Snyder and Charles Dewildt. Snyder won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:25.44. This was Snyder's first victory of the season after only finishing second at the recent Jesse Owens Classic and at an earlier meet against Ohio State, USC and Arizona.

Dewildt's victory in the pole vault, a 16-foot-6 effort, was his second in three weeks. Freshman Andy Derr also impressed with his best javelin throw as a Wolverine. His toss of 191-2 earned Derr a second-place finish.

Michigan's three Friday wins were more than it earned during last year's Diamond Invitational.

05-11-98