Sullivan leads Blue at Paddock Invite

He leaned against one of the buildings surrounding the track at Ferry Field with his head hanging. The exhausted pose could have been mistaken for one of disgust - the runner said little after the race, hiding behind his blue Wolverine cap. But he was far from disgusted.

Kevin Sullivan, modest even in victory, had just won the 1,500 meters in record fashion. Racing against stiff competition in Georgia Tech's David Krummenacker, the 800 indoor national champion, Sullivan, the indoor mile national champion, was simply incredible. His pace of 3:36.62 was the fastest in the country this year, set a Ferry Field record and qualified him for the NCAA's in the 1,500.

LOUIS BROWN/Daily Kevin Sullivan set a Ferry Field record in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:36.62.

Sullivan trailed Krummenacker, whose 3:37.27 pace also qualified him for th NCAA's, heading around the last turn. But he turned on the burners down the stretch to pull comfortably ahead of the Georgia Tech star as he crossed the finish line. The obvious highlight of the Len Paddock Invitational, this Friday race was hyped as a head-to-head duel between the two runners.

Sullivan played the hype down though, simply saying, "this was a good win."

Did Krummenacker provide him with extra incentive to win? "Yeah," Sullivan said. "He's a quality competitor."

The other bright spot for the Wolverines on Friday came from freshman Andy Derr, who set a personal record in the javelin throw with a toss of 201-feet-10 - this placed him second.

Saturday saw much of the same for the Wolverines - impressive victories. This day belonged strictly to the seniors though.

Sullivan and Don McLaughlin, both running in their final home race, finished first and third, respectively, in the 800. Sullivan won with a NCAA qualifying time of 1:47.77. McLaughlin's time was 1:48.63.

Another senior, Brian Theisen, was part of three Michigan victories Saturday. He won the 110 hurdle with a time of 14:03.00. Theisen also anchored the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, leading them both to victory with respective times of 40.90 and 3:13.63.

05-18-98