Men's track looking to SAC the competition

After spending last weekend in San Diego, several members of Michigan's men's track and field team are going back to Cali on Friday. They will head to Walnut, Calif. to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays.

Unfortunately for the team, they have not been enjoying the beach or frequenting Disneyland. Instead, they've been winning track meets.

After two successful tuneup meets out west earlier in the season, including last weekend's victory in San Diego, the Wolverines will need to be at the top of their game as this meet offers their toughest competition to date.

"They have very hard qualifying standards for this one," assistant coach Ron Warhurst said. "This will be a good, high quality meet."

Last year the field included Olympic silver-medal sprinter Ato Bolden.

DHANI JONES/Daily The Michigan men's track and field team will face tough competition at the Mt. SAC relays in San Diego this weekend. Last year's field included sprinter and Olympic silver medal winner Ato Bolden.

While the sprinters will no doubt have their hands full if Bolden returns, it is the distance runners who are being counted on to score the bulk of the Wolverines' points.

And as of late, the talented group of junior Jay Cantin, junior Steve Lawrence, and sophomore Mike Wisniewski have been coming through with big-time performances.

Last weekend at the San Diego State Quad, Cantin won the 800- and the 1,500-meters, Lawrence took second in the 1,500 and was victorious in the 5,000, while Wisniewski placed second in the 5,000.

While Cantin and Lawrence are hot in the 1,500, they will be competing against a field that will include two of the NCAA's best. Both Stanford and Southern Methodist will send runners who are ranked in the top 10 nationally.

"That race will have one hell of a field," Warhurst said.

It is that kind of tough competition that the coaching staff is hoping the team will benefit from this weekend as they approach the Big Ten Championships.

While several distance runners and a 4x100 team will be competing in the Mt SAC, many Wolverines are taking a weekend off from the meet circuit. They will be staying in town to train for the Penn Relays which take place next Thursday.

The field event specialists will get some well deserved time off after a weekend in San Diego in which they dominated their competitors. Collectively, the group won five of eight events.

The competition in Penn will offer a more challenging field, and a weekend of training rather than travelling to compete in California should serve the group well.

04-15-99