'M' track seeks extra qualiers

With a second consecutive Big Ten Indoor title firmly in hand, the Michigan women's track and field team has turned its attention to the final meet of the year - the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis on March 5-6.

"Currently, we have eight people who have qualified for NCAAs," Michigan coach James Henry said. "The four members of the distance medley relay, two of our distance runners, and two jumpers are in at this point."

It is important to note that only two of these eight athletes are automatically qualified for NCAAs.

Senior high jumper Nicole Forrester and junior long jumper Brandi Bentley are in, but the other six are only provisionally qualified, which means their berths in Indianapolis are not guaranteed.

In an attempt to get several additional athletes automatically qualified, the Wolverines will send some members to Notre Dame this weekend for a "last-chance" qualifier at the Alex Wilson Invitational.

LOUIS BROWN/Daily Heather Burcar and Angie Stanifer (front) are just two of several Wolverines who will look to qualify for the NCAA championships at Notre Dame this weekend.

"The DMR needs to run faster," Michigan distance coach Mike McGuire said. "We're also going to try to qualify Angie Stanifer and Adrienne Hunter in the 800 meters, Michelle Slater and Katie McGregor in the mile and McGregor and Katie Clifford in the 3000.

"If everyone runs as fast as they are capable of running, we could have nine or 10 people in Indianapolis."

For all of these athletes, the next week and a half will be marked by a short rest, followed by a resumption of hard training.

"We're trying to taper off just a little," Henry said. "We want to get people refocused and get their legs under them. We'll resume tougher workouts in the next few days.

"Injurywise, we're in good shape. McGregor has been hurt this year, and she's not quite in top form yet. She's still been very competitive. We'll get her into some running this week."

While stressing the need for improvement, McGuire remained optimistic about the team's outlook for NCAAs.

"Right now we have to get some things done," McGuire said. "We've got no excuses if we don't make it in some of these events. We could win the DMR at NCAAs, but we've got work to do to get there.

"This team is more prepared now than they were three weeks ago. We should be able to put up some worthy times to qualify in some of these events. I'm confident that these girls can do it."

02-26-99