Blue track teams open on the inside

Michigan has become nationally renowned for its athletic prowess in virtually every sport. The men's and women's track and field programs have become no exception.

Last year was highlighted by Kevin Sullivan, Michigan's star miler, who won the national championship in that event. Sullivan led the team to a sixth place finish in the Big Ten's indoor season. But the women's team surely was not about to be done last season by the men. It has dominated Big Ten competition, finishing first overall as a team, and succeeding in nationals with a fifth place finish there.

This built high expectations for 1999 indoor season, and both the men and the women started that campaign Saturday as they hosted the Wolverine Invitational.

The meet was held at the Michigan Track and Tennis building, as Michigan played host to five other schools. The wide array of schools gave the athletes a chance to compete against athletes they wouldn't regularly see.

"The meet was a great starter for the team," freshman Jeremy Schneider said. "It's something that could lead us into the season with a positive attitude."

Saturday marked the beginning of an extremely promising campaign for many athletes, as they hosted Eastern Michigan, Washtenaw Community College, Toledo, Aquinas, Central Michigan, Western Michigan and some unattached runners.

The women's team has extremely high expectations. They return three All-Americans - Nicole Forrester, Elizabeth Kampfe and Katie McGregor - from last year's team, and its hoped the trio can help replace all-everything Tania Longe.

On Saturday, the women's squad proved to be up to the challenge. Forrester set an NCAA provisional record with her high jump of 5-foot-9.

Although the meet was a non-scoring event, the women finished first in 11 of the 14 events, clearly dominating the rest of the field. Junior Maria Brown won both the 60 and 200-meter dashes.

This Saturday, Michigan will see some conference action against Michigan State, Kansas and Indiana.

The men's team also had a great deal of success. The athletes received a great deal of competition in many events from the unattached participants. Schneider commented that team felt as though they "ran well and were happy with the results" of the non-scored event.

Returning All-America junior Jay Cantin (800-meter) and Steve Moffat (600-meter) both won their events in the invitational. They were Michigan's only victors in the individual events.

01-11-99