WEST LAFAYETTE - Coaching in the final meet of his storied career as Michigan men's track and field head coach, Jack Harvey watched as his Wolverines turned in a middle-of-the-road performance at this year's Big Ten Championships - at Purdue's Rankin Track and Field, the Wolverines finished sixth out of 10 represented teams.
The Wolverines, finishing up with 65.5 points, fell short of the 150.5 points that champion Minnesota garnered. Between the Gophers and Wolverines were squads from Iowa (115), Wisconsin (89), Illinois (77), and Purdue (68.5).
Excuses could easily be made for why the Wolverines finished as they did. To start, the weather was terrible on the third and final day of the championships, a day on which more than three quarters of men's final events were held. Rain poured down on yesterday almost constantly, forcing distance athletes to run through deep puddles and field competitors to fend off the accompanying wind.
Secondly, the Wolverines were without two of their important senior leaders going into the competition - John Mortimer and Todd Snyder. Mortimer sat out of both the indoor and outdoor seasons while he recovered from knee surgery. Then Snyder decided to redshirt midway through the indoor season as an "investment" for next year.
But Harvey wouldn't have any of these excuses.
"You've got to go with what you got," Harvey said. "If somebody is not running, they are not running - every team has probably got someone who is sidelined."
Several Wolverines noted how the conditions forced them to race more strategically in the longer distance races. This was especially true for distance runners Jay Cantin and Steve Lawrence. Cantin took home the only individual title for the Wolverines by winning the 1,500 meter run with a time of 3:51.43. Cantin's closest competitor, 1998 cross country champion Matt Downin of Wisconsin, came in at 3:52.89.
"The conditions definitely played a part with the rain and wind making it a slow, tactical race ... I thought that kind of played into my hands," Cantin said. "I thought I was the fastest guy after 800 meters, so I kind of put the pressure on myself to win."
Lawrence, while he didn't take home any individual titles, finished a respectable third in the 10,000 meter run (29:26.68) and fourth in the 5,000 meter run (14:25.99).
"I was looking to win in the 10,000, but it was a tough year with good competitors... it wasn't shameful to lose to any of those guys," Lawrence said.
Lawrence, running in sixth place for most of the 5,000 meters, made his move in the last two laps for fourth place.
"It was a slow race to start with the conditions," Lawrence said. "But I kicked very well at the end, which definitely helped me out."
Other Wolverines to turn in impressive performances included freshmen Derek Applewhite and Oded Paden. Applewhite placed second in the 110 meter low hurdles (14.35), and Paden finished third in the triple jump with a mark of 15.39 meters. Performances such as these, along with the return of leaders Mortimer and Snyder, may point to better results at next year's Big Tens.
"You want to win, but we did about what we expected with what we had this year," Lawrence said. "We've got a great chance to win next year though."
Harvey agreed, implying that assistant coach Ron Warhurst will step in and should be succesful as head coach next year.
"We'll be in good hands for the future," Harvey said.
05-24-99
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