'M' cools down after national meet

By James Mercier

For the Daily

Lisa Ouellet shivered, even as she was bundled up in winter clothes. Was she under the weather? "No," the senior middle-distance runner said. "It's the coaches. They had us soak our legs in freezing cold water tubs today."

That's the kind of week it has been for the Michigan women's track team. The Wolverines are coming off of the Cannon Classic in Indianapolis and are setting their sights on recovery.

"Last weekend we faced our highest level of competition of the season," Michigan coach James Henry said after practice Wednesday. "To us, it was an even bigger test than the Big Ten Championships. It was a national competition - there were some of the best performers in the country competing. It was a good test for our team.

"We've competed for seven or eight weeks in a row. Right now, we're mainly just trying to rest."

The Wolverines can afford to take it easy this week because they are catching a break of sorts in the schedule. On Saturday the Silverston Invitational, a minor event, will be held in the Indoor Track Building. One week later is the Big Ten Indoor Championships, held this year in Minneapolis.

No sense in wearing themselves out now, right?

"A few athletes will run their normal events, but most will be out of their event this weekend," Henry said. "They'll compete once out of their event and that will be it. For a few people this will be a tune-up."

Last weekend's Cannon Classic left the Wolverines tired but pleased with their performance. In the competition, which featured more than 75 teams, no Michigan runner took first but a number set personal or season-best marks.

One of them was Ouellet, whose time in the mile was a career-best.

"Cannon was huge, and it was definitely a good experience for our team," Ouellet said. "But it will be nice to go down to lesser competition this week."

Even if it means freezing in practice.