Injured 'M' trips to 6th-place finish

By David Mosse

Daily Sports Writer

Winning the Big Ten conference is never easy. But winning it, without your full arsenal is close to impossible.

The Michigan men's track team learned this lesson the hard way as it took a battered and bruised squad to Bloomington, stumbling to a sixth-place finish in the 2000 Big Ten Indoor Championships.

After a ninth-place finish a year ago, Michigan began the season with visions of capturing the indoor conference crown. But the week-to-week grind of the regular season took a toll on the Wolverines and by the time they reached Indiana, their team bus resembled an ambulance.

"We had a lot of adversity to deal with," distance runner Mike Wisniewski said. "We had lots of guys sick and a few guys with nagging injuries."

The opening day did not go badly for Michigan. Pole vaulter Charles DeWildt placed second with an NCAA provisional qualifying score of 17-foot-2. The Wolverines also scored in three other events and stood in fourth place after Day 1 with a total of 21 points, not far behind the leaders. But the second day proved to be Michigan's undoing, as several Wolverines performed well below their best form.

The disappointment began in the most unexpected of places.

Michigan rode an incredible streak into the 2000 Big Ten Championships. Since 1993, a Wolverine had captured first place in the mile run every year. The streak included Jay Cantin's victory in 1999. This year, Cantin performed wonderfully during the regular season and was favored to win the race again.

But Cantin got off to a poor start, falling well behind the rest of the field. A late surge earned him third place but also brought an end to the Wolverines' remarkable run.

"The first two laps I had trouble getting started," Cantin said. "It's very disappointing because I know I was capable of winning."

On the surface, Cantin appeared to have run a very poor race. But moments after the race ended, it was revealed he had sustained a severe ankle injury that hampered his ability to compete.

"Jay couldn't even jog," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "It's amazing he was able to run the way he did."

Regardless, Cantin's defeat, coupled with pole vaulter Brent Scheffer's inability to score the day before, cost Michigan 14 points it figured on having.

Then in the 600 meters, Jeremy Schneider, who excels in the event, inexplicably placed seventh behind teammate Steve Moffat, who ran sixth.

"It's probably the most disappointing race of my life," Schneider said. "I felt so good and thought I was in perfect position - I should have beaten those guys."

Michigan was also hurt by a hamstring injury to sprinter Ike Okenwa that prevented Okenwa from taking part in his patented 60-meter and 400-meter relay races. Okenwa did place fifth in the 200 meters, while Derrick Applewhite paced the sprint team with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.

The field events produced two scorers. Patrick Johannson placed sixth in the weight throw with a distance of 57-1/2 and Oded Padan, in only his second meet all season, took seventh in the triple jump.

"Everyone was very nervous," Padan said. "Not everything went like it was on paper."

Michigan did receive a boost in the 5000 meters as Wisniewski and Steve Lawrence finished second and third, respectively.

"I would have liked to have run a better time," said Wisniewski. "But having Steve there helped me a lot."

Yet, without a single individual victory in an event, Michigan wound up in a sixth-place tie with the Hoosiers, 88 points behind first-place Wisconsin.