Hoosiers return favor against men's track

By Kareem Copeland

Daily Sports Writer

Saturday, the Indiana track team came to Ann Arbor looking to exact some revenge. In last year's dual meet, the Wolverines traveled to Bloomington and defeated the Hoosiers on their own turf, 85-78. Judging by the way it performed, Indiana had not forgotten.

After trailing most of the day, the squad donning the red and white came out with an 85-77 victory.

The Wolverines were strong with wins in the 4x400 relay, the triple jump, and the 200-meter. But a few injuries and lackluster events allowed for the match to slip away.

"A couple key people weren't here," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "We just wanted to compete as best we could."

Without senior Josh Sellers and junior Derek Applewhite, some were forced to compete out of their normal positions. Shorthanded, the team would rely on strong performances from the distance runners. Although the Wolverines took both second and third in the mile and 3000-meter, the results were still disappointing.

"Our distance runners turned out flat," Warhurst said. Mike Wisneiwski - who usually leads the pack - had a tough outing, taking third in the 3000 meters and lost the mile by a minuscule 0.58 seconds.

Carrying the team on their shoulders, Ike Okenwa and Jeremy Schneider gave huge performances for the Wolverines. Okenwa easily blew away the competition in both the 60 and 200-meter races. After having troubles with back spasms Wednesday, Okenwa was surprised to run so fast.

"I'm not used to being that far ahead," said Okenwa. "I was just trying to put points on the board."

Okenwa blazed out of the gate to finish the 60-meter in 6.86 and the 200-meter in 21.64 seconds. The latter was enough to beat Indiana's Ash by over a second.

Schneider - who ran the 600-meter and the anchor of the relay - was pitted against rival Ryan Huber in both races. As two of the top 600-meter runners in the Big Ten, they have faced each other repeatedly throughout the years.

"He's the only guy to beat me since freshman year," said Schneider. "I just thought about how I would beat myself."

Both races were about as close as could be. Schneider's time of 1:19.78 barely edged out Huber's mark of 1:20.00. The two were pitted against each other again as the anchors of the 4x400 relay. The final and most exciting race of the day came down to the wire with Schneider out kicking Huber to the finish line. Official times of the race had Michigan winning in 3:18.92 compared to Indiana's 3:19.07.

Other Wolverines also fared well. Nick Rodger's placed second in the shot put and a third in the weight throw. Kevin Rogan and Terrance Rindler placed 1-2 in the 800-meter with times of 1:55.41 and 1:55.64, respectively. Oded Padan took first place in the triple jump with a leap of 49'02.25".