Weekly Release #8
3/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Fri-Sat., March 9-10 -- at NCAA Indoor Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.)
End of indoor season
This Week: NCAA Indoor Championships
The University of Michigan men's track and field team will send three athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend (March 9-10) in Fayetteville, Ark. Senior pole vaulter Charles DeWildt (Wyoming, Mich./Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS) will be Michigan's lone representive in the field portion. Junior Mike Wisniewski (Temperance, Mich./Bedford HS) looks to place in the 5,000-meter run, and junior Ike Okenwa (San Diego, Calif./Morse HS) sprinted his way to a spot in the 200-meter dash.
All three event finals will take place on Friday (March 9), with the pole vault at 5:35 p.m., and the 5,000-meter run following at 8 p.m. The 200 preliminaries begin at 7:05 p.m., with the finals at 8:30 p.m. All times are CST.
NCAA Indoor Championship History
The Wolverines have placed in the top 10 as a team at the NCAA Indoor Championships seven times since 1967. The Maize and Blue had its highest finish in 1995, when it came in fourth.
Michigan has had five individual and one relay NCAA Indoor champions since 1986, including three titles by current assistant coach Kevin Sullivan (1994-98). Sullivan won the indoor mile run and was part of the victorious distance medley relay team in 1995, and backed that up with a national championship in the mile again in 1998. Here is a breakdown of Michigan's NCAA Indoor individual champions:
| 1986 | Tom Wilcher | 55-meter hurdles |
| 1989 | John Scherer | 5,000-meter run |
| 1995 | Kevin Sullivan | Mile run |
| 1995 | Kevin Sullivan, Trinity Townsend, Nick Karfonta, Ian Forsyth | Distance medley relay |
| 1997 | Neil Gardner | 55-meter hurdles |
| 1998 | Kevin Sullivan | Mile run |
Rankings Heading into NCAAs
Michigan has one top-10 qualifier and two in the top 20 as the Wolverines head into the NCAA Indoor Championships. Charles DeWildt is U-M's highest ranked individual, as he is ranked sixth in the nation in the pole vault with his height of 17-9. Mike Wisniewski is 14th in the country with his time of 14:05.33 in the 5,000-meter run, while Ike Okenwa is 16th in the 200-meter dash with his converted time of 20.94.
2000 NCAA Indoor Championships
Michigan tied for 41st with four points at the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Steve Lawrence (Consecon, Ontario/East Northumberland HS) finished fifth in the 5,000-meter run with a career-best time of 14:05.21 for U-M's only team points. Lawrence became the fourth Wolverine distance runner to earn indoor All-America honors in the 5,000. Senior Jay Cantin (1997-2000) missed the cut for the final of the mile and his chance to repeat as an All-American after finishing his preliminary heat in a time of 4:14.44. The time put him 15th out of the 16 competitors.
Last Week: EMU Last Chance and Alex Wilson Invite
Michigan sent partial squads to both the EMU Last Chance (March 1) and the Alex Wilson Invitational (March 2). At the EMU Last Chance meet in Ypsilanti, Mich., Charles DeWildt won his third pole vault competition of the season and increased his NCAA provisional height to a personal-best 17-9. The other highlight of the day came from Terrence Rindler (Portage, Mich./Central HS), who won the mile with a time of 4:21.02.
The next night at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., Mike Wisniewski had an NCAA provisional time in the 5,000-meter run, finishing runner-up in 14:16.28. The Wolverines also competed in the distance medley relay and placed ninth.
DeWildt Climbs Up Indoor Best List
Charles DeWildt used an indoor personal best mark of 17-9 at the EMU Last Chance (March 1) to improve his indoor mark in the pole vault for the third week in a row. DeWildt bettered his old mark of 17-7 1/2, which he had set one week earlier at the Big Ten Indoor Championships (Feb. 24) and moved closer to the school record. DeWildt stands only behind current assistant coach Brad Darr (1989-92), who vaulted 17-10 1/2 in 1992.
Okenwa Leads Maize and Blue
Ike Okenwa has a team-high six individual victories on the season, his last coming in the 60-meter dash at the Silverston Invitational (Feb. 17). Okenwa won both the 60 and 200 at the Indiana Dual meet (Jan. 13), making him the only Wolverine to win two individual titles in the same meet.
Charles DeWildt, Jeremy Schneider (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Andover HS) and Kevin Lamb (East Lansing, Mich./Haslett HS) are tied in second with three individual wins. DeWildt won the pole vault at the Michigan Intercollegiate (Feb. 10), Silverston (Feb. 17) and at the EMU Last Chance (March 1). Schneider won the 800-meter run Jan. 6 and the 600 twice (Jan. 13, Feb. 10). Lamb has all three victories in the 400, winning at the Jack Harvey Invitational (Jan. 6), Red Simmons Invitational (Jan. 20) and Silverston (Feb. 17).
Contact: Steve Grialou (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
