ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's track and fieldteam hosted the other NCAA Division I Michigan colleges for theMichigan Intercollegiate Championships on Saturday (Jan. 30) at the U-M Track Building. With 123 points, the Wolverines finished second to Washtenaw County rival Eastern Michigan (194.5). The other teams that competed were Central Michigan (3rd, 93), Michigan State (4th, 68), Western Michigan (5th, 67.5) and Detroit (6th, 7).

U-M was led by freshman sensation Oded Padan (Tel Aviv, Israel/Alliance HS) as he won both the long jump and his specialty, the triple jump. In both events, Padan set new Michigan Intercollegiate meet records. His long jump of 24 feet, 5 1/4 inches was a personal best, while his leap of 50 feet, 7 1/2 inches in the triple jump was almost six inches better than the previous meet record, held by Central Michigan's Samuel Okantey.

A pair of freshmen -- Ike Okenwa (San Diego, Calif./Morse HS) and Jeremy Schneider (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Andover HS) -- also won individual events for the Wolverines. Okenwa won the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.83, setting a meet record in the process. It marked the second straight week that Okenwa has won the event. Schneider ran to victory in the 600 meters with a time of 1:19.95, just 15 one-hundreths ahead of IanSearcy of Central Michigan.

The highlight of the night for the Maize and Blue harriers was themile run as junior All-American Jay Cantin (Camlachie, Ontario/St. Clair Secondary) was victorious. Cantin came from behind to win with a time of 4:08.23, 16 one-hundreths ahead Ben Reese from Eastern Michigan.

After opening the season with four straight home meets, U-M will leave thepleasures of its home facility next week for the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind. The meet will be Saturday, Feb. 6, with the field events starting at 9 a.m. and the running events at noon.

Contact: Anne Kampfe (734) 763-4423

Last updated: Monday, 01-Feb-1999 21:33:01 EST