Trackmen hopeful about Big Tens

By COREY MARKLE
Collegian Sports Writer

The men's indoor track team will travel to Illinois for the Big Ten Championships tomorrow expecting the unexpected.

"It's just a grab bag," Coach Harry Groves said. "Everyone's in the same boat. Every year you go there, and there are a couple of teams that excel, and you go, 'Where the heck did they come from?' And you keep hoping that it will be you."

Last year, the Lions finished seventh. While they are optimistic about their chances this year, they know they won't face easy competition.

"I think we have our hands full," senior tri-captain Jake Bartholomy said. "The Big Ten is a tough conference, and we'll need a lot of good performances."

In the George Washington's Birthday Invitational last weekend, Penn State got strong performances from junior Dave Kriz in the high jump and freshman Steve Pina in the long jump and triple jump. Kriz qualified for the NCAA championships, while Pina qualified for IC4As.

Both will face tough competition this weekend. The top two high jumpers from last year, Michigan's John Royce and Ben Ludka, both return to duel with Kriz.

Pina will face off with Wisconsin's Reggie Torian, last season's long jump champion, and Minnesota's Keita Cline, last season's triple jump winner. Cline was the Big Ten Track and Field Athlete of the Month for January, and has set conference-best marks in the long and triple jumps.

Penn State distance runners Bartholomy, Bob Hamer, Ch Arosemena and Kyle Bernhardy will have to deal with Michigan's Kevin Sullivan, who won the mile and 3,000 meters last year. Sullivan was the 1994 Big Ten Indoor Athlete of the Year.

Sprinters Damon Reed and Mark Crawford will face off with Michigan State's Brad Fields, who has run the world's fastest 200 meters this year (20:88).

Groves said one of the difficulties Penn State will face is the number of football players other teams have on their rosters. Penn State only has two football players on the team, shot putters Vin Stewart and Brian Milne, while many teams build their rosters around football players.

"A lot of it at the Big Tens depends on who has football players and who doesn't," Groves said. "Some of these people that they recruit for football are just awesome track people."

While he knows the competition will be tough, Bartholomy said the Lions are up to the task.

"It'll be a tough fight," he said, "but a do-able fight."