Jan. 26, 2001

SOUTH BEND, IND. - The Michigan State men's track team lost its first dual meet of the indoor season to Notre Dame in South Bend. While the 31-point loss didn't seem to indicate a close match, the Spartans had several top performers including Paul Terek (pole vault) and Steve Manz (shot put). Terek has been unstoppable in pole vault this season having won the event in all three of his meets thus far. Terek jumped 17'1" to place first at Notre Dame and also placed third in the shot put (44' 4 ¾") and was the opening leg of the winning 4x400 relay team (3:16.79)

Terek was joined on the winning mile team by Andy Lixey, who placed first in the 800m with a time of 1:50.27. Lixey's time was only .07 off an NCAA provisional mark. Matt Ingram and Terry Jenkins rounded out the winning group.

Ingram turned in quality performances in the high jump were he placed fourth (6' 4 ¾") and the 800m, where he finished second (1:53.36).

Jenkins, the sprint specialist, won the 60m hurdles (8.45) and recorded two fourth-place finishes in the 60m (7.13) and in the 200m (22.60).

Jeff Kus began his resurgence in the jumps, recording two second-place finishes against Notre Dame, one in the long jump (22'2 ¼") and another in the high jump (6'8").

Steve Manz recording yet another NCAA provisional mark, winning the shot put event with a mark of 57'5 ½". He also took second-place honors in the weight throw recording a distance of 52'3 ¼".

The Spartan squad also got quality performances from its distance team, as Kevin Clary and Jared Aldrich placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 3000m. Clary's time in the event was 8:34.48, while teammate Aldrich's was 8:38.52.

Brian Lucas came up big for the Spartans in the 400m, taking second in a time of 49.35. Andrew Alley and Jeff Mulder both finished in the top five of the mile race, with Alley placing second (4:13.05) and Mulder placing fourth (4:18.05).

The Spartans will return to South Bend next week to run in the Meyo Invitational, which will be held Feb. 2 and 3.