THE MICHIGAN DAILY
"inmn
Team
Repea ts
as
NCAA
Champh
4
DICK MINTZ
traditionally one of-
's. outstanding swim.
assed all previous rec-
lances last year, with a
power-laden varsity that swept to
its second consecutive NCAA- swim
championship.
The NCAA victory climaxed an
undefeated season that included a
two year skein of 16 dual-meet vic-
tories and its first Big Ten title'
since 1948..
Wolverine coach Gus Stager, a!
former great Michigan swim star
himself, stated, "this team was r
certainly the greatest I've ever;
coached and the greatest-I've ever I
seen."
- h
~~lSeWeek thethe
f By' CARL RISEMAN
.nn's Successors
r MANN STEPPED down in 1954. He had begun as swimming
ach at Michigan in 1926 and had guided the Wolverines to 16
n 'Championships and six National Collegiate crowns. It was
n outstanding record. He was recognized as the greatest coach
sport and had produced many champion swimmers and
ho could replace Mann? Two youthfulhcoaches were selected.
wing coach- Gus Stager and diving coach Bruce Harlan.,Stager
en a great swimmer for Mann in the 1940's and later a high
coach. Harlan had been tutored by Mann's rival, Mike Peppe
o State, and became an Olympic diver. He had' also coached'
i schools.
ie coaches had rough going at first. They had to settle for, a
n the 1955 Big Ten meet. The following year the Wardrop
Jack and Bert, were removed from the team in midseason be-
they wouldn't cooperate with their mentors. This. was the low
or Stager and Harlan. A great deal of grumbling was heard on
chigan campus for the removal of the Scottish stars from the
This was supposed to have been Michigan's year in swimming
w all hope was lost.
ager and Harlan climbed out of the hole, which they had dug
mselves with the Wardrop incident and began a climb which
em at the top of the swimming world by the, endof the 1958
- proving themselves capable of filling the shoes of their'
predecessor.
mehow in that dismal 1956 season, the Wolverines were able
sh second in the Big T'en meet right behind powerful Ohio
Sophomore Team ..
)RE THE SEASON began in 1957, the team was of questionable
ential. It was mainly made up of untried sophomores and a few
eterans like Fritz Myers, Don Adamski and John Narcy. The
urned out to be good as sophomores Cy Hopkins and Dick
r blossomed out into championship swimmers and Dick Kimball
e a ranking diyer in his first season. The team, mowed over its
Dion in its dual meets but failed to take the Big Ten title as the
ns of Michigan State emerged as, victors because of their tre-
us depth.
.chigan was keyed up for the NCAA meet which was held that
1 Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Michigan's cfhances were sup-
V slim against favored Yale spearheaded by its sophomore
im Jecko. The Wolverines couldn't stop Jecko, he was a triple
but they were able.to stop Yale and thus gain the first NCAA
r Michigan since 1948. It was a great victory but still more
were In line for the '58 season.
ie '58 squad was even stronger than the '57 one. The Wolverines
>olstered by sophomore swimmers Tony Tashnick and John
the addition of diver Alvaro Gaxiola; eligibility reinstatement
satile Carl Woolley. The team quickly won its early contests
th Stager and Harlan were wondering how powerful the squad
y was. The test came in a dual meet with Michigan State.
was swamped 67-30. and Michigan had one of its greatest
Al Agree
After the three day NCAA swim
spectacular held at Michigan's
Varsity Pool, contending swim-
mers, coaches, and the thousands
of gathered fans were in full
agreement.
Michigan, producing a 72-point
total, decisively defeated Yale, the
perennial Eastern champion who
totaled 63 pts. and Big Ten runner-
up, Michigan State.
The other 6 teams represented
by 244 of the. nation's foremost
collegiate swimmers followed far
behind in the point score.
Great Depth.
The key to Michigan's over-
whelming victory lay in the tre-
mendous depth and versatility
fOund in their line-up. Picking up
valuable points in every one of the
14 events they entered, the Wol-
verines forged a chain that had no
weak links.
Tony Tashnick, the brilliant
Wolverine sophomore, rose to peak
performance in his Young career,
cracking two NCAA records in the
100 and 200 yd butterfly events
and produced the only individual
Wolverine victory. Tashnick easily
outdistanced Yale's heralded Tim
Jecko in the meet's featured con-
test, the 200-yd. butterfly.
Divers Great
In the opening day of competi-
tion Dick Kimball and Alvaro Gax-
iola agilely twisted off the one-
meter board to place second and
third' respectively behind Ohio
State's infallible Olympic star,
Dan Harper. Michigan's unexpect-
ed strong showing, in the diving
which Ohio State perenially domi-
nates, enabled' them to tie for the
meet lead at the end of the first
night's competition. Kimball went
on to-take another second to Har-
per on the three-meter board,
while Gaxiola later placed fifth.
Michigan stalwarts, Dick Hanley;.
Cy Hopkins, John Smith and Carl
Woolley were' able to add to the
point total as they finished close
behind the winners in their respec-
tive events.
Hanley Upset -
Hanley, defending NCAA, 220-
yd. freestyle titlist, was upset by
Yale's Roger Anderson. Anderson
caught Hanley on the last lap of
the race with a strong finishing
kick and won the title only by a
touch. Hanley in the hotly contest-
ed 100-yd. freestyle finished fifth.
Hopkins, the Wolverine jack-of-
all-strokes; finished a strong sec-
ond in the 200-yd. individual med-
ley. Overtaking Yale's tiring Tim
Jecko, who was favored in the
event, Hopkins placedrsecond be
hind Illinois' Joe Hunsaker who
pulled a stunning upset victory.
Smith Third
John Smith, the powerfully built
Hawaiian trained backstroker who
joined the team at mid-semester,
conditioned himself well enough to
take a third in the 200-yd. back-
stroke and 100-yd. bockstroke.
Carl Woolley, noted primarily as
a sprint swimmer during-the regu-
lar season showed his freestyle
versatility with a sixth in the ex-
hausting 1,500 meter event. At the
shortr 440 yd. distance Woolley
impressed with a third place.
Al Maten also contributed to the
point total with a sixth in the 200-
yd. breaststroke.
Just a finishing place in the
last event of the chaupionship,
CY HOPKINS
. . tank captain
the 400-yd. medley relay, was
needed to insure a Michigan vic-
tory. Ohio State had long dropped
out of contention after they
showed their strength in the dive
and only Yale now seriously chal-
lenged. But Michigan's third in
the event turned back the Eli's
final surge.
The great team spirit and coop--
eration that brought Michigan the
NCAA title contributed as- well to
their Big Ten title.
No- one individual was respon-
sible for the victory at the -rugged
Big Ten Championship meet at
Iowa City. "It was the most amaz-
ing team' performance I've ever
seen',' coach Stager exuberantly
stated.
Stars and Balance
Tony Tashnick, Cy Hopkins and
Dick Hanley combined for seven
rf the Wolverines' eight first places,
but in the Big Ten Meet, as was
soon to be true in the NCAA, the
winning team needed depth; it
needed to be able to place several
men in every race to win.
This Michigan was able to do.
Pete, Fries, Ed Pongracz, Carl
Woolley, Al Maten, and John
Smith were unable to gain first
places, but their second, third,
fourth and fifth place finishes all
bolstered the Michigan point total.
Woolley Stars
Woolley recorded two seconds
and a third. In the gruelling 1,-
500-meter freestyle and also the
440-freestyle he finished second.
He also finished behind teammate
Hanley who won the 220-yd. free-
style.
Smith's two second places in the
100 and 200-yd. backstroke secured
the Michigan lead.
Fries placed in his three events,
the 1500 meters, the 440-yd free-
style and the 220-yd. freestyle.
Stager was pleased, too, with the
performance of Maten and Pon-
gracz. Both men were on the win-
ning 400-yd. medley relay team.
Maten also finished fourth in the
100-yd. breaststroke and sixth in
the 200-yd. breaststroke.
Tashnick Surprises
Sophomore Tashnick, who in less
than a month would play such a
prominent role in leading Michi-
gan to the NCAA title wasn't re-
garded at the beginning of the
season as a title threat. But he
was thrust into national promi-
nence by his brilliant performance
at the Big Ten show. He captured
three record-breaking firsts: the
100 and 200-yd. butterfly and the
individual medley.
Hanley and Hopkins each won
two races. "By the second day of
the meet, stated Stager, "Hanley
and Hopkins had completely de-
moralized our opposition."
Another Year
And what of the 1958-1959 sea-
son? Can Michigan again achieve
their double victory? The return
of the varsity that won the NCAA
title and the graduation of a pow-
erful freshman squad to varsity
ranks indicates that the Wolver-
ines will. have an even more pow-
erful lineup.
Making his debut at Michigan,
Sophomore Dave Gillanders, the
former All-America high school
star, bettered the school record
with a 2.11 clocking in the 200-
yd. butterfly event.
Tough Twosome
That mark was recorded back in
December at the annual Michigan
"Gala" but Gilladers has put a lot.
of swimming under his belt since,
and is regarded as one of the top
young swimmers in the nation.
When teamed with Tashnick,
Michigan will be represented: by
the most formidable butterfly two-
some in the country.
Frank Legicki, an All-America
high school selection from Penn
sylvania heads the array of fresh-
men freestyle stars moving up to
the varsity. Legacki topped the
country in the interscholastic 100-
yd. sprint.
Harry Huffcacker, the Michigan
interscholastic champion in the
individual medley, will add to the
all-around team depth.,
Move Divers
The dioing duo of Tee Francis
and John Delninger, the respective
high school state champions from
Michigan and Ohio, will add their
talents to a team that diving coach
Bruce Harlan hopes will shortly
shoo Ohio State from the throne
they have occupied too long.
Hairstyling to please!
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But the other teams across the
nation are well prepared to match
Michigan in the coming season.
Australian world champ Murray
Rose will carry the standard for
USC, the Pacific Coast's leader,
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while in the East, Yale is again
being strengthened by a' strong
~sophomore squad.
In their own rugged Big Ten
league, Michigan will be hard
pressed again by MSU and Indi-
ana, whose freshmen squad broke
a bevy of records last seas
sier star Frank Mckinney
unbeatable in the backsti
Michigan will have to :
best better if they are ,
survive as Big Ten an(
champions in this competit
fresh.
The Pize Center
118 EAST HURON
NO 3-6236
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endous Show.
N MEET might be considered as an anticlimax to the
with the Spartans. The Wolverines were favored and-
Y with the meet with second place Michigan State
>oints. Sophomore Tony Tashnick put on a spectacular
three events; the 200-yd. individual medley, the 100
ittterfly. Stager. and Harlan added another feather in
ey claimed Michigan's first Big Ten crown since 1948.
aeet of the year was staged by Stager and Harlan in
y Exhibition Pool. The meet was the NCAA meet and
chigan took the title ringing up 72 points to second
. Michigan thus claimed the two major titles in col-
ng, -
the squad will almost be entirely returning. The addi-
great new sophomore swimmers should make the Mich-
of the two or three greatest teams in the history of
ger is knee-deep in swimmers while Harlan has the
'itting in eight divers for three positions.
help of a gleaming new pool which comfortably 'seats,
ile and a' reputation for winners, Stager and Harlan
to lure in good high school swimmers and divers for
and may in time even surpass the record of the old
-- Matt Mann.,
i one
. Sta
k of
the
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