The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 7, 1978-Page 33 Donakowski gone, but talented harriers set fot title chase By ERNIE DUNBAR When Michigan's cross country team enters its fifth season under the direc- tion of coach Ron Warhurst, the harriers will be in a unique situation. Prior to last season's disappointing fourth place finish in the Big Ten Championships the harriers had never failed to capture the conference title for their coach. That three year winning streak was ended by Wisconsin, however, causing Warhurst to be a bit more cautious in his remarks about the upcoming season than he's been in past years. With eight returning lettermen to work with though, Warhurst says he will deal with "an experienced group of runners who've been through the championship meets before." Daily Photo by JOHN KNOX ,he Michigan cross country team, as this picture implies, usually ran ahead of heir competition. But last year the squad fell to fourth place in the Big Ten. With their new recruits, though, the harriers are out to reclaim the top spot. YOUNG TEAM GETTING BETTER: 9Men swimmers making waves By BILLY SAHN Despite the deep freeze that most of us experience during the school year, the Wolverine tankers keep on swim- ming. Michigan's men's varsity swimming team, always a tough competitor in the Big Ten, displays its natural skills at the spacious Matt Mann Pool. The Wolverines swam to a 2-2 record last season in the Big Ten, while com- piling an overall 5-2 mark. They lost first to Wisconsin and were later beaten by perennial Big Ten champ Indiana. The Wolverines rebounded however, going on to beat Ohio State and Michigan State. Many of last year's stars will return, including four freshmen of last season that gave coach Gus Stager many hap- py moments. Leading the way is Fernando Canales. A native of Puerto Rico, Canales set two Michigan records at last year's Big Ten championships. His first record was in the 100-yard freestyle, with a time of 45.22. His other record setting performance was set in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:37.85. The other three notables who have ascended to the sophomore level are freestyle sprinters Bob Murrary and Tom Pederson, and freestyle distance man Kevin Williamson. "We had good depth in our freestyle spring events and relay," explained Stager. "This is where last year's recruits really made the difference." Two years ago Stager figured his two recuits, Paul Griffith and Kevin Morgan, as valuable assets for the future.. Both performed well in last year's Big Ten meet and were awarded with a trip to the NCAA meet as members of the freestyle relay team. Last year's crop of incoming fresh- men proved even more abundant and successful. Once again Stager feels he came up with another fine recruiting season for the coming season. "Recruiting went very well. We got a lot of fine youngsters," said Stager. At the top of the list is a Michigan state champion from Ann Arbor Huron High School. John Paid placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and second in the 500-yard distance event in the state meet. He also triumphed at the National Junior Olympics with a vic- tory in the 500-yard free. Another participant in the Junior Olympics, Scott Crowder from Delaware, also signed on to swim with Michigan. Stager has high hopes for Crowder, especially in the demanding 200-yard butterfly as well as on the medley relay. Walter Gage, from Battle Creek. Lakefield, is a "versatile swimmer" according to Stager. Gage displayed his versatility in the state meet, finishing third in the butterfly and fourth in breaststroke. Stager recruited yet two more butter- flyers, Paul Griffith's brother Andy and Craig Piper. Jim Barron, from Oak Park, Ill., is expected to round out the off-stroke recruits. Barron, whose father played basketball here a few years back, placed third in the 100-yard breast- stroke and fifth in the 200-yard in- dividualamedley in the Illinois State Championships. Other freestyle swimmers recruited include Jimmy Gentile, Mike Wilson, Mike Dauw and Dean Ottosi. "I feel we've filled in the holes," said Stager. "We've added breaststrokers, flyers and distance men. The only event in which we failed to recruit was backstroke." In the diving events, the Wolverines are again led by a top performer and tough competitor. Senior Matt Chelich leads coach Dick Kimball's diving team. Chelich was the 1977 NCAA one-meter champion. In last year's Big Ten championships he was first in the one- meter and third in the three-meter. Stager is preparing for the upcoming season by adding many fresh faces to the roster. Last year's young team will be even younger this time around. But he won't have the luxury of the services of four lettermen from the 1977 team including Bill Donakowski, a three time NCAA All-American and winner of the Big Ten individual cross country title last season. He also won individual honors at the Central Collegiate Conference Championships while Michigan was racking up its third consecutive team title. The absence of Donakowski or a similar "front runner" is one of the weaknesses Warhurst will strive to overcome during the season. "In cross country you've got to have somebody up there who's going to be in the top three in all your big meets if you're going to be able to score," Warhurst said. "I don't know who it is going to be this year, but somebody's got to take the initiative to be the leader on the course when we're racing." Among the top contenders for the number one runner position vacated by Donakowski are four of the participants for Michigan inlast year's Big Ten meet. Senior Mike McGuire was the highest finisher of the returning lettermen in that race, placing 18th. The 1974 cross- country All-American has been either sick or injured for much of the past two years, but Warhurst feels 1978 may finally be McGuire's year. "I'm looking for Michael to start coming around a little bit better this year. He'll have all summer to train with Greg Meyer (three time cross country All-Ameican)," Warhurst noted. Junior Dave Lewis (19th in the Big Ten), who finished last season strongly and seniors Bruce McFee (21st in the conference) andDoug Sweazey (32nd) are the other lettermen who competed in last year's conference meet. Joining that crew will be seniorSteve Elliott who decided mid-way through last season to drop the remainder of the cross country calendar from his schedule to concentrate on track. The sixth place finisher in the Big Ten in 1976 decided to return to cross country action once again this year and will provide added experience to the Wolverine lineup. Rounding out the list of lettermen are sophomore Gary Parenteau who turned in a surprisingly good freshman campaign and juniors Dan Heikkinen and Jack Sinclair who will be attem- pting comebacks after a leg injury (Heilkkinen) and mononucleousis (Sin- clair). IT'S HARD TO GET FREE CIDER FOR THE 19TH YEAR 1960 Pressing those eight veterans are sophomores Gary Carter and Bill Weidenbach who should be ready to give Michigan some additional depth now that they've adjusted to Warhur- st's training methods. Michigan's top recruit will keep the Donakowski name around the cross country scene four more years. Jerry Donakowski of Dearborn Heights Riverside is the little brother of Bill Donakowski. "He's state champ in cross country two years in a row in Class B," noted Warhurst. "I kind of thought that he was the best cross country runner in the state, in my opinion, last year. He's a See HARRIERS, Page 37 Football '78 and That Means the Barrel Is Out Again, With FREE CIDER at TICE'S MEN'S SHOP on Home Game Saturday Mornings. It Also Means Levi Cords, Jeans, and Flannel Shirt Season and Tice's Has the Biggest Selection in Ann Arbor. TICE.'S MEN'SE SHOP I111 S. UNIVERSITY #1 I WELCOMES INCOMING STUDENTS STILL SERVING THE BEST IN TOWN PIZZAS - CHIPATIS -SISTER ANNS-SUBS FRESH MUSHROOMS PEPPERONI GREEN PEPPER ONIONS SLICED TOMATO BACON HAM CAPACOLLO SALAMI GREEN OLIVES BLACK OLIVES PINEAPPLE FRITO'S SAUSAGE*' HAMBURGER ANCHOVIES* nDOUBLE ITEM I _ ~C' r-4- FAVORITE HAM & CHEESE TORPEDO WINNER BARBEQUE ROAST BEEF TURKEY TUNA SALAD CHUCK'S DELIGHT ROSE BOWL CHEESE SISTER HAZEL SUPER DESTROYER ULTIMATE P.B.'S CHOICE DAILY DINGY PIZZA SUBS SHAKES AND MALTS LEMON a CHERRY *VANILLA " BANAN A " COFFEE a STRAWBERRY " CHOCOLATE " COCA-COLA " ROOT BEER w PINEAPPLE . 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