The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, March 14, 1978 Tall Tumbling eighth in conference; Men roll fourth Women By JEFF FRANK On the surface, -nothing seemed- unusual about last weekend's MAIAW gymnastics championship. Underneath was a different story. As expected, the battle for the team title raged between Southern Illinois, Michigan State and Kent State, with SIU emerging victorious. The three teams finished within one point of each other in the tightly judged meet. The team totals told more than one story as they showed SIU with 138.95, MSU second with 138.15 and Kent's third place score, 137.15. Michigan placed eighth with a score of 130.4. Controversy revolved around the low scores for the top teams as each of the three teams had hoped to qualify for nationals March 31 in Seattle. Scores from this meet are used to determine qualifiers and seedings for Nationals. Scores for the top teams were about three points under the averages for each. Michigan State coach Mike Kasavana wouldn't comment on the judging, but expressed satisfaction with his team's performance. "I was somewhat pleased with the team, they came through with their best performances," he said. "Of cour- se we hoped to win, but we knew SIU would be tough. We're hoping that our score is high enough to qualify for nationals." Michigan, working in the early session, managed to climb into the up- per division by beating out Illinois and West Virginia from the late session and capturing eighth place. The team total of 130.4 was the third highest of the year for the tumblers, but with the tougher scoring present at regionals, this might have been their best showing. Coach Anne Cornell called it "the best team effort as far as supportive performances. I'm pleased wit~ where we ended up and with our 130 score." For the tumblers it was a balanced effort, with only Sara Flom's 8.8 score in floor exercise high enough to qualify for the individual finals held Saturday. Flom tacked on an 8.95 in the finals to finish third in the competition. A personal best all-around score of 32.7 by Mia Axon, and season best scores by Ginger Robey and Katie Zobler in uneven bars contributed to the tumblers' fine performance. It was more than just a team com- petition however, as the tumblers spent three days in Columbus renewing friendships and establishing others. A semi-rousing chorus of "Hail to the Victors" was sung to businessmen out- side a hotel banquet room, bringing predictable results from the Ohio residents present. .- The Kent State Golden Flashes (who deny they're called golden because of the predominance of blondes on the team) broke up the monotony and relieved their disappointment by throwing a birthday party for one of their teammates. A regional representative to the AIAW was elected in what had to be one of the most informal elections ever held. Sue Kozub of Chicago-Circle top- ped a field of four candidates, including Sara Flom; for the position. But the real story of the weekend was an Ohio State tumbler who captured the eyes and minds of the crowd with her daring routines. Donna Silber, a freshperson from Mt. Prospect, Illinois, astonished both tum- blers and spectators alike with a mount of the balance beam that consisted of a running front-flip onto the team. During Friday's team competition Silber slid along the beam as she moun- ted, but on Saturday she stuck her lan- ding of the flip, performed a perfect side aerial and turned in a near flawless beam routine as she registerd a 9.5, the top score of the meet. Along with the first place that she captured with her total score of 18.3, Silber received a standing ovation from the enthusiastic crowd of spectators and gymnasts who had gasped at the first sight of her unique mount. "It's not really as hard as it looks," explained Silber about the mount, which was her own invention. "The hardest part is the landing. I've got to make sure to get my feet on the beam to land it and not fall off." Silber taught herself the trick by piling up mats to the level of the beam and removing them as she gained more confidence. After landing her aerial, a trick that she fell on during Friday's competition, a large smile could be seen on Donn's face and it was apparent that this routine was under control. "I knew I would stay on after I hit my mount and aerial; getting past the first half of the routine is the hardest," en- thused a very happy Silber who added victory in floor exercise and the all- around championship to her list of honors. "I had to make up for falling in yesterday's (Friday) routine." "She's doing things out of the class of the Big Ten. I don't know anyone who does that mount on beam, or a back' somersault with two twists (floor exer- cise) in this region," said Cornell. "She's a gutsy performer for sure. She's such a strong performer she could take the difficulty from her routines and still win. I'm very impressed with her' Silber may have been the flashiest performer of the meet, but she cer- tainly wasn't alone as far as talent. She scored 36.25 in winning the all-around and added a 36.6 in the individual finals. (No all-around scores were kept.) Theknowledgable crowdrhad plenty to cheer about with Silber's twisting moves. Event winners Cindy Moran of SIU on uneven bars and Patty Dn- nemiller of Kent St. in vaulting scored over nine consistently. Dannemiller gave credit to the crowd for spurring her on as the Kent en- tourage included nine tumblers and eight coaches. "I had to do good," said Dannemiller who hit two Tsukahara vaults to compile her 18.5 score, "with all these people rooting me on I'd be embarrassed if I did badly."" By PETE LEININGER Saving their best for last, Michigan's gymnasts scored a season high optional score of 208.15 in the Big Ten finals held this past weekend at Illinois. Unfortun- ately, a relatively low compulsory score (194.40) kept the Wolverines from placing any higher than fourth. "The team did a great job of firing up for the optional session . .. we almost caught up to Ohio State by gaining nearly three full points on them in the optional session," commented Michigan coach Newt Loken. MICHIGAN'S John Corritore (parallel bars) and Carl Badger (vault- ing,) placed first and third respectively, both qualifying for the nationals at Oregon in three weeks. All-arounder Nigel Rothwell placed fourth on floor exercise and highbar, missing national qualifications by less than .15 of a point on each event. The top three in each event qualified for nationals. Other Michigan gymnasts who placed fourth, just missing qualifications, were Brian Carey (pommel horse) and Jim Varilek on floor exercise. "IT'S KIND OF disheartening being only one-tenth of a point away from going to nationals," said Varilek. "But I had my best compulsory score this year." Corritore, Big Ten champ and NCAA runner-up last year, ended up with the widest margin of victory of any first place finisher. Despite the evidently easy win, Corritore found himself in an unfamiliar spot after the first night. After failing to hit his compulsory routine, which placed him fourth, he was forced to come back with a solid optional routine in order to finish in the top three. "I over-adrenalized for my compulsory and got out of control." "THE THING I learned was to keep control of myself." Corritore controlled himself enough to score a 9.45, tops in the event. Bob Creek, who has been the most consistent performer for Michigan this season, had the misfortune of breaking on his mount, which ended any chance of qualifying for nationals. '"He was only .025 from first going into the finals," said Loken. As expected, it was a two-team battle for first place between last year's champion Minnesota and host Illinois. Minnesota topped the Illini 423.00 to 419.45 with Ohio State a distant third with 406.30. THE GOPHERS were without an in- dividual winner except for Tim LaFleur in the all-around competition. LaFleur, last year's all-around champ, turned in an impressive 106.05 score. In -addition to Corritore and Badger being in the nationals, other Michigan gymnasts will be able to compete in the AAU's held in Houston on May 18. Loken, proud of his team's final per- formance, looked forward to next year. We've Been Waiting for You ... BILLIARDS and BOWLING at The UNION REDUCED RATES 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more sports turn back to Page 11 High Steppin' ~bLmN I1TBR Tracksters stride undefeated By JAMIE TURNER Clutch performances late in the meet gave Michigan the Big Ten Track and Field Championships this year, avenging a one point loss last season and capping a successful and un- defeated indoor season. The two-day championships, held March 4-5, saw the Wolverines and In- diana battle throughout the meet, with Michign having just enough to pull it out at the end. "WE THOUGHT we'd be in com- petition for the title, but we also thought that Indiana was the team to beat," said Michigan coach Jack Harvey. Harvey went into the meet hoping that the Wolverines would qualify ten to twelve for the finals, expecting that the Hoosiers would do the same and that Michigan would have a good chance for first place. But it didn't happen that way. Purdue sand Ohio State performed far better than anyone thought, knocking out some performers from both Indiana and Michigan. "Purdue and Ohio performed real well," ' commented Harvey, "They broke up the finals that normally we would have been in. "AFTER FRIDAY'S preliminaries we didn't look good," he added, "we figured that we'd finish in the top three, but it could have been third instead of first." The struggle continued to the final three events. pole vault, three mile and mile relay, with the Wolverines holding only a one-point margin over Indiana with Wisconsin close behind. Harvey was expecting an advantage in those three events, but the results exceeded his expectations. Michigan totally dominated the final three, winning the relay, Jim Stokes winning the pole vault, and three run- ners placing in the top six in the three mile. The final result had Michigan winning the meet by 19 points - distor- ting the closeness of the competition. "EVERYBODY there did a real good job," commented Harvey, "they scored well and worked hard. A real surprise was the three places in the three mile. We had to do well in the final three (events) and they came through." Along with the relay and Stokes, Tim Thomas won the 880 with a time that qualified him for the NCAA's and James . Henry and James Grace finished second in the long jump and 440 respectively. A strong performance was also tur- ned in by'Bill Donakowski, who claimed second place honors in both the mile and two mile, giving Michigan much- needed points early in the competition. "Everybody ran well and that's what put us over the top," added Harvey. MICHIGAN SENIORS Jim Stokes, Bill Donakowski and James Grace placed high enough in the NCAA Track and field championships last weekend to propel the Wolverines to a surprising sixth place tie, one of the Wolverines best finishes in recent years. Grace finished second in the 440 to defending champion Willie Smith of Auburn by only .03 of a second and might have beaten Smith if he had not drawn the outside lane - forcing him to start the first 100 yards on a curve. Stokes had the misfortune to be in the same event as UCLA's Mike Tully, and the latter's world record jump of 18-5%14 overshadowed Stokes second place finish, putting him ahead of Tully's teammate, Charlie Brown. "I WAS PRETTY satisfied with my performance," said Stokes, whose 17-0 took second, I thought I could have cleared 17-4, but I was just missing." Donakowski was the last Wolverine to place in the finals, grabbing fourth behind surprise winner Gerald Deegan of Ireland in the two mile. I Fl STUDIO Stereo&-T--. Service Fast-Competent RENTALS AT STJDENT RATES 215 S. Ashley 769-0342 Downtown, I block west of Main, between Washington and Liberty 8r V~kY, STAY } NI~T Stanley KubricL s 2001: A SPACE ODYSSE Y AT -9 PM.-1 AM. 4A. -Sports Clubs Demonstrations - Food Open Kecreation *"Qames -Super Star Comperitioin, aid much more1 P .-, March CCI213 $J.oo 8 a.m, 18 "A Rcratonal Sports U Trackwomen place a satisfying seventh in By JAMIE TURNER Competing in its first ever Big Ten Championships, the women's track team placed seventh in the competition, one point out of sixth - a satisfactory performance for Coach Red Simmons. "We could have finished as high as fifth," commented Simmons; "but con- sidering that we only had five girls, it isn't bad." The young Wolverines' hopes for a higher finish were dashed when a mixup on the final leg of the 880 relay slowed the baton exchange, causing Michigan to eventually finish sixth and lose valuable points.3 Wisconsin won the overall champion- ship, breaking a string 'of titles that have previously been monopolized by Michigan State. "I thought that Michigan State would win but Wiscon- sin did," stated Simmons, "the power has been State's, but they're (Wiscon- sin) really loading up." Wisconsin has announced a doubling their initia of scholarship monies being allotted the women athletes, and that is expected to improve its future performance. Good performances were turned in by Michigan's Pam Moore and Darlynda Key as all five Wolverines were able to score points in the meet. Moore set a I Big Tens school record in her third place finish in the 200 meter with a time of 25.5, while Key was narrowly edged out of a first place in the long jump when the last two competitors beat her on their final jumps. VITAS GERULAITIS (World Ranked #5) Reached qua r er ina s of Wimbledon in 1976 Won Italian Open in 1977 Reached senmi-inals at Wimbledon in 1977 Reached sioles finals in seven WCTI Tournaments 1977 Reac hed si-finals of WC T Chao n s hips. 1977 Won Austral.in Open. 1978 If KEN ROSEWALL P(World Ranked #13) Four-time Australian Open Champion. 1953. 55. 71 & 72 Winner of the French Open. 1953 & 68 Four-time runner-up at Wimbledon 1954 I56. 70 &74 Won the U S Open at Forest Hills in 1956 &' 70 S Won the WCT in Dallas 1 t971c&72 '4 Won WOF in Jackson and Hong Kong in 1976 Summer Positions at Camp Tamarack Counselors, specialists, supervisors, nurses, long trip" bus drivers, kitchen staff INTERVIEW MARCH 16, 22, & 29 Call Summer Placement-764-4117 Camp Tamarack is sponsored by the Jewish Fresh Air Society, 6600 W. Maple Rd., W. Bloomfield, Michigan 48033. 313/661- 0600. CALL OR WRITE FOR INFORMATION AND APPLICATION *~.;; __....,_______ ._.______________....__ The Ann Arbor Civitan Club Presents The 3rd Annual CIVITAN TENNIS CLASSIC STARRING Vitas Gerulaitis vs: Ken Rosewall for Special Olympics 7:00 P.M. Monday, March 20,1978 Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor SPONSORED BY hudsons The No. 1 Rock-n-Roll Disco 737 N. Huron (at Lowell, just east of the E.M. U. Campus) Patron Sponsors: THE ANN ARBOR NEWS, WEBER'S INN, Ticket Information RESERVED SEATS (Blue Area) .,$ 7.50 Tickets on Sale At: * All Hudson's Stores *Liberty Racquet Club I I