Beckwith:
Tumbles into a key
gymnastic position
By BARB BARKER
By 1978 Kathy Beckwith had made
her mark in Canadian women's gym-
nas~ts. A rookie on the provincial
te4av, Beckwith captured second place
alk'rounder in nationals, placing first
in the vault and third on the beam. In
1979- Beckwith countinued to excel
takig seventh in all-around with a
third on vault and fourth on the beam.
1 Ire 1980 she quit gymnastics cold
urkey-no practice, no competition.
BPCKWITH, A SHY, soft-spoken
freshman, explained the reasoning
behind her decision. "I wanted to get
my grades up before I began applying
to'colleges," she said. "My mother sent
mp to a strict private school that
focused solely on academics. I didn't
have time to concentrate upon anything
other than my studies."
in July, after school ended, she began
to.practice again. Since she had already
*eiatively made the Michigan team,
Bekwith had to undergo vigorous
training if she wanted to compete in the
'81 season.
Ii was a lot harder to start training
thai I thought it would be," said Beck-
witl. "After almost a full year off, I had
gained 10 pounds and was completely
out of shape. I began running, weight
liftinig, strength exercises and working-
out on the equipment. For awhile I
aNn't sure if I was going to make it."
iflE EFFORT PAID off however,
and Coach Sheri Hyatt and the
Michigan women's gymnastics team
look+ to the freshman as their top all-
arounder. Beckwith's most recent per-
formance, last Saturday in a dual meet
against Western Michigan, bore out
that fact: she was the meet's top scorer
in every event except the beam.
Beckwith, though somewhat modest,
is confident of her capabilities, having
igh aspirations for this year's season.
"I think that at this point I am finally
up to the level I was at before I took off
a year, said Beckwith. "Right now I'm
trying to improve my overall score so
that I may qualify for nationals. Right
now I think I stand a pretty good chan-
ce."
HEAD COACH SHERI Hyatt seems
to agree. "Kathy has had a good season
so far this year," said Hyatt. "She is
somewhat of a perfectionist. She works
hard doing everything and doing it well.
If she can get her scores up into the 34
area, she could very easily qualify for
nationals."
As far as academics go, Beckwith
seems to be doing well. "I had no idea
Michigan was such a hard school when
I came here. Even though taking a year
off of gymnastics was a setback, now
that I'm here I am glad that I went back
to it."
Teammate sophomore Diane
McLean sums up Beckwith's attitude as
that of a devoted perfectionist. "She
works and works until she gets
something and after that she's con-
stant. She's constantly practicing. Her
hard work really inspires us all."
The Michigan Daily-Friday, January 16, 1981-Page 11
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8:00 pm Friday, January 16:
"RABBI NAHMAN, THE MESSIAH AND THE
JEWISH QUESTION"
(Co-sponsored by Judiac Studies and Studies in Religion)
1:30 pm Saturday, January 17:
"JEWISH INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS"
7:30 pm Sunday, January 18:
"ON LEARNING TO BE HUMAN: EXPLORING
THE MECHANISM OF CONSCIOUSNESS"
(Sponsored by the Office of Ethics and Religion)
All talks at HILLEL. 1429 Hill St.
Join The Daily Sports Staff
pR
i :
Daily Photo by PAUL ENGSTROM
Freshwoman gynmastic sensation Kathy Beckwith exhibits the ability that
has characterized her athletic comeback and led to the tumbling team's
recent success.
GOALIES SAVING GRACE IN SERIES:
Icers ace feeble MSU
By KENT WALLEY
'The wing skated furiously up the ice.
He out-maneuvered two defenseman.
There was nothing between him and a
score except the goalie.
It looked like a sure goal as he broke
tothe left and fired a blistering slapshot
fron poiat blan; range. The net minder..
was a good one and had been an-
ticipating the wing's every move. As
the puck approached the crease the
goalie stretched out his stick in a split
second. Crack went the puck as it was
deflected clean of the goal. A boy in the
'crowd summed up everyone's thoughts
saying "Boy that was a great save!"
That scene took place in Wisconsin
last weekend as goalie Paul Fricker
made one of his many dazzling saves,
and there could be many repeats of it
this week, when Michigan takes on
Michigan State, at Yost Ice Arena on
Friday and in East Lansing on Satur-
day.
Fricker-last year's rookie of the
year-although still looking for his first
conference shut-out has been playing
exceptionally well, winning the most
valuable player award at the Great
Lakes Invitational Tournament.
But there is another young and up-
coming goalie in the Western Collegiate
Hockey Association this year. His name
is Ron Scott. He plays for the Spartans.
Scott has already been picked by
many to win the WCHA rookie of
the year this year. He las led the Spar-
tans to a winning streak of six out of
their last eight games. Scott also shut-
out a strong Minnesota-Duluth team
last Friday and Notre Dame earlier in
the season.
With two such expert net minders
there will be added pressure on the of-
fenses and especially the power-play to
score. Last week it was the opposing
power play that killed Michigan; three
of Wisconsin's four goals were scored
with a Wolverine in the penalty box.
On the other side of the stick, much of
the Spartans recent success can be at-
tributed to penalty killing. Senior right
wing Ken Paraskevin and junior center
Frank Finn combined to kill a string of
36 penalties, a streak that was broken in
their last game. Finn also has tallied
nine goals and nine assists.
But scoring could be a problem for
Michigan State, with last year's top
scorer and key starter this year Leo
Lynette out for the season. Even coach
Ron Mason has little confidence in his
team. "We're basically a tenth place
hockey team," said the coach.
State's top scorers are both
sophomore right wings. Mark Hamway
has tallied 22 points this season and Bob
Martin has 19.
But it's Michigan that's coming off a
double loss to Wisconsin last weekend,
and the Spartans don't have a monopoly
on injuries. Left wing Paul Brandrup is
questionable for this weekend.
Coach John Giordano has more con-
fidence in the Spartans than Mason. He
is expecting a "tough series." He is also
expecting State to be out for revenge,
since Michigan has beaten them all
three times they met this year, each
time by one goal.
With revenge on their minds or not,
the Spartans, led by Scott's net minding
expertise, should give Fricker and
company some tough competition this
weekend.
SCORES
College Basketball
MICHIGAN 55, Indiana 52, OT
Illinois 87, Purdue 65
Ohio State 81, Northwestern 69
Minnesota 86, Michigan State 77
Iowa 76, Wisconsin 66
.
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F
W W - --
SPRING BREAK IN DAYTONA BEACH
by the W.O.B.N. COUNCIL
FEB. 20- MARCH 1, 1981
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6 PER ROOM
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TRIP INCLUDES
" Round trip motor coach transportation on first
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following day. The return trip departs the following
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" A full seven nights accommodations at the Plaza
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. A great time in Daytona with special parties and
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