Page F-8-Thursday, September 4, 1980-The Michigan Daily
M
Men gymnasts battle injuries, Big
Ten
Talented group loses Varilek
By LEE KATTERMAN
With less than half of last season's
gymnastics team returning for the up-
coming campaign, it would be under.
standable if the coach played down his
team's chances for a "big"'season.
That is, if the coach were someone
other than Newt Loken.
Entering his 34th season of coaching
at Michigan, Loken is enthusiastic as
ever. And not without cause.
ALTHOUGH SIX gymnasts
graduated from the 1979-80 squad which
finished third in the Big Ten, plus
another loss to the surgeon's knife,
Loken still boasts a lineup of stalwart
performers.
Leading off is Wolverine captain and.
the tean's only senior - ring specialist
barrell Yee. Twice Big Ten still rings
Shamipon, Yee is looking forward to a
third Big Ten title and an NCAA medal,
both of which are within reach.
Another face gymnastics fans will see
often is the countenance shared by
Mike and Kevin McKee. The twins
came to Ann Arbor from Toledo a year
ago, and Loken expects the pair to fill a
number of the holes left open after
graduation.
KEVIN AND Mike will both be taking
specialist spots on the floor exercise
and vaulting. In addition, Kevin will
compete on high bar while brother Mike
swings on parallel bars.
At the other special positions, Loken
projects John Rieckhoff and Nevin
Hedlund on sidehorse, Rick Kauffman
joining Yee on rings, Bob Miller on
parallel bars and Mike Pfrender on
igh bar:
But while specialists, take up more
seats on the bus, the four all-arounders
count for over half of the team score, a
fact which leads to the biggest
question mark in Michigan's future.
OF THE FOUR all-around gymnasts
whom Loken had hoped would form
the core of his team, two underwent
surgery last spring and a third is still
recovering from a year-old operation.
Al Berger injured his knee in the
closing weeks of last season and
required surgery to repair ligament
damage. He should be back in action,
but it remains to be seen how com-
pletely he recovers.
Chris Van Mierlo had some shoulder
ligaments tightened and is lost for the
year. Finally, Marshall Garfield un-
derwent knee surgery over a year ago,
but still favored his knee during
dismounts and while tumbing.
THE ONE healthy returning all-
arounder is Milan Stanovich. With Van
Mierlo's loss, freshman Steve Schein
man is a probable starter.
Earning and keeping a spot as a
regular is especially attractive this
season. Included on what Loken called
a "best ever" schedule are the
premiere of the Wolverine Invitational
and a spring trip west to meet Arizona,
Arizona State and Oklahoma.
Loken's Wolverines are hosting the
Invitational, which features men's
teams from Michigan State, Indiana
State, and Penn State.
In the Big Ten race, last year's three-
way competition for the title will
probably expand by two more teams.
Conference champion Minnesota were
pushed all season by Ohio State and
Michigan, and Loken expects Illinois
and Michigan State to join in, making
the league even more competitive.
On the way to placing third in last
year's Big Ten Championships with a
score of 264.65, Michigan put seven
Wolverines in the finals. Joining Yee,
the ring titlist, was senior Gordon
Higman. Two other seniors to place in
the Big Ten Senior Captain Jim Varilek
finished in a tie for second on floor
exercise, and Kevin McKee placed
fourth. Senior Brian Carey gained sixth
on side horse and Van Mierlo and
Stanovich finish fifth and eighth,
respectively, on vaulting.
"Michigan has plans to be in the thick
of it again," vows Loken. Although he's
officially "conservatively optimistic,"
Loken is excited about the upcoming
season - "a real cliff hanger," as he
sees it.
C G GY A R E Y s s
vI
MICHIGAN GYMNAST DARRELL YEE is shown performing on the still rings, an event w hich requires immense strength,
balance, and concentration. Yee will be shooting for his third consecutive Big Ten rings title, as well as an NCAA crown. The
Farmington Hills senior is also the 1980-81 Wolverine captain.
Tumblers beaming with-
veterans, sold recruits
Coach: Newt Loken (34th year)
Last season; Loken's talented squad
was victimized by a highly com-
petitive Big Ten. The Wolverines
placed third in the conference meet,
and qualified several performers for
the NCAA Championships.
This season: While floor exercise
whiz Jim Varilek is graduated, cap-
tain Darrell Yee has a legitimate
shot at an NCAA individual title on
still rings. While team is young and
inexperienced in some areas, talent
nonetheless runs thick. Much will
depend on whether Al Berger and
Marshall Garfield can rebound
from injuries.
By DAN CONLIN
Sheri Hyatt doesn't need words to
describe how far her Michigan
women's gymnastics team has come in
the one year she has been on the job. All
she has to do is mention a few numbers.
Like ten, for instance. That's the
combined total of returning letterwin-
ners and incoming freshman who Hyatt
already has listed on the Blue tumbling
roster this season. That beats the old
record by quite a distance.
SIX IS ALSO an important figure for
the second-year coach, since it
represents the strong nucleus of retur-
ning gymnasts. Included among that
McKee
... solid all-arounder
Young teams pgrow
:wth time, competition
group are juniors Teresa Bertoncon
and Laurie Miesel, two of the Big Ten's
finest all-aroundes.
It all adds up to a rosy outlook for
Hyatt's team, which comes off an 11-3
season, a fourth-place showing in the
conference meet, and a sixth-place
finish in the AIAW Midwest regional
championship meet.
There are two names, however,
which will be noticeably absent from
the roster when the season opens in
December. Dana Kempthorn, who had
a year of eligibility remaining, has
decided to skip her final year of com-
petition, while Sara Flom graduated,
becoming the first four-year letterwin-
ner in the team's history.
FLOM'S DEPARTURE will leave a
burden on the uneven parallel bars and
floor exercise specialists, but Hyatt
thinks a pair of first-year performers,
Maren Lindstrom and Kathy Beckwith,
can fill the gaps.
"Kathy will be quite an addition,"
said Hyatt of Beckwith, who was one of
Canada's top prep gymnasts last year.
Beckwith was ranked third in the
Dominion in 1978-79, and placed seventh
last season.
Nancy Papows, who hails from
Massachusetts, is expected to pick up
the slack in vaulting, an event in which
Kempthorn excelled.
THE FRESHMAN WHOM Hyatt has
tabbed for an all-around spot is Gret-
chen Tafel from Indianapolis. Though
currently nursing a knee injury, Hyatt
calls Tafel "our strongest hope," ad-
ding that she "can do everything:"
The returning performers will be
more specialized this year, says Hyatt.
Lindstrom and fast-improving
sophomores Angela Deaver and Diane
McLean will make the Wolverines for-
midable in an event which has been
notoriously weak for them in previous
years-the balance beam. Lindstrom
will join the all-arounders in floor exer-
cises, traditionally a strong event,
while junior Lisa Uttal, Deaver, and
Beckwith will see plenty of competitive
time on the bars.
Papows will combii e with another
junior, Cindy Shearon, to add depth on
the vault.
Hyatt hopes the added number of
specialists will help ease the pain of in-
juries, which cropped up like flies on
the Wolverines last season. She added
that she will hold tryouts for interested
gymnasts sometime early in the fall.
The Daily will publish the time and date
of those tryouts.
Here's a look at the younger, less
established teams Michigan has fielded
in recent years:
WOMEN'S CROSS COUN-
TRY-Although 1979 marked the first
year in which the women's cross coun-
try team competed on a varsity level,
coach Red Simmons already knows he
has some talent within his grasp.
Melanie Weaver was the Wolverines'
shining star last fall, finishing first in a
triangular meet with Michigan State
and Minnesota, second in the Bowling
Green meet, and 19th at the Big Ten
Championships. Only a mishap with her
contact lenses prevented Weaver from
qualifying for the AIAW nationals.
Simmons called 1979 "a successful
season, considering we had so many
freshmen and sophomores," and is
looking forward to this season with
equal enthuisiasm. A pair of
sophomores, Julie Clifford and Suzanne
Frederick, could make the Wolverines
a competitive force in the future.
WOMEN'S FIELD HOCKEY-For.
the Blue clubbers, it was a season of in-
complete fulfillment. While the
Wolverines couldn't complain about
their 13-8-1 season record, they were
disappointed by their loss to Michigan
State in the first round of the Big Ten
tournament. Heartbreak crept onto the
scene again at the state tournament,
where Michigan was ousted in the
opening round by Western Michigan, 1-
0.
Coach Candy Zientek figured that her,
team could have traveled a longer
tournament road if the eventual cham&
pion Broncos hadn't spoiled the party,
and hopes are riding high once again
this year. Although all-time leading
scorer Mary Callam has graduated,
Zientek has several potent scoring pun-
ches back in her lineup, in addition to
goalie Laura Pieri.
WOMEN'S GOLF-The women
golfers have come a long way from the
day when most of the players were
trying to salvage a bogey on every hole.
Take Linda Drillock, for example.
Her scoring average was under 90 per
round in 1979, and she qualified for the
LPGA Lady Stroh's Open. Elaine
Crosby and Robin Sabotta won the
Jackson and Muskegon city champion-
ships, respectively, while Alison Smith
was the winner in the Grosse Ile Ladies'
Invitational.
This blend of talent earned the
Wolverines a second-place finish in the
state tournament, behind established
Michigan State.
SOFTBALL-When there's smoke,
there's fire, but when pitcher Theresa
"Smoke" Gardocki was put out of
commission by an early-season injury,
the flame that had guided the Michigan
softballers to so many easy victories
began to die out.
Coach Gloria Soluk is banking on
another hurler, Julie Zyjewski, to
rekindle that flame next season, along
with veteran outfielder Amy Ames, who
was also sidelined by injuries last
spring. The Wolverines could then
become contenders for another state
title. But it will have to be done without
Gardocki, whose fastball will never
again blaze from the Michigan mound.
IN ONLY TWO YEARS of competition, Cindy Shearon has emerged as one of
the Midwest's top vaulters. Shearon, who is shown on her dismount, will be able
to specialize in vaulting this season, according to Michigan's women's gymnas-
tics coach Sheri Hyatt. Hyatt says the increased talent and depth on her squad
permits the more extensive use of specialists.
I
. ,.a super sophomore year,
Icers change in more ways than one
(Continued from Page 4)
sparkling rookie year, finishing in a tie
for second on the team scoring slate
with 31 goals and 45 assists for 76 points.
WHILE TIPPETT amassed only 32
points (13 goals, 19 assists), the stocky
winger redefined the meaning of hustle,
killing penalties and fore-checking with
a level intensity and effectiveness
unequalled by any other player in the
league.
Fricker out an end to the goaltending
the spark, the bread and butter for the
icers last season was the scoring punch
provided by junior Murray Eaves and
gruaduated co-captain Dan Lerg.
Eaves, felt by many to be the best
player in the WCHA last year, led the
nation in scoring for much of the year
until he was slowed by mononucleosis
and an array of nagging injuries. The
Wolverines would like to have, and in-
deed require the presence of, Eaves'
lethal stick on the ice this year, but the
rvec-:lia:i e : h4 m th4 cs a dnnt , a-
year and is returning. Junior Tim Man-
ning set a school record for most assists
in one season by a defenseman with 43.
Another junior, John Blum, was equally
impressive with 41 assists of his own.
When one tacks on Steve Richmond and
Brian Lundberg, both solid and ex-
perienced, the Blue defensive corps can
only get better.
On March 11, Farrell joined the ranks
of the departed when he announced his
retirement from coaching to pursue a
huinnss cnrer with a Toronto-hed
to contend for the WCHA title again this
year.
The following year, however,
Michigan will no longer contend for the
WCHA title. Martin's sophomore year
will mark the Wolverine's maiden
voyage in the CCHA.
On May 28, the Athletic Department
announced simultaneously with Notre
Dame that the two schools would flee
from the geographically-dispersed
league in favor of the more compact but
traditinnamlll ess nrestiein CCHA.
Northern Michigan), and three from
Ohio (Bowling Green, Ohio State, and
Miami).
If Michigan Tech and Michigan State
follow suit, which they are currently
considering, the CCHA may well sur-
pass the WCHA as the leading western
hockey conference.
19 79-80 WCHA
Hockey Standings