The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 13, 1989 - Page 11 Women's track team .ropens year BY MARK KATZ On the heels of a very successful cross-country season, the women's track team opens up its 1989 ,indoor track season Saturday in a 12-team meet at the 4Track and Tennis Building. "This year we will really be able to put quality people in every event," women's track coach James Henry said. "The big word for this team is healthy. If we're healthy, we will do well. If we can stay healthy, I think we're going to be not just a competitive team, but one that will be in contention for the (Big Ten) Championship." The indoor track team returns all but one of its scorers from a team that placed sixth in the Big Ten Indoor Track Championship last year. The addition of transfers Carol Boyd and Amy Bannister from Northwestern and what Henry considers "one of the top Fecruiing classes in the past five years" should help (he team exceed last year's performance. Boyd helped propel the cross-country team to a seventh-place finish in this year's NCAA national championship. She rounds off a strong group of distance runners along with junior Mindy Rowand and senior Traci Babcock. Bannister specializes in the 600- and 800-meter runs. . First-year students Kim Haluscak, a middle-distance ,unner and cross-country standout, and Alison Smith, a ;high jumper, highlight the group of talented recruits. The veterans of the team include1988 Big Ten shotput champion Sonya Payne, a junior who placed second in last year's indoor NCAA championship and 1earned All-American status both indoors and outdoors last year, and Rowand, Michigan's top cross-country .runner. They are supported by junior sprinter Gillian Osborne, whom Henry calls "the most versatile athlete on the team,"and senior Dana Davidson, another all- ,around athlete who leads Michigan in the pentathlon wnd heptathlon. "I will be surprised if we don't win every single event at the meet," Henry said. 'M' men run 'tune-up' KBY JOSH MITNICK The men's track team will be running sort of a warm-up lap today when it travels to Eastern Michigan ,;Jniversity to start its indoor season. Eastern Michigan, Michigan State, Toledo, and Hillsdale will also be competing. Because the meet will only be scored according to individual rather than team performance, Michigan will not take its full squad to the opening meet in , psilanti. Michigan coach Jack Harvey said that the meet would be a "tune-up" for some of the squad in preparation for the Wolverines' first big indoor meet, the Michigan Relays, on Jan. 20. "This is sort of a low-key meet for us," assistant coach Ron Warhurst said. "Our goal is just to get our :feet wet. We don't really know what to expect." Warhurst added that after the meet at Eastern, the ;Wolverines will have a better idea of how to prepare for next week. Michigan's top two long-distance runners, junior Brad Barquist and senior John Scherer, will be staying home from today's opening contest to rest up for the upcoming Relays. Scherer is the returning NCAA 10,000-mieters champion. , But pole vaulters Dave Irvine and Brad Darr will participate in today's warmup. Senior quarter-miler Claude Tiller will also be part of the Michigan squad. "We're not going to be as sharp coming back from * the vacation. We're just trying to get a meet under our !belt," Harvey said. The Wolverines placed fifth overall in the final Big -Ten standings last year. Harvey said he expects the squad to be in a similar position this year. "The overall team strength is not enough to be a contender. In some events we're just not competitive." NCAA alters Prop. 48, sets up athletes' group SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A new group will soon join NCAA schools in the debate concerning what's best for college athletes. The new group is made up of college athletes. Legislation setting up a 16-member student committee drew far less attention than other actions of the 83rd annual NCAA convention, which ended Wednesday. But Executive Director Dick Schultz believes it could be one of the most significant actions the ruling body of college sports has taken. "I think this is a giant step forward," Schultz said. "It's going to be very important now to establish a structure where we can pick very interested student-athletes who will take the responsibility seriously and do their homework." The more than 1,800 delegates gave unanimous approval to the resolution. The students won't be able to write or introduce legislation to NCAA conventions, but for the first time in the organization's long and sometimes checkered history, the voice of the students is going to be heard. WHILE NCAA STUDENTS secured a victory in one round, many might say they suffered a serious reversal with the elimination of the "partial qualifier" as spelled out in Proposition 48. By a 163-154 vote on Wednesday, Division I schools reversed their decision on Tuesday and closed the only loophole available to high school prospects who do not meet all the freshman-eligibilility standards of Proposition 48. A partial qualifier is a high school graduate with a 2.0 overall grade-point average who does not meet other Proposition 48 requirements such as minimum test-scores or a 2.0 average in college preparatory courses. Since Proposition 48 went into effect three years ago, an estimated 1,800 athletes have received scholarship under the partial qualifier provision. Beginning in 1990, there will be no partial qualifiers, and high school prospects will have to meet all eligibility requirements. Previously, partial qualifiers could receive full scholarship aid but had to sit out their freshman year and then have only three years of eligibility left. "I have to admit I was a little surprised that it passed," Schultz said, noting that several other measures aimed at altering Proposition 48 were defeated. "What they were really doing was strengthening Prop 48." Now, partial qualifiers will face the same dilemma as non-qualifiers - having to pay their own expenses in their freshman year while not playing or practicing in their sport. They may receive scholarships as sophomores if they complete 24 credit hours, but will have only three years of eligibility. AN NCAA spokesperson in Mission, Kan., said about 600 partial qualifiers had been admitted each of the three years Proposition 48 has been in effect. "This will affect not just Black kids, but poor kids who are Black, white and other shades," said Jim Frank, commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Black educators have generally opposed Proposition 48 on the basis that the college entrance exams are discriminatory against minority and economically disadvantaged students. JOHN MUNSON Daily Michigan guard Leah Wooldridge, here against Toledo, has been starting for Tempie Brown, who was benched. Wake up, Bud; here's OSU, IU BY ADAM BENSON Click your heels together, Bud VanDeWege, your team needs to get home. If you told the Michigan women's basketball coach that his team would have a .500 record after 12 games, he might have been so stunned that he'd hit his head on the Crisler Arena court. If you told VanDeWege that top scorers and potential all-Big Ten players Lorea Feldman and Tempie Brown would not be starting, he may have said, "You're dreaming". WAKE UP, BUD, it's really happening. Your Wolverines were trounced by Iowa and upset by Minnesota. Brown has been benched for poor play, and Feldman is academically ineligible. Now, after a month on the road, Michigan returns to Crisler Arena for a weekend series with Ohio State and Indiana Friday night's matchup between the Wolverines and the Buckeyes will match two early-season disappointments. But while Michigan's troubles center around a mediocre record, Ohio State is panicking over its absence from the top 20. THE BUCKEYES, always one of the Big Ten's powers, slumped early this season, but are 7-0 since the return of preseason All-Big Ten center Nikita Lowry. Point guard Lisa Cline, whb is averaging 22.4 points per game, and Lowry (16.1) provide the Buckeyes with one of the best scoring tandems in the country. Some basketball pundits would call Friday's game a mismatch, but Ohio State coach Nancy Darsch feel that the talent level of the these teams makes no difference when the Buckeyes come to Ann Arbor. "Anytime you put Ohio State and Michigan together, emotion carries over from the football rivalry," Darsch said. While some coaches look to just be competitive against a team as strong as Ohio State, VanDeWege wants an upset. "Ohio State is beatable; they are not the same invincible outfit they have been over the past six years," VanDeWege said. "If we play a good game, there's no reason they can't be beat," Sunday's opponents from Indiana, surpassing most early-season predictions, have a 9-3 record and are 2-0 in the Big Ten. Center Pam Fritz tops the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (7 rpg). Arane Mooney, the Big Ten's Player of the Week after scoring 27 points in Indiana's win over Northwestern, provides the heart and soul of the Hoosiers as their senior leader and point guard. Even with the strong performances of his stars, Indiana coach Jim Izard downplays his team's capabilities. "(Fritz and Mooney) are only two-fifths of the team," Izard said. "We're really not that good." Izard sees the game much differently than VanDeWege, who expects the Indiana-Michigan matchup to be one of the most rugged duels of the Big Ten season. "They use a small lineup, but they are one of the most aggressive teams in the Big Ten. What makes them tough is how they attack on defense and their up-tempo offense. These teams match up very well. It will be a tremendous ball game." The Wolverines want to win these two games to improve their record and to save face. "(Last weekend) hurt their pride," VanDeWege said about his team. "They are a better team then it appears. Coming home and getting another chance to prove it will provide us with added motivation." Bo and Al Associated Press Hall of Famer Al Kaline jokes with Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler during the Detroit Tigers' annual winter party Thursday night at the Detroit Athletic Club. Schembechler was named to the Tigers" board of directors Thursday. 'M' to build fencing tradition ? $ OY JEFF SHERAN schools do not have women's teams. a For the first time in more than 10 The teams, consisting of 13 fencers ears, Ann Arbor will host an each, will compete in a series of tercollegiate fencing tournament. five-touch bouts. Saturday's 9 a.m. meet at the Though not as popular as other Coliseum will feature competition sports, fencing does boast a etween six Michigan universities in following of approximately 50 [our events. active members. Club president Participating in the tournament Rajesh Kothari said, "It may not be besides Michigan are Michigan State as big here as it is in Europe, but 4nd the University of Detroit, both it's still a great sport to play and varsity squads, as well as Eastern watch." Michigan, Oakland University, and For those interested in UM-Dearborn. fencing, Kothari urges becoming In the men's competition, there involved in the club, which is will be duels with foil, ep6e, and comprised of students, faculty, and kabre, but only foil will be used in staff. Practices are Monday and be women's category, since certain Wednesday at 7 p.m. -I Ii O EIJJ/ [kI1TZTM, at the Heidelberg 215 N. Main, Ann Arbor Reservations Showtimes 995-8888 r Fri. 8:30 & 11 pm * Admission $6 Sat. 8:30 & 11 pm * Improvisational Comedy Nightclub ! r NEMA DIRECTORyY' University of Michigan Library Bentley Historical Library School of Information and Library Studies present Gwendolyn Brooks Poet Laureate of Illinois Pulitzer Prize Winner 2:00 pm Monday, January 16, 1989 - Michigan Union Ballroom Diversity Day Symposium Blacks in the Arts-