Page 1o0-The Michigan Daily -Thursday, February 22, 1990 Gymnasts look to raise tourney hopes vs. Navy Indoor track squads travel to Big Ten 'S by Scott Erskine Daily Sports Writer Most gymnastics teams would be satisfied ranked 14th in a region cov- ering half of the nation. However, the Michigan men's gymnastics team is not most teams. Michigan coach Bob Darden explained that his team (2-4-1), which has shown sporadic signs of excellence, needs to start generating the types of scores that will give them a regional tournament berth. Only the top ten teams from the region are able to compete in this tournament. "We have to (start scoring higher). We've been ready to. Now we just have to show what we can do," Darden said. The Wolverines will have the opportunity to show what they can do Friday when they travel to Ann- apolis, Maryland to compete against the Naval Academy. The Mid- shipmen are currently ranked seventh in the Eastern Region. Navy's best three-meet average (of which two scores must be from away meets), is near 267. This averaging system is the one used by the regional committee when ranking the schools. The Wol- verines' average is nearly six points lower than Navy's. Traditionally, however, Michigan tends to score better at away meets. Judges at Michigan have tended to 'have sharper pencils" than judges away from home taking away some of the home-meet advantage for the Wolverines, Darden explained. This fact could help boost the Wolverines into a top ten regional by Rod Loewenthal Daily Sports Contributor The Indoor Track teams are looking for big finishes this week- end as both the men's and women's squads will be rounding out their season by competing in the Big Ten Championships. The women travel to Wisconsin while the men will compete at Indiana. Men's coach Jack Harvey is being realistic about his team's chances this weekend. "I think we're looking at finishing somewhere in the middle of the pack. Indiana and Purdue will be fighting it out for first. If we run extremely well we can get fourth. I think it will be pretty close in terms of point totals between fourth, fifth and sixth place." In order to finish fourth Harvey needs to have strong performances from pole vaulter Brad Darr, high jumper Brad Holwerda and runner Neal Newman, who will compete in the 800 meter. Newman is confident, but doesn't want to tempt fate by predicting his finish. "Basically I just want to rur strong and run aggressive. If I'rr confident and run in front ther things will fall into place for me. but I don't want to jinx myself by saying where I'll finish." The weekend is just as important to the women who are coming off a strong showing at the Eastern Mich- igan Classic last Friday and coach James Henry hopes that this will carry over into the Big Ten's this weekend, in which he expects the squad to place second or third. Signs from practice this week portend well for the meet. "All the sprinters have been ornery this week, that means they should do well this weekend." Henry said. After coming off a spectacular performance at Eastern last weekend where Mindy Rowand won the mile in a season's best 4 minutes, 46.9 seconds the senior long-distance runner is excited about the team's chances in the Big Ten's. "Every- one's been real fired-up. This team is a real tight group and everyone is constantly improving." Martin ranking quickly since their next five meets are away from home. Darden added that the increased leadership roles of co-captains Shawn Martin and Jim Round may help the gymnasts pull together against Navy and help throughout the rest of the season. Should the Wolverines reach their potential in any two of the next five meets, it is likely they could represent the Eastern region in the national competition this spring. First Mc Donald's, now Griddes? A As flight time neared Soviet'Cosmonauts were spotted discussing last minute preparations for takeoff: "Hey Comrade, did you remember to submit our Griddes picks to the Daily this week?" Drop off your picks at 420 Maynard by Friday, 5 p.m. If you're good, and a little lucky, you'll win breakfast or lunch for two at O'Sullivans Eatery and Pub. Northwestern vs. Michigan Ohio State vs. Purdue Minnesota vs. Iowa Indiana vs. Michigan State St. Bonaventure vs. Duquensne St. Bonaventure vs. Rutgers Creighton vs. Montana St. Valparaiso vs. Eastern Illinois Columbia vs. Penn Loyola-Marymount vs. Portland UCLA vs. Washington SMU vs. Texas Tech Rutgers vs. Temple Dayton vs. Butler Marquette vs. Xavier, Duke vs. Washington Boston College vs. Villanova LaSalle vs. Florida State Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech DePaul vs. Bradley Illinois State next up for women gymnasts by Sarah Osburn Daily Sports Writer This Sunday the women's gymnastics team will step out of the Big Ten as they take on Illinois i Announcing an offer designed to save money for people wMho are, we ll, a bit long-winded wxhen it comes to, you know talking on the phone,and who, quite understandably don't want to have to wait till after 11 pm to get a dealon long distance pnces. State. Coach Beverly Fry hopes that this meet will act as a confidence builder for her team, which has lost two very close competitions in their last two outings. "I think Illinois State is a good team, but I think that we should be able to beat them," she said. "I think that it is time to take a step back. Last year we lost to seven out of seven Big Ten teams. This season we've already defeated one, and the losses we have had have been so close that the fact that we have lost these meets is not a bad sign. "It is positive because if we continue to improve we will be able to beat them in. the Big Ten cham- pionship meet." Fry finds her team's consistency to be of concern. It seems to be the one thing that holds the team back. "we need to be able to go six for six on the balance beam. That is what lost the meet to Wisconsin, we beat them on two of four events but they hit six for six beam routines." Despite the disruptions in the lineup due to injury Fry has specific goals for the meet against Illinois. 4 "I'd like to score 183.0 or better" Even with the differences in judging sometimes found outside the Big Ten this goal should be well with in reach. "Last weekend I lost Chris Furlong, and Eva Gordon out of the lineup, and I lost Tina Blair on two events, and we still bettered our team total." STATE COUPONI ' FREE' I I DOUBLE PRINTS I .ON MONDAYS I I ON EVERY ROLL OF COLOR FILM | BROUGHT IN FOR DEVELOPING If you spend a lot of time on the phone, the AT&TReach Out*America Plan could save you a lot on your long distance bill. And you don't have to stay up late to do it. Starting at 5 pm, the AT&TReach Out®America Plan takes an additional 25% off our already reduced evening prices. n in1 ~,- m --11 ~e it1 QM 2R At'' r1FTT mr+ A A01 I