The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 4, 1991 - Page 13, BARRowMAN EYES 400-METER BREASTSTROKE Another world record? by Ken Sugiura Daily Sports Writer Imagine expecting to break a world record. Now imagine plan- ning to lower it by two minutes. Michigan's favorite world record breaker, former Wolverine Mike Barrowman, is at it again. Until now, Barrowman has been content with proprietorship of the 200-meter breaststroke world record, having set or reset the stan- dard five times in just over three years. Tomorrow at the Michigan State Invitational, the fifth-year senior will attempt to double his pleasure by taking aim at the 400-meter breaststroke world mark. Here is where the story becomes somewhat odd. "The thing of it is that the event was a major event in the Olympics for the first quarter of the century, since the Olympics started. And America never won a medal in the event," Barrowman said. "And what happened was I said, 'Hey, here's a chance to get a little revenge on the spirit world."' In 1924, the race was discontin- ued because of safety precautions. The strategy of the day was to swim as much of the race underwater as possible, and the threat of hyperven- tilation and blackouts precluded the event from getting sanctioned. Thus, the actual world record, set by Germany's Walter Bathe at the 1912 Summer Olympics, has re- mained in tact. "Obviously, (my time won't be) a recognized world record, so I won't be able to actually hold the title of that event," Barrowman said. "But if I break it, I mean, I break it, and that's all there is to it. "I should be able to bust through that thing pretty well. But I don't know," Barrowman said. "But I'd just really like to do it, and U.S. Swimmer-of-the-Year lowered the 200-meter mark to 2:10.60, so a time of 4:30 for the 400 is certainly reasonable. The former Wolverine captain said his attempt to break the record is also an attempt to expose the record's improbable age, thereby drawing media attention to the low- profile sport. In addition, Barrowman covets the Sullivan Award, the annual honor bestowed upon the nation's best amateur athlete. Two years ago, Barrowman finished fifth in ballot- ing and last spring he was runner-up to wrestler John Smith. "Any little thing to press for the Sullivan Award, too, is always nice. It's going to be tough, with the guy who broke that long jump record," he said in reference to Mike Powell, who surpassed Bob Beamon's 23-year old mark in August. But Barrowman has compiled a respectable 1991 resume for him- self. He has twice reset the 200 me- ter world mark, captained the Wolverines to their sixth-straight Big Ten title, earned his third straight NCAA 200-yard breast- stroke championship, been named Big Ten-Jesse Owens Athlete-of- the-Year and U.S. Swimmer-of-the- Year, received the Michigan Medal of Honor, and maintained his studies as an English concentrator. Fans cheer for Michigan at Crisler Arena last season. In hopes of making Crisler's crowd more lively, the athletic department has moved the student section and will host Midnight Madness Oct. 14. Midnight Maneshits 'M' Fisher hopes to stirfans with Oct.14 exhibition by Albert Lin bring home a world record for Michigan." Bathe, since retired, clocked a 6:29.6, well within Barrowman's reach. At the national champi- onships this summer, the three-time Daily Basketball Writer For years, Michigan basketball fans have been ac- cused of being passive, a mass of lethargic people seated firmly on their hands. Last year, Michigan coach Steve fisher accompanied his calls for more student in- volvement with several changes, such as shifting the student section behind the team benches. Details of the next step were made official yester- day. The athletic department will hold Midnight Madness at Crisler Arena starting at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, and extending into the early morning hours of Oct. 15. The event, which culminates with the Wolverines' first NCAA-allowed team practice, has met with huge success at other schools, such as Kansas and Kentucky. While Fisher acknowledges a winning team as the ultimate draw of fans, he hopes the festivities will en- courage excitement among students about the team. "We'll see what happens with it," Fisher said. "We don't anticipate getting the numbers that a Kentucky gets, but if 100 more students come to the games as a result of what they see, that's what we're looking for. We're just trying to get more students interested and involved" In addition, student season passes go on sale at a cost of $65, which does not include admission to the Dec. 21 game vs. Rice during winter break. As they enter the arena, students will receive an application that will be processed immediately. Approximately 4,000 passes have been allocated for sale to students, each of whom will receive a complimentary "Blue Crew" t-shirt. The 1989 highlight video The Battle in Seattle will b shown on two big-screen televisions during the first half hour of the event. At 8:30, past basketball and football Wolverines will play a legends game. Those who have already committed to participate include Phil Hubbard, Marty Bodnar, Dave Baxter and John Wangler. The current Michigan squad will sign autographs beginning at halftime of the legends game, at approxi- mately 9:15, in the main concourse area. Two professional comedians will entertain the crowd at 10, followed by a Karoake contest at 10:30 that will involve regional winners from four different campus sites. A $500 prize goes to the winner. The Michigan Marching Band will perform along with the Michigan cheerleaders at 11. At 11:30, emcee Jim Brandstatter, host of Michigan Replay and former Wolverine offensive lineman, will introduce the 1991- 92 basketball team's players and staff. Fisher will address the crowd five minutes before midnight, after which he will bring the team onto the court for its first official practice. The squad will do layup drills and dunks, and perhaps have a three-point shooting contest. Fisher said he does not expect to run a scrimmage during the half-hour exhibition. Fisher said he has been asked to stage Midnight Madness in the past, but had always been reluctant to try. With the hype surrounding the team's five highly- regarded rookies, Fisher felt the crowd would better receive such an event this season. "My arm had to be twisted a little to say I'll do it," he said. "I hope we'll get a lot of people to come out, including students." Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations Bob DeCarolis organized the event. Members of his staff came up with ideas, and they were cleared with Fisher. Stickers gear up for Ohio State by Tim Spolar Daily Sports Writer Coming off a 3-1 victory over Northern Illinois that ended its three-game scoreless losing streak, the Michigan field hockey team faces tough competition this week- end against conference rival Ohio State. The Wolverines (1-1 in the Midwest Collegiate Field Hockey Conference, 4-4 overall) travel to Columbus to face the Buckeyes Sunday afternoon. The squads split their two matches last year, with Michigan winning, 3-2, in overtime in Columbus and dropping the home match, 1-0, in the season finale., Michigan is anticipating another close match Sunday. "They always play very tough against us," junior forward Katie Vignevic said. "There is a very strong rivalry between the schools, and it definitely exists between the two teams." The Wolverines' No. 17 national ranking, coupled with Ohio State's absence from the Top 20, seems to indicate that Michigan should be fa- vored in the match. However, the Wolverines downplay the signifi- cance of such recognition. "No matter what the standings might say, the rivalry always makes the games close," Vignevic said. "Everybody on each side is really up 'No matter what the standings might say, the rivalry always makes the games close' -Katie Vignevic, Michigan forward for the game, and the high emotions really even out any advantages one team has over the other. And, of course, we're playing them on the road." In what should amount to a warm-up match, the Wolverines play Eastern Kentucky Saturday af- ternoon, also in Columbus. "We're not taking them for granted," Vignevic said. "They tied us, 1-1, in a similar situation last year (an early-October tournament in St. Louis), so we will have to be focused on them and not look ahead to Ohio State." Michigan's team morale is on the rebound. After suffering three con- secutive shutouts at the hands of highly-ranked Duke, Virginia, and Northwestern, in which they were outscored by a combined 11 goals, the Wolverines were able to bounce back against Northern Illinois be- hind junior tri-captain Katie Thomas' hat trick. Despite the three setbacks, Michigan continues to fo cus on improving its defense and team play. "The team is feeling pretty con- fident right now," Vignevic said. "It's like we finally did something good (beating Northern Illinois), something which we knew we were capable of in all of our other games, but just couldn't quite pull off. We're still concentrating on our in- dividual marking on defense and. functioning as a unit, and the victo- ries should start to add up." . efurry up! Time is running out on Griddes! * : It's not too late to drop off your 1riddes picks, but it will be by 5: p.m. today. Hurry down to the Student Publications Building (that's 420 Maynard, for those of you who don't know). The person With the most correct picks wins a $10 gift certificate to O'Sullivan's Fatery and Pub. 1. Michigan at Iowa 2. Michigan State at Indiana 3. Wisconsin at Ohio State 4. Minnesota at Illinois 5. Purdue at Northwestern 6. Syracuse at Florida State 7. Oklahoma State at Miami 8. Arizona at Washington 9. Oklahoma at Iowa State 10. Clemson at Georgia 11. Notre Dame at Stanford 12. Penn State at Temple 13. Baylor at Houston 14. Southern Miss. at Auburn 15. Florida at LSU 16. Maryland at Pittsburgh 17. Ga. Tech at N.C. State 18. California at UCLA 19. Tenn.-Chat. at Alabama 20. William & Mary at UNC TIEBREAKER SCORE: A Different School of Thought "Before I worked at Saturn, I was an intern at another company. in that situation, students were pretty much brought in and given busy work. Work, that if students didn't do it, wouldn't have been done anyway. "There was not much responsibility but a lot of animosity between the new younger engineers and the older veterans. They really didn't help you much. "Here it's totally opposite. I go to product development team meetings. I sit in there and people turn and look at me and say, 'What do you think?' "There is a ton of stuff that I'm doing that is important. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some time in the future, maybe - my ideas could be actually implemented on the car. I could go to a Saturn retail facility and say, 'See that right there? I helped do that.' "Day before yesterday, I had to drive a Saturn from the proving grounds, which is about 45 minutes west of where we are located in Troy, Michigan. As I'm driving down the highway, people are speeding up and slowing down to get next to the car to look at it. "There's so much interest. And to get in on the ground floor of a company that's sparking that kind of interest is an opportunity I could not let go by." - -m f m!N t -- 1 araati r w.I.I -'-