10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 9, 1994 Ski teams perform well over weekend By JENNIFER DUBERSTEIN FOR THE DAILY While most were sitting in their warm rooms this weekend, the Michi- gan men's and women's ski teams were heating up the cold and ragged slopes of Northern Michigan. The Wolverines competed in the Pepsi Collegiate Challenge at Sugarloaf Ski Resort Saturday, and at Caberfae Ski Resorts Sunday, to close out their regular-season schedule. Both squads came away with first- place overall finishes for the weekend. Matt Turner placed second in the Giant Slalom with a time of 50.78 seconds. For the women, Amy Portenga finished first with a time of 55.43, and Kelly Copeland placed third with a time of 56.43. Sunday, the teams continued to perform well with several Wolver- ines placing in the top three. Both Bing Brown and Portenga finished second in the Giant Slalom with times of 53.13 and 57.40, respectively. The women's team has placed first in three of its four competitions, with its only loss coming against Michi- gan State. The Spartans and Notre Dame have, in the past, been the tough- est competition for the women skiers. "They each have three strong ski- ers," women's co-captain Amy Portenga said. "The difference between us and them is we have more depth." Portenga, Copeland, Jennifer Shorter, Nicole Sinclair and Carrie Roeser lead, the Wolverines. These five have consistently placed in the top third of the 40-skier field. The men's team is undefeated in team competition, with depth being its biggest strength. "We've got five really solid ski- ers," sophomore Jeff Gregory said. With the regular season complete, both teams are looking forward to the upcoming divisionals. "We skied decently this weekend," Matt Aeschliman said. "What we mainly were doing was getting ready for Caberfae's Giant Slalom hills before the Divisional Championship Giant Slalom race at Caberfae next weekend." "We are hoping to be division champs," Sinclair said. "It looks pretty positive now." , v r z + IN THE TANK: Scheduling conflicts penalize minor sports CHRIS WOLF/Daily minor sports Despite being ranked consistently in the top five nationally, the Michigan swim team is one of several that have welcomed fewer spectators as a result of scheduling overlaps with basketball and hockey. Harding's fate for Lillehammer to be decided by USOC next'Tuesday LILLEHAMMER, Norway (AP) - Tonya Harding's lifelong pur- suit of a figure skating gold medal could end next week at an Oslo airport hotel, 110 miles shy of this Olympic town and one week short. The U.S. Olympic Committee, troubled by Harding's links to the Nancy Kerrigan assault, called a spe- cial hearing for next Tuesday to decide whether to bar the U.S. cham- pion from the Winter Games. If Harding is banned, her only chance of competing in Lillehammer would be through a court order. The USOC's decision to con- vene its Games Administrative Board was buttressed by a 400-page volume of evidence from a figure skating federation inquiry, and by Harding's own statements. "It's not a matter of hearing more, it's a matter of giving Tonya Harding a chance to respond, which she has not had a chance to do," USOC president LeRoy Walker said. He said Harding could submit her case in person or in writing, but hoped she would testify. There was no immediate word if she would. Interviewed on NBC's "To- day," Walker said the proceeding was similar to an administrative hearing. "But we would like to present her, in person, the charges and grounds for charges that have been leveled by the (figure skating) panel to get her response." "They want to talk to Tonya," USOC executive director Harvey Schiller said. "I think it is a re- sponse that is required by the grounds surrounding the attack on Nancy Kerrigan." The inquiry will deal more with "sportsmanship and fair play as- pects rather than criminal culpabil- ity," he said. SAFRAN Continued from page 9 Asked if he's ever seen the 6-foot-8 swingman do his Greg Louganis imitation on the court, Fife replied with a sheepish grin and shake of the head. "You could tell how important the game was if Jalen (Rose) was diving for the ball," Fife said. But Rose did sacrifice his body as few have ever seen him do. In one sequence, he flung his body toward the loose ball - not once but twice. He continued his great defensive efforts over the past three games, shutting down Damon Bailey and just about every other Indiana guard. Was something in the water? Nope. All he had to do was look eight or so seats to his right. That was more than enough for Rose. What more inspiration could one need to perform than his childhood best friend and ex-teammate? While the most massive ex- Wolverine was in the den, it was one of the smallest on the team who demonstrated the white-hot intensity best. Fife may have hit only a single field goal out of seven attempts - a three-pointer from Webber's lap with 2:48 left in the contest - but he did not need to score on this night. He needed to play tough and did. Fife had five assists and four steals, and hit the deck at least three times. IHe penetrated and dished off to his teammates as if he were serving up a seven-course meal. So what? He committed no turnovers in 38 minutes of play. Zero errors from a point guard is something any coach would take come Indiana, North Carolina or Rinky Dink U. But Fife should not be singled out. Olivier Saint-Jean completed the Michigan sweep of the diving events with his swan-like efforts. Saint-Jean also went up for the ball, instead of down, snagging six rebounds and scoring eight points. Leon Derricks added three rebounds. But there has to be another reason than Webber for this remarkable effort. New shoelaces? Uh-uh. It was also a desire to play as an entire team. Everyone on the roster donned the Michigan jerseys for the first time since the last Indiana game. "We just wanted to play ball and get this all behind us," said Jimmy King, who missed three games since the first contest with the Hoosiers due to illness and suspension. "It was the intensity of a Final Four game. We were intense for 40 straight minutes for the first time this season. The way we're playing right now we're finally peaking." The Wolverines have played themselves into first place in the Big Ten with a brand of basketball that would pass any scientist's examination. By CHARLIE BREITROSE DAILY SPORTS WRITER The final home meet of the year for the Michigan men's swimming and diving team came and went pretty quietly. . Only a devoted 150 or so fans turned up for the annual intrastate clash between the Wolverines and the Spartans. And of those approximately 150 customers, only about 50 were Michigan students. The rest were friends, family and. local high schoolers wanting to get a glimpse of some of the world- class swimmers that reside in Ann Arbor. But you can't blame the students completely for the low turnout, considering the meet was scheduled at the very same time as the Michigan-Kent State hockey game. Even those students that may have been interested in seeing the meet probably would have gone to the hockey game when given the choice. This, however, was not the first time this scheduling conflict has happened to Wolverine swimmers. In fact, it was the fifth time that a men's swim meet was scheduled at the same time as or immediately before a hockey or basketball home game. Only the Stanford dual meet was held without the shadow of a major sport. Close to 700 people filled the Canham Natatorium stands to see what was possibly the best dual meet of the year - in the whole country. And that was during the coldest week in years. But that was a No. 1-versus-No. 3 matchup, and if there had been a basketball game the crowd would most likely only have been half the size. This same problem of concurrent scheduling has plagued other minor sports teams. The women's basketball team, which could use a big crowd to help get some victories, had two of its biggest crowd-drawing opponents scheduled against major sports events. The Ohio State game was at the same time as the Michigan State hockey game, and the Penn State contest was at the same time as the nationally-televised Illinois men's basketball game. A final case in point is the men's gymnastics team, which needs all the support and publicity it can get in its fight to stay alive. The Minnesota dual meet in which the Wolverine vaulters gained an impressive victory was probably the most important home meet of the year. However, most of the Michigan sports nuts were down the road for another important match - the Michigan-Lake Superior State hockey game. The Michigan student body has been accused of not caring about minor sports. This accusation could be valid, but it is hard to get a good * assessment when many of the most exciting events for the smaller sports are up against the prime- timers. Michigan men's swimming coach Jon Urbanchek said he and his assistants sit down and make out the home schedule two years in advance. But maybe times could be changed. If the State meet had been at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon, instead of 7 p.m., the stands may have been a little more full. What else does the average student have to do on a Friday afternoon - watch cartoons, listen to music. Certainly not do homework. The one minor sport that is growing in popularity is women's volleyball. Cliff Keen Arena has 0 become a noisy place where a good seat is scarce. Promotions such as "Rock the House" have helped to boost fan support. Women's basketball is probably Urbanchek I the fastest growing college sport. At Michigan, however, a combination of a struggling team and little publicity has stunted the growth. One solution that has been suggested to help the women hoopsters is to put their games right before a men's game. Crisler Arena fans currently sit around bored stiff, groping for anything to entertain themselves - including cheering on Steve Fisher's son as he shoots hoops between warm-up sessions. If the respective schedule makers can take a little time and get together, all minor sports could benefit. WO MEN Continued from page 9 the Spartans from rising above.500 in the conference, they'll need to play fundamentally solid basketball for a full 40 minutes. 0 Any possibility of Michigan reach- ing a plateau such as the .500 mark is now mathematically impossible, so the second half of the season is going to be a chance for the Wolverines to salvage a season that has been diffi- cult for players and coaches both. "I would have liked to be close to .500,"Johnson said. "Obviously that's not going to happen now, but rightS now as long as we're getting better every game, I'm not going to be to- tally happy, but it'll be some consola- tion." Li %2i 6~es~Q~ x Perarf16, 99 ~u+sf..rx: Email cr Call . Missy Bratsburg 763-3966 Newsletters 'j r LU J