The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 1, 1994 - 9 Michigan searches for consistency IONYA BHUAD/iL Owen Van Richter and his Michigan teammates fly into the Harvard and Eastern Michigan Invitationals tomorrow. .Tired swimmers hit the road Weary men to compete in Harvard, EMU meets By NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA Daily Sports Writer The head of the class is going to Harvard. The No. 1Michigan men's swim- ming and diving team will be in *Cambridge, Mass., tomorrow through Sunday to do some learn- ing. "We're going to get some intel- lectual motivation and stimulation," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. The intellectual stimulation that the Wolverines seek won't be found in Harvard's libraries, however. It will be found in the pool as they take on the Crimson, Boston Uni- Oversity and No. 13 Florida in the Harvard Invitational. Yet, only half of the Wolverines will be heading east. Michigan is also swimming at the Eastern Michi- gan Invitational tomorrow and Sat- urday. The contingent going to Harvard is made up mostly of NCAA quali- fiers. The group traveling to *Ypsilanti will be composed of fresh- men and those that could not leave due to classes. Divers will compete exclusively at Eastern Michigan. "I'm not splitting the team up strictly based on (ability)," Urbanchek said. "Neither meet is important. None of the teams, ex- cept in maybe the Ivy League, are going to prepare. It's just another stepping stone in our preparation." Though the Harvard Invitational may not be important to Michigan or Florida, it is to Harvard. Crimson coach Mike Chasson considers the meet "the best one Harvard has held, dating back to when Harvard hosted the NCAA Championships, in terms of the quality of swimmers that are coming in." The competition in Ypsilanti will not boast such a lineup. It features teams from the Mid-American Con- ference, with the Wolverines as the only Big Ten representative. "We will have good competition at the EMU meet, but it will be more helpful to the other teams there than for us," Urbanchek said. The meets will aid Michigan in one aspect. The Wolverines will be doing homework on themselves, to see how they perform with fatigue. They have been training hard this week, because practices will be cut back during final exams. "In both meets, they're going to be very tired puppies," Urbanchek said. "We've been working real hard up to the meet and whatever hap- pens, happens. We're going to see if they can swim fast while they're tired. If you can swim fast while you're tired, it's better. It just de- pends on how much you're willing to hurt." Despite the disadvantages Michi- gan has going into the weekend, Urbanchek still feels the Wolver- ines should have no problems. The Wolverines knocked off both Harvard and Eastern Michigan last year, defeating the Crimson, 140- 95, and the Eagles, 137-93. "I think we should be able to win both of the meets," Urbanchek said. "Even though we're not 100 percent prepared and split up, we still have a lot of good swimmers and we'll perform well." After all, wherever they go, the present head of the swimming class comes from Michigan. By DAVID ROTHBART Daily Basketball Writer Which team will show up? That's the big question tonight when the Michigan women's basketball team plays at South Carolina. Will it be the squad that ran roughshod over Georgetown in the Wolverines' season opener, or the lackluster bunch which struggled offensively in losses to We- ber State and Illinois-Chicago? Michigan coach Trish Roberts knows her team has played inconsis- tently thus far, but she hopes her squad can regain the intensity they showed in their win over the Hoyas. "We have to be hungry," Roberts said. "Teams come out playing hard against us. They want to upset a Big Ten team. We have to stay strong." The Wolverines (1-2) have had dif- ficulty meshing new players with the veterans. The team has seven fresh- men. Roberts said as the season contin- ues Michigan's chemistry will improve. 'We have to be hungry. Teams come out playing hard against us. They want to upset a Big Ten team. We have to stay strong.' - Trish Roberts women 's basketball coach The lack of a solid point guard has also hurt the Wolverines. A season- ending injury to last year's All-Big Ten freshman Jennifer Kiefer forced the Wolverines to move freshman forward Molly Murray to the point guard posi- tion. Murray shares ball-handling duties with MekishaRoss, and the two totaled just nine assists in the team's first three games. The duo has struggled against the pressing and trapping defenses em- ployed by opponents. Murray and Ross have committed a combined 15 turn- overs. One bright spot for Michigan has been its control of the boards. The Wolverines have out-rebounded their opponents each game. "When we get (offensive) rebounds, we have to score," Roberts said. "We haven't converted on our opportuni- ties." Michigan shot a meager 22 per- cent from the field against the Flames Tuesday. If the Wolverines plan to come out with a victory against South Carolina, they cannot continue to miss open shots. The Gamecocks (2-0) set a lot of picks and rely on their quick guards to create scoring chances. South Carolina junior Shannon Johnson averaged 23.5 points. The team has just eight players, but all have contributed in their two victories. Despite the Gamecock's early sea- son success, Roberts is confident that Michigan can win. It all depends on which Michigan team decides to ap- pear. Semi-rested women ready for Speedo Invitational MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily The Michigan women's basketball team takes on South Carolina tonight. The Wolverines have lost two of their first three contests. By JOHN LEROI Daily Sports Writer Not too many teams have as much confidence and conviction going into a *major meet as the Michigan women's swimming and diving team does. Even though the season has just begun the Wolverines know they deserve to be considered among the nation's best. Michigan (3-0 Big Ten, 5-0 over- all) will have no better chance to shine than at the SpeedoInvitational in Chapel Hill, N.C., which runs today through Saturday. The Wolverines will square off against North Carolina, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio and Clemson in the three-day event. Michigan has continued its training through the week and enters the meet after a brief time off from heavy work- outs. The Wolverines are looking to compare themselves to other top-ranked NOTEBOOK Continued from page 8 than its share of travel miles. The Wildcats, who also played in the Great Alaska Shootout last week, have journeyed nearly 10,000 miles just a few weeks into the season. Arizona also has trips to Syra- cuse and Rhode Island scheduled for later this year. 0 STREAK STOPPER: Missouri's 69- 66 defeat of Purdue in last night's first game ended a winning streak of sorts for the Boilermakers. It snapped a 25-game non-conference teams which will be completely rested. "This should be a really fast meet," Michigan coach Jim Richardson said. "Every other team should be shaved and tapered. We're only working on three days rest, and I don't think we're going to shave. It will be interesting to see how we compare to other teams." Though the Speedo Invitational will be a tough meet for the Wolverines, Richardson is not using it as a barom- eter to measure his team's success. It is still early, and Michigan's training schedule is more geared for high per- formances at the end of the year, such as the conference and NCAA Champi- onship meets. However, the team does have rea- son to be a little confident going into the Chapel Hill race. The Wolverines are coming off a resounding 183-115 victory over Penn State. And while Michigan may not be at its peak, it certainly has proved that it can com- pete even without much rest. "This will be a good challenge for us," Richardson said. "I think that (the Speedo Invitational) will be a good growth experience as well." Senior Alecia Humphrey and sophomore Rachel Gustin, who both won three events against the Nittany Lions, led the Wolverines. However, Richardson said that he is not looking to any one swimmer to carry the squad. "I just want to see how we do this weekend," Richardson said. "Seven or eight people aren't swimming with us this weekend, but I'll be watching how they are doing at the United States Swimming meet in Ann Arbor." One thing is for sure, no matter where any of the Wolverines will be, they will have plenty of confidence. 00, is unbeaten string dating back nearly three years. Purdue's last non-Big Ten de- feat came at North Carolina on Jan. 2, 1992. SEEING DOUBLE, TWICE: Missouri head coach Norm Stewart must think he's seeing things. He already has a pair of twins on team in seven- footers Sammie and Simeon Haley, and now Stewart has another set to look at. He recently became the grandfather of twin boys. HOMECOMING: Tuesday's open- ing night of the Great Eight gave some native Michiganders a chance to play on their home turf in front of family and friends for a night. Antonio Granger, Paul Grant and Kevin Hrobowski of Boston College all played high school ball in the Detroit area. NBA ALUMNI: Rookies Grant Hill and Bill Curley of the Detroit Pistons just missed out on a chance to see their former college team- mates play Tuesday. Duke and Bos- ton College played on an off night for the Pistons, however Hill and Curley, who's brother Mickey cur- rently plays for the Eagles, were en route with the team to Boston for last night's NBA game against the Celtics. 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