24 -The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 18, 1995


Toni, Winkler to compete at NCAAs

By Chris Murphy
Daily Sports Writer
Two gymnasts will representMichi-
gan in the NCAA Men's Gymnastics
Championships this weekend in Co-
lumbus. The meet shall be the final
competition for Michigan seniors
Royce Toni and Brian Winkler.
After a season of ups and downs,
five Wolverines traveled to regionals
at Penn State. Of those five, only two
qualified for nationals,
Each will compete in two events-
Toni on still rings and parallel bars and
Winkler on parallel bars and floor exer-
cises.
The seniors will benefit from their
experience in national championship
competition. Toni competed on the
parallel bars at NCAAs as a freshman,
but has not returned due to injuries. He
welcomes the opportunity to return to
the national spotlight.

"It's been a long road for me
personally, to get back to this meet,"
Toni said. "I was a finalist on paral-
lel bars as a freshman and it's al-
ways been a goal of mine to get back
to nationals."
Winkler is also no stranger to the
NCAA Championships. He competed
on the floor two years ago. Like Toni
though, injuries have kept him from
performing in the championships in
the intervening year.
The Wolverines are coming off
some strong performances at regionals
including Winkler's first-place 9.925
on the floor and Toni's fourth-place
9.675 on the parallel bars. After the
showing at Penn State, Michigan coach
Bob Darden is confident about the gym-
nasts' chances going into this week-
end.
"The guys look great," Darden said,
"Both Royce and Brian are veterans of

NCAA competition. They know how
to train and how to compete. They
know what they need to do to get the
job done."
In order to get thejob done; the two
Wolverines are going to have to outdo
some of the top gymnasts in the coun-
try.
AfterRegionals, many of the faces
will look familiar: Michigan will be
facing three teams that it has competed
against several times this season. The
three qualifying squads from the east
are Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa,
underscoring the quality of gymnastics
in the Big Ten.
In addition to Big Ten foes, the
Wolverines will be looking at new faces
- gymnasts from western teams such
as Nebraska and New Mexico.
The toughest competition could
come from Ohio State gymnasts Blaine
Wilson and Drew Durbin. Competing

in their home gym, the duo could pose
problems for Darden and his men.
Other top athletes include Darren
Elg of Brigham Young and Richard
Grace of Ne braska. The two are ranked
No. I and No.2 in the country, respec-
tively.
Despite the tough competition they
will be facing, the gymnasts are feeling
confident about their chances.
"The routines that I'm doing I've
been hitting all year," Winkler said.
"I want to go in, hit my routines,
make it into finals and take it from
there."
With years of intercollegiate com-
petition under their belts, Winkler and
Toni will be looking to hit their rou-
tines for the final time in their Michi-
gan careers.
"It will be an uphill battle but both
Royce and Brian should do very well
for themselves," Darden said.

I
ft

Michigan's Brian Winkler hopes to be slapping fives after this weekend.

Men's and women's rowers
combe forthird-place finish


Meril-Lynch Invit.
Final standings

Wings retire Abel's 12
DETROIT (AP) - Sid Abel, who Abel was a member of Detroit's
centered the Red Wings' fabled "pro- Stanley Cup teams in 1943, 1950 and
duction line" with Gordie Howe and 1952. After a stint'as player-coach of
Ted Lindsay on the wings, will have the Chicago Blackhawks, Abel took
his No. 12 retired, the team said Mon- some time off from hockey before
day. taking over as Detroit's head coach

From Staff Reports
The Merrill-Lynch Invitational
rowing regatta is a tournament lim-
ited to Big Ten schools. The Big
Ten conference does not sponsor an
official Big Ten Rowing Champi-
onships because there are not at least
six varsity sponsored programs in
the Big Ten . Therefore, the funded
and club Big Ten rowing programs
view this invitational as the equiva-

lent of a Big Ten Championship.
Wisconsin dominated Saturday's
finals in Indianapolis, capturing five
of the six top finishes. The Badgers,
who finished with 231 total team
points, finished first in the Varsity
Men's 8 with a time of 6:34.0, the
JV Men's 8 (6:53.0), the Novice
Men's 8 (6:39.9), the Varsity
Women's 8 (7:35.5) and the JV
Women's 8 (7:49.8). Wisconsin's

lowest finish was fourth in the Nov-
ice Women's' 8 (7:53.4).
Michigan placed second overall
with a score of 132. The Wolverines
took second in the Novice Men's 8
(7:07.9), Varsity Women's 8
(7:43.2), JV Women's 8 (8:00.2)
and Novice Women's 8(7:45.6) and
third place in the Varsity Men's 8
(6:40.2) and JV Men's 8 (7:03.6).
Ohio State finished third.

Team
1. Wisconsin
2 Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Northwestern
5. Purdue

Points
231
132
113.5
50.5
38.25
30
20
8.5

S
f
,

6.
7.
8.

Iowa
Minnesota
Michigan State

Abel spent 32 years in the Red
Wings organization as a player, gen-
eral manager, coach and broadcaster.
His number will be retired April 28
before an afternoon game against the
Dallas Stars.
Abel's best year in Detroit was the
1949-50 season when he set career
highs in goals (34) and points (69).

midway through the 1957-58 season.
He left Detroit again in 1971 but
returned in 1976-77 as an analyst on
the team's radio and television broad-
casts.
Abel's number will join those of
Howe (9), Lindsay (7), Alex
Delvecchio (10) and Terry Sawchuk
(1) in the rafters at Joe Louis Arena.

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4'

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III


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