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And the winner is....
Congratulations to Arthur Miller, the winner of the Michigan vs. Michigan
State hockey contest, In conjunction with Olympia Arenas, Inc., the Daily
will give Miller two tickets to Saturday night's game and a night for two in
the Westin Hotel in downtown Detroit.
Page 9
Wednesday
February 15. 1995
R
Cagers' latest setback
*not a reason to panic
Yost renovations
to help recruiting
By Scott Burton
Daily Basketball Writer
Please forgive the Michigan bas-
ketball team if it just seems a little
schizophrenic these days. After all, in
the span of four months, the fans and
media have taken them on quite a wild
ourney.
In the preseason, the Wolverines
.- were pegged as
potential Big Ten
LL champions and a
top-10 team.
RT Then, after a 6-
PRESS 5 pre-conference
schedule, Michi-
gan became Big
"en also-rans and an NIT team.
Then, after upsetting Illinois and
Indiana on the road, the Wolverines
were labeled as Big Ten contenders
and NCAA spoiler.
And finally, after its road loss to
Wisconsin Saturday, Michigan was
downgraded to Big Ten disappoint-
ments and an NCAA wannabee.
Does anyone understand what the
Wolverines can do? Can anyone strap
le Wolverines down and settle this
roller coaster ride they've been taken
on?
Well, all season long coach Steve
Fisher has been preaching a reality
that might do the job. It's a reality that
has been ignored by the frenzy of
overzealous forecasters, yet perfectly
defines the ups-and-downs of
Michigan's season.
A team is never as good as it looks
when it's playing well, and is never as
bad as it looks when it plays poorly.
Wisdom on the level of the
Confucius it's not. But for any fan
trying to deal with the pain of watch-
ing the Wolverines end Indiana's 50-
game home winning streak on one
night and then lose to Big East whip-
ping post St John's the next, it's a
dandy bit of advice.
You see, Michigan is a young team
inherently bound for good nights and
bad nights. Some games, things will
mesh together, and some games the
lessons learned all season will be for-
gotten.
Hence, it'sjust easieron the mind to
accept the inconsistency as a folly of an
inexperienced team, rather than to over-
analyze each game and whatitmeans to
Michigan's long-term future.
Fisher's advice may be better
suited for the media, however, espe-
cially those who painted pictures of
doom after the Wolverines' loss to
the Badgers Saturday.
Yes, the loss was hardly an espe-
cially inspiring moment, but it was
hardly a reason to panic. The so-called
experts have written off Michigan's
season dozens of times already, and
the Wolverines have come back to
surprise and fight and move on.
Will Michigan rebound in the
same fashion in its last seven games?
Who's to say other than Michigan?
The Wolverines have seven games
left to go, and they'll figure out for
themselves how good they are-with-
out our help.
And then, after the season is done,
just maybe the rest of us will be able to
figure it out too.
By Melanie Schuman
Daily Hockey Writer
One group of people anxiously
await the end of Michigan's hockey
season. It's not Michigan State's fans
or any other Wolverine nemesis, but
rather the construction workers mak-
ing renovations at Yost Ice Arena.
The day after Michigan's season ends
is the day that the remodeling of the
North End of Yost begins.
While planners hope that all "us-
ers" of Yost from a public skater to an
amateur hockey league player will
benefit from the structural changes,
there is no question that the Michigan
hockey team and its operations will
gain more than just better heating and
air conditioning.
The enlarged weight room and var-
sity lockerroom, not to mention a re-
vamping of the training area and equip-
ment room, should please not only the
athletes but the recruits as well.
"The (newly improved)
lockerroom shows Michigan's com-
mitment," coach Red Berenson said.
"We can compete (for recruits) in our
own way with other buildings."
An obvious comparison is
Minnesota's new $19 million dollar
state-of-the-art facility, a program
which competes with Michigan for
recruits. New lockerrooms are only
one advantage needed to compete on
a national level according to Berenson.
About eight years ago, shortly af-
ter Berenson began his tenure at
Michigan, there were discussions to
upgrade the facilities. The costs were
deemed prohibitive and in 1991 the
project was scaled down to include
the rink floor and refrigeration unit,
the boards and the glass - "the heart
of the body," according to Berenson.
The second installment of these plans
includes essentially everything from
the north boards back to the entrance.
A new pro shop, concessions, skate
rental and sharpening areas,
lockerrooms for the recreational, youth
and intramural squads, restrooms, ad-
ministrative offices and a souvenir shop
are all due for remodeling.
Day-to-day hockey operations,
which now take place in Weidenbach
Hall where Berenson and assistant
coaches Mel Pearson and Billy Pow-
ers have their offices, will be moved
to the lower level of Yost. New addi-
tions of a pro shop and a standing
room area are slated, but the latter is
not confirmed.
Before Crisler Arena and
Schembechler Hall, Yost Field House
was home to many of the university's
athletic teams, including basketball and
track, as well as the football lockerroms.
In fact, hockey wasn't played there
until 1973. The facility is named after
legendary Michigan football coach and
former athletic director Fielding H.
Yost.
"Yost has an appeal to the entire
Michigan athletic community,
Berenson said. "It's a monument on
the athletic campus."
There are two major negatives of
See YOST, Page 10
~ MICHIGAN SPORTS INFORMATION
Yost Ice Arena, named after former football coach and athletic director
Fielding H. Yost, is about to undergo renovations.
I ___________________________________
Gymnast Molina's perseverance a dedication make him a winner
By Julie Keating ways forced to quit because of gym- level in the Junior Pacific Alliance do something that I knew I could do; myself," he said. "All the strength and aspirations to go to medical schoo
Daily Sports Writer nastics," he said. Games for Guatemala. Hecontinued to somethin thatIwantedtodo"hesaid. conditionini-'Ihavetodav. Iowe to him As for vmnastics.this will be
.
his
As one of the seniors on the 1995
,Michigan men's gymnastics team, Raul
olina is used to being a pivotal mem-
ber of the team.
Last season, the Wolverines fin-
ished seventh in the nation and sent
both Raul and teammate Rich Dopp to
the NCAA Championships.
Thattournament, however, wasjust
a,small highlight in a career that has
spanned an entire decade and crossed
international borders.
* Born in Guatemala, Molina was
raised in the United States by his mother
Corina, to whom he credits his begin-
nings as a gymnast. From the time he
was three years old, he followed his
mother across the country on her many
dance tours. Eventually he enrolled in
dance and acrobatics classes. In grade
school Molina practiced up to three
hours a day, three days a week.
"It was something that I enjoyed
ery much, something that I loved to
do," he said.
By the time he finished third grade,
he realized his talent in acrobatics. With
his background in performing, Raul
had the technique and discipline that it
took to excel at gymnastics.
"With dance you learn how to con-
trol your body, and how to move to
make it look good," he said. "These are
he things that you learn just from ex-
perience. No one can sit you down and
teach you these types of things."
From the time he was eight years
old until his high school graduation, he
was a member of Gymnastics Plus, 45
minutes from his home in Lutherville,
Maryland. His mother would tirelessly
drive him back and forth, five days a
week for three to four-hour training
cessions.
But talent alone would not guaran-
tee Molina success. Dedication and
perseverance were two words that con-
stantly went though his head, recorded
from the mouths of his mother and his
long time coach and friend, Rick Tucker.
"He was an amazing gymnast. (He)
missed the Olympic team by only two
spots. His whole life was coaching,"
olina said of Tucker. "He was the one
who taught me discipline, respect and
hardwork. The whole image that I had
of him made me want to work harder."
Having since retired to the Virgin
Islands, Rick Tucker's gym is still op-
erational turning out NCAA chamoi-
Even though he was limited in
playing high school sports, Molina
knew that he
wanted to partici-
pate in college
gymnastics.
"There was
F never any ques-
tion I wanted to
participate in col-
lege gymnastics,"
Molina he said. "We al-
ways looked up to
the older guys in the gym who would
come back and tell us all the benefits of
college athletics."
Going into college, Raul had al-
ready competed at the international
be the premier gymnast for his native
country, participating in the 1991 Pan
American Games in Havana, Cuba.
"That was quite an experience,"
he said of the Pan Am Games. "I am
lucky because with gymnastics I have
been able to travel around almost the
entire Western Hemisphere, and ex-
perience a lot of things."
Before his junior year as a Wolver-
ine, Molina participated in the World
University Games for Guatemala as
well. Apinched nerve in his wrist caused
him to forgo competition on pommel
horse and parallel bars for the 1994
season.
"That was the hardest thing I had to
do. Forthe firsttime in my life I couldn't
JV1V.115111 yK1 .V V A , 11 % %.
The summer before his senior year,
Raul took two months off from gym-
nastics. Spending time in Guatemala
with his father, he relaxed and fo-
cused on other aspects of his life.
"I didn't go near a gym, or touch a
piece of equipment," he said. "I took a
break from both the physical and men-
tal aspect of gymnastics."
With the help of teammate Chris
Onuska, Molina spent his first semes-
ter back conditioning and strengthen-
ing his wrist to enable him to compete
in the all-around competition again.
"I came in this year not expecting
anything more than last year, but be-
cause of Chris, I got heavily involved
in weightlifting to try to strengthen
because he was the one who got me to
go to the gym everyday. Because of
that I am having a much better all-
around than I have ever had."
With the rest of the season ahead,
Molina will be taking on a bigger re-
sponsibility with the team. Leading by
example, he wants to continue learning
and improving along with the rest of
the team, young and old.
"With guys like Raul stepping up
and taking a more visible role, our
strength is going to come from indi-
viduals like him, who are out for the
team effort," Michigan coach Bob
Darden said.
As an Academic All-Big Ten selec-
tion, Molina will graduate in April with
&l .5, .
last year and he wants to make it count.
With the possibility of being offered a
graduate coaching spot next year, Raul' s
plans include staying in Ann Arbor one
more year and living with his younger
sister Gabi, who will be a sophomore.
"I really want to coach here, and
maybe take a class while I prepare for
the MCATs."
Raul Molina, a quiet and retrospec-
tive 21-year old, is the epitome of the
student-athlete. He came to Michigan
as a walk-on and proved that he was
capable of competing. He will leave
Michigan as afour-yearletterman...and
as a proven winner.
"Always go after what you want,"
Raul says, "and get it."
I __________________________________________________________________
Are you upset because your
man has been keeping a secret
relationship with his ex?
Is your husband
upset because you haven't lost
the weight you gained when
you were pregnant?
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