The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 3, 1995 - 13
*NCAAs on minds of men's track
Silverston Invitational provides opportunity for qualification times
By Doug Stevens
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's track and field team
had numerous goals heading into its 1995 in-
door campaign. Its primary objective was to
win the Big Ten Championships. The Wolver-
ines fell short of that goal last week as they
placed third, eight points behind the first-
place Wisconsin squad.
However, Michigan could attain one of its
goals tomorrow at the Silverston Invitational.
At this meet, the Wolverines will attempt to
qualify a number of their athletes for the
NCAA Championships next weekend in In-
dianapolis.
The Silverston Invitational, which will be
held at the Track and Tennis Building, is a non-
scoring meet. However, Michigan will com-
pete against the likes of Eastern Michigan,
Bowling Green, Nebraska and Big Ten rivals
Illinois and Michigan State.
The Wolverines' top priority tomorrow is
the distance medley. Michigan will sport all
of its big guns in an effort to reach the NCAA
automatic qualifying standard of 9:38. Nick
Karfonta, Trinity Townsend, Kevin Sullivan,
and Ian Forsyth will compete for Michigan.
Sullivan, who was recently selected Big
Ten Athlete of the Season, is fresh off a double
victory at the Big Ten meet - winning both the
mile (4:09.07) and 3000 meters (8:08.66).
Forsyth and Townsend both attained provi-
sional qualifying times by placing fourth in the
3000 and 400 meters, respectively.
"We've already qualified provisionally,"
Sullivan said. "We're going to try again this
weekend for nationals."
Even if the relay team - which finished
third at last year's nationals - doesn't reach
the 9:38 qualifying standard, there is still
hope.
"I think if we run close to 9:40, we should
get in," coach Jack Harvey said.
In addition to the distance medley runners,
the Wolverines also hope that Neil Gardner
will lock up a spot in the hurdles. Gardner,
who also competes in the long jump and
triple jump, will concentrate solely on the
hurdles in hopes of achieving a time similar
to the 7.28 which qualified him last year.
Gardner placed fifth in last week's Big Ten
meet.
High jumper Jon Royce, who has al-
ready automatically qualified for NCAAs,
will compete this weekend in a competi-
tive meet in Atlanta. The junior departed
from the rest of the team in hopes of
further preparing himself for next
weekend's National Championships in In-
dianapolis.
"At this meet, I will get to see what the
top competition is like and how I measure
up," Royce said. "The Georgia Dome is
similar to the Hoosier Dome. It should be
close enough to get a good feel for what
nationals will be like."
Two notable runners who will not be
competing this weekend are Felman
Malveaux and Tyrone Wheatley. The duo
has already begun their preparation for
the outdoor season. Malveaux placed
third in the 200 meters and fourth in the
400 at the conference championship while
Wheatley took second place in the
hurdles.
"I'm looking to compete," Wheatley
said. "This (outdoor season) will be the
first time that I get to train for track and not
come in the last two weeks of the season
and run. I'm not looking for anything spe-
cial. Ijust want to help the team as much as
possible."
Women host meet as season winds down
By Keith Smith
For the Daily
With a successful indoor season winding
down, the women's track team will host the
Silverston Invitational this weekend.
Last weekend the Wolverines hosted
the Big Ten Championships. This invita-
tional will not be as big, because the entire
team will not be competing.
The invitational will showcase runners
who are attempting to qualify for the national
and provisional championships. The Wolver-
ines will compete against Bowling Green,
Rice, Kent State, Detroit, Notre Dame, East-
ern Michigan and Michigan State.
This meet is an opportunity for some
runners to assure their place in the NCAA
Indoor Championships. For others, this meet
is their last chance to prove themselves
before the outdoor season starts.
While others see this meet as low-key
and an opportunity to regroup for the out-
door season, the athletes who are trying to
qualify for the NCAA Finals feel the inten-
For those
(runners) going to
nationals the
intensity is still
flowing.
- Beth Gould
Michigan captain
sity level is pretty high.
"For those (runners) going to nationals
the intensity is still flowing. They have the
potential to go all the way," Beth Gould said.
Tearza Johnson in the 200 meter dash,
Karen Harvey in the mile, and Tania Longe
in the long jump will all look to qualify for
NCAAs this weekend. Also competing are
Tonya Clay in the 800-meter, Beth Gould in
the 55-meter dash and long jump, Jen Barber,
Kathy Hollbacher and Michelle Slater.
TONYA B RUAU/Daly
The Women's track team hosts the non-scoring Silverston invitational this weekend.
S i
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WRESTLING
continued from page 12
along with two wildcards.
"We have the potential as a team to
have three, four, possibly five All-
Americans," Bahr said. "And if you can
do that, you can be ranked in the top five
*in the country at the end of the year."
Some of the team's brightest sur-
prises have evolved from red-shirt
freshmen No. 5 Jeff Catrabone (158
pounds) and No.12 Airron Richardson
(heavyweight), who incidentally is
wrestling in his first season after play-
ing football at Morehouse College.
Both have amassed a wealth of
experience this season, especially
Richardson, who experienced two
heartbreaking losses early in the sea-
son.
"I definitely built up my confidence
in the second half of the season to know
that I have the tools to compete at this
level," Richardson said. "It's only natu-
ral to be a little nervous, but I have no
doubts, so that makes me feel better."
Finally, bidding for his second All-
American honor, 177-pound Jesse
Rawls will compete at the tournament
after suffering a torn anterior cruciate
ligament against then No. 4 Rohan
Gardner from Northwestern.
"I think I'm in better shape now
than I was before, even after suffering
such a severe injury," Rawls said. "I
think it's a blessing in disguise. I am
not going there hoping to take second
-I want to come back a champion."
I
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Tumblers face improved Kentucky
By Sarah DeMar
Daily Sports Writer
After agrueling schedule last week
against four teams ranked in the top
10, the Michigan women's gymnas-
tics team should be allowed to let its
guard down with a sigh of relief.
The Wolverines hit the road tonight
to face off against No. 10 Kentucky, a
team which has turned itself around
after a 2-17 record in 1994.
"I haven't seen Michigan yet,"
Kentucky coach Leah Little said. "But
I'll tell you what-we'dreally liketo
knock them off."
Michigan coach Bev Plocki was
surprised over the Wildcats' wretched
record last season.
"They werea better team than that,"
Plocki said."Kentucky competes in the
SEC (Southeastern Conference), which
is the most dominant conference in the
country - it always has top 10 schools
in it. (The Wildcats' previous record)
can't reflect their talent."
The Wildcats scored a whopping
195 points last weekend against
Towson State. Michigan will have to
maintain the high level of competi-
tion it exhibited recently against Geor-
gia, Florida and UCLA. The Wolver-
ines scored their all-time high of
196.45 against Utah.
"Hopefully those kind of scores
can continue," Plocki said. "Our per-
formance at Georgia was motivating
- we really got a taste of what it would
be like to win a National Champion-
ship. But every arena is different; we
don't know the judging and we don't
know the equipment."
Junior Jenny Hanson, a two-time
all-around National Champion, leads
Kentucky.
"Jenny used to be a large make-up
of their program," Plocki said. "But
now the other gymnasts seem to be
rallying around her and they have
become a very good, very reputable
team. This is no breather for us."
Michigan may rely heavily on its
scores from the vault and uneven bars
after setting school records in each of
the events the previous weekend -
49.6 and 49.075, respectively.
The spotlight tonight will focus on
the Wolverines' big gun, Beth Wymer,
as she challenges Kentucky's super-
power, Hanson. Both gymnasts are
consistently the top performers on
their respective teams.
I
The women's gymnastics team guns for No. 10 Kentucky tonight.
____j
*Men's gymnastics battle injuries
and intrasquad foes this weekend
By Julie Keating
Dafly Sports Writer
The Men's gymnastics team has
fallen to the hands of fate. Two of
its'top performers are hurt with the
possibility of one more being added
to the injured list. With two meets
against cross-state rivals Michigan
State and Western Michigan this
weekend, the team will have to rely
on its depth.
Senior Raul Molina has a dislo-
cated finger and is still unsure if he
will compete this weekend. Senior
rian Winkler aggravated a back
injury and junior Chris Onuska is
out for the season with a torn Achil-
les tendon.
Coming off a tough spring break
shorthanded, the Wolverines exerted a
Chris usually scores a solid 9.6 or
9.7, and without him we hill have to
rely on the other five guys to turn in
near-flawless performances."
- Bob Darden
Michigan men's gymnastics coach
Last weekend, Michigan had
problems with the pommel horse
once again, and aims to improve in
its upcoming outing without the
solid routine of Onuska.
"Chris usually scores a solid 9.6 or
9.7, and without him we will have to
rely on the other five guys to turn in
near-flawless performances," Darden
road trip of the season, so they have to
achieve the highest scores possible to
maintain their No. 13 ranking.
The lineup for this weekend will
mimic last week's effort with sopho-
more Flavio Martins competing in
five events, and freshman Tim
Lauring on vault.
Jason McDonald will perform in
m