p

Seles' life threatened
The world's top-ranked women's tennis player Monica Seles received an
anonymous death threat at the Australian Open last week, The
Associated Press reported. Seles, who won the event for the fourth time
in as many tries, was stabbed at a tournament in Germany in 1993,
keeping her out of tennis for two years.

Tuesday
January 30, 1996

10


Pusztai sweeps through Big
Tens as Blue dominates field

By Richard Shin
For the Daily
The 1996 Big Ten Singles Champi-
onship represented a second chance
for Michigan senior Peter Pusztai.
Falling in three sets in the final last
year, the second-seeded Pusztai had
an opportunity for redemption, but no
one figured he'd have to beat his own
teammates to do it.
In the end, however, last year's
runner-up would play second fiddle
to no one.
Pusztai dominated the field and de-
feated two of his own teammates on
his way to the Big Ten Singles Cham-
pionship crown. In the final, Pusztai
utilized the strength of his serve,
downing I Ith-seeded Ben Gabler of
Minnesota in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
"Gabler doesn't give you a lot of
chances," Michigan head coach Brian
Eisner said. "But today (Pusztai) was
just fantastic. It was not a question of
whether he would lose, but what he
would win by."
Pusztai advanced to yesterday's fi-
nal in convincing fashion, ousting
fifth-seed and fellow Wolverine John
Costanzo 7-5, 6-1 in the fourth round
and topping another teammate, ninth-
seeded Arvid Swan in the semifinals,
7-5, 6-3.
The match against Gabler was close
despite Pusztai cruising to a 6-3 first

set win. In the second set, however,
Pusztai found himself down 3-1 be-
fore rallying to take the set and match
on a service ace.
"(The final) was another great per-
formance by Peter," Eisner said. "He
was extremely confident and relaxed."
It was Pusztai's first singles title as
well as the first for Michigan. Pusztai
is currently ranked 64th in the nation.
The strength of Michigan's players
was evident, as three of the four semifi-
nalists were Wolverines, making the
final four resemble a Michigan team
practice.
"I am sure Costanzo would have
been in the semis had he been in the
other bracket," Eisner said. "But I am
extremely pleased with the perfor-
mance of the entire team."
Unseeded David Paradzik of Michi-
gan joined Pusztai and Swan in the
semifinals, before bowing out to Gabler
7-5, 6-2, in the other semifinal match.
Paradzik cruised through the first three
rounds, including a victory over 16th-
seeded Derek Pope of Indiana, 6-2,6-1,
in the second round. After dropping the
first set to Marc Silva of Northwestern
in the fourth round, Paradzik rallied to
take the match with a pair of 6-3 set
victories.
The victory assured him a spot in the
semis facing Gabler, who ousted Michi-
gan's Jake Raiton in the second round.

Swan proved he deserved his ninth-
seed as one of only six of the 16
seeded players who survived two
rounds. He advanced to the semis with
a, 6-3, 6-3, straight-set victory over
Adam Selkirk of Minnesota in th
fourth round, after surviving a three
set match in round two. Swan outlasted
Jason Zuckerman of Wisconsin, 3-6,
6-3, 7-5, in that match.
Costanzo advanced to the fourth
round behind two tough three-set victo-
ries before falling to his doubles team-
mate, and eventual champion, in the
fourth round. In round two, he defeated
Ry Tarpley of Northwestern, 3-6, 6-4,
6-3,before slippingpast Michael Carte
of Penn State, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2.
In the No. 7 and No.8 singles bracket,
freshman Jordan Szekely of Michigan
finished second, losing to Oliver
Freelove of Illinois in the final, 6-1, 6-
2.
The Wolverines compete next inihe
eighth-annual O'Charleys Invitational
at Tennessee, Feb. 2-4. Michigan will
be seeded third and will face South
Florida in the first round. The following
weekend the Wolverines will squa
off against some of the nation's best at
the National Indoor Singles and Doubles
Championship in Dallas. Big Ten play
resumes for Michigan against Minne-
sota March 20, when the Gophers come.
to Ann Arbor.

MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Even though Western Michigan couldn't make the trip to Ann Arbor last weekend, the Michigan men's gymnastics team still
put on an intrasquad competition for its fans.
Broncos corralled snow;M'
men's gymnasts still put on a show

By Chaim Hyman
Daily Sports Writer
On Saturday, spectators flooded
into Cliff Keen Arena expecting to
see a spectacle filled with high-flying
acrobatics, wild jumps, a few falls
and maybe even a couple of stumbles.
All may not have gone as planned, but
tie show did go on.
Inclement weather may have
stopped the Michigan men's gymnas-
tics team from hosting Western Michi-
gan, but fans who turned out still got
to see a dual meet - sort of. Senior
captain Chris Onuska and junior
Flavio Martins, under the team name
of "C 'n' F", took on "T.R.O.T.," or
as they liked to be called, the rest of
the team.
The meet may not have helped the
Wolverines recover record-wise for
their poor showing in previous meets,
but many on the team felt the event
helped them in other ways.

"The fact that we had a crowd and
judges present was a big confidence-
builder for us, even if it was pretend,"
Onuska said. "We had a real good
time, and the atmosphere was great."
"We needed this a lot,"junior Jason
MacDonald said. "We did what we
planned, and, most importantly, we
did it as a team."
Even with all the competitions that
head coach Bob Darden has seen in
his 13 years of coaching at Michigan,
he still feels the Wolverines acted as
if they were in a real meet.
"We still performed with the same
focus and played with the same ability
that we would have in any dual meet
with any institution," Darden said.
The crowd may not have gotten
what they came for, but nobody
seemed to mind. The only problem
was, neither of the teams had a clear
home advantage.
"The audience took a non-pressure

situation and made it into one for us,"
junior Ed Ledgard said. "We all had
good support, and I think everyone
had a good experience."
Darden said he feels that the crowd
was the most important aspect of the
meet.
"The team was put in front of a
judge and a very knowledgeable spec-
tator audience," Darden said. "It is
always important that we get exposed
to performing in such conditions, and
the guys handled it well."
The score in this meet, taken by
adding the scores of the best two per-
formances in each event, may not be
remembered long.
However, in a close competition
throughout, "C 'n' F" prevailed over
"T.R.O.T." by a score of 109.45 to
108.05.
"All that matters is that we had a
pretty good time," senior Jorge
Jimenez said.

The Michigan women's swimming team is receiving surprising contributions from some of its younger swimmers this yeA,"
much to the credit of the team's upperclassmen.
esmen swimmers progressing
along lines of upperclass mentors

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continues...
Today'sEvents:
Stop by our information table fron
9:00-3:00 in the
Public Health Building.
Or, look for us at the
Minority Career Conference
from 5:00-9:00
in the Michigan Union.
Wednesday
Come for anon-site interview
at the Minority Career Conference
in the Michigan Union
Thursday
Attend our nationwide interactive
satellite program featuring
President Clinton, Hakeem Olajuwc
Sargent Shriver, Edward James Olmr
and others...
Attendance is free!
The program will run from
EC.2 C7.nnr ;- n :.-

make a run at the
national champion-
ship.
Of course, swim-
mers like Bendel
and Gillam were
once freshman.
And now, through
a great deal of de-
velopment, they
have become two
of the best swim-
mers in the country.

By Chris Murphy
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's swimming
team seems to do a pretty good job of
developing talent.
The Wolverines' upperclass con-
tingent includes three Olympic hope-
fuls and four NCAA champions.
Swimmers like sophomore Talor
Bendel and senior co-captain Megan
Gillam are poised to help Michigan

Notebook

with the transition to college life, a
first-year swimmer also needs to adapt
to life as a student-athlete.
"Some adapt readily and rapidly,"
Richardson said. "Some take about a
year to come along."
Richardson has noticed this with
this year's class. For him, three swim-
mers in particular have shown prom-
ise early on.
Eberwein has been competitive in
the freestyle events. Kurth has excelled
in the backstroke and the individual
medley. And O'Neill has competed well
in the breastroke and the IM.
That being said, the rest of the class
has still been coming along.
"I'm really pleased with the way
they've adapted," Richardson said.
"Especially with a program like ours
and at a school like Michigan."
One of the keys to the team's
progress has been Richardson's atti-
tude toward the younger swimmers.
"I'm very patient with freshman in
their development," Richardson said.
"I don't think what we saw from some
of them in the beginning is what you
get from them down the road."
If what they get down the road are
swimmers like Bendel and Gillam,
some of these freshman might be
worth waiting for.
TRAINING SCHEDULE: With the team's
regular season coming to a close in
about a month, the swimmers are look-
ing to get into postseason form.
The key for a swimming team to be
successful is for it to perform at its best
at the end of the season. A good regular

This weekend, Michigan will com-
pete in its final two dual meets of the
season when it faces Indiana Friday
and Ohio State Saturday.
After that, the swimmers will com-
pete in the Big Ten Championships,
Olympic Trials and the NCAA Cham-
pionships.
As a result, the team has been taper-
ing the intensity of its workouts. At
this point, the Wolverines are mo*
concerned about technique and speed
as opposed to endurance.
FUTURE OLYMPIANS?: Three Michi-
gan swimmers are looking to make a
strong showing at the Olympic Trials.
The trials, which will be held in
Indianapolis in March, will provide
these Wolverines with the opportu-
nity to measure their ability on a na-
tional level before possibly compet-
ing on an international level.
Bendel will look to contend in the
200-meter freestyle and the 200 but-
terfly,junior Rachel Gustin will swim
the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and co-
captain Beth Jackson will swim"the
200 backstroke.
INJURY UPDATE: Michigan's recent
injury problems could possibly affect
some of the swimmers' Olympie as-
pirations.
Gustin is still sidelined with a na*
ging shoulder injury. Meanwhile,
Jackson could be in much deeper
trouble. The senior may have a case of
mononucleosis, an ailment that could
end her season prematurely.
Two more swimmers, junior Jodi
Navta and sophomore Alegra

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This year, the team has seven new
swimmers. Emily Cocks, Jen
Eberwein, Leslie Hawley, Jenny
Kurth, Shelly Olivadoti, Cathy
O'Neill and Tanja Wenzel are pre-
paring to follow in their older team-
mates' footsteps.
According to Michigan coach Jim
Richardson, the freshman year is a
formative time for swimmers. It is
during this first year that the athlete
learns to adapt.
"For every freshman, everything is
new," Richardson said. "For them,
the training we do is very different. I
think nme of them have never done

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