6B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, February 19, 1996
Olympic Trials No. lpiority.
for Wolverines this season :
By Doug Stevens
Daily Sports Writer
One of the keys to success for any
college student is the ability to estab-
lish priorities and stick by them.
It is crucial that one determines
how much time to dedicate to classes,
how much to devote to extracurricu-
lar activities, how much to allot for a
social life. What generally comple-
ments the setting of priorities is the
understanding that sacrifices will have
to be made.
The Michigan men's swimming and
diving team found this out the hard
way this past weekend as it relin-
quished a 10-year stranglehold on the
Big Ten title.
About a year ago, Michigan coach
Jon Urbanchek and his top swimmers
made the decision that they were go-
ing to neither taper their training nor
shave for the Big Ten Championships.
Rather, the potential Olympians were
going to train through the meet and
concentrate all of their energy on the
Olympic Trials, which will be held
March 6-12.
"Michigan didn't want to win at the
expense of jeopardizing Olympic
hopefuls," Minnesota coach Dennis
Dale said. "Having a team with ath-
letes of Olympic caliber is both a
blessing and a curse. I wish I had such
a problem."
As a result of this decision, in addi-
tion to a few unexpected occurrences,
the Wolverines found themselves
beaten by a prepared and shaven Min-
nesota squad by 75 points.
"We made the decision not to focus
on this meet but on the Olympics,"
Urbanchek said. "We have to cater to
the Olympians. I admit it would have
been great to plan for (the Big Ten
Championships) to satisfy our fans
and Michigan. We had to decide where
our priorities were. Discipline is the
ability to wait for long-term goals."
To a person who is not particularly
familiar with the sport of swimming,
it may have appeared very odd that
men who were former NCAA cham-
pions and All-Americans were losing
to people with hardly half their cre-
dentials.
However, the fact that a swimmer
is shaved and tapered for a meet pro-
vides not only the physical edge of
being well-rested and having less fric-
tion with the water but the mental
advantage of knowing that they are
peaked for a particular meet.
One need not look beyond the re-
sults of this weekend's meet to notice
the difference between being tapered
and not.
John Piersma won the 500-yard
freestyle and finished second in the
200 freestyle at last year's Big Ten
Championships. This past weekend,
the untapered potential Olympian fin-
ished third in the 500 free and ninth in
the 200 free.
In the same situation as Piersma,
Chris Rumley suffered in the Big Ten
meet. Coming off a 1995 conference
championship meet in which he fin-
ished fourth in both the 200 and 1650
free and third in the 500 free, Rumley
placed 10th and 14th in the 500 free
and the 200 free, respectively.
On the other hand, DeryD
Buyukuncu, having already qualified
for the Turkish Olympic team' was
able to focus heavily on this mpgtfor
Michigan. He didn't disappoint As his
performance came as an illustration
ofwhat the Michigan swimmers coulq
have accomplished had they tapered.
Buyukuncu defended his Big Ten
titles in both the 100 and 200 back-
stroke events and even won the. 100
butterfly, which is not even his .be
stroke. His performance set tio pool
records, as well as a Big Ten confer-
ence and meet record. For his efforts;
Buyukuncu received Big Ten Swim-
mer of the Championship honors.
"Tapering played a big role in this
meet," said Michigan freshman Tom
Malchow, who will be swimming in
the trials. "Derya swam out of his
mind. There is no doubt we woul
have upheld our end of the champion
ship (if we had tapered also). Hope-
fully, Derya winning swimmer of the
meet is a sign of things to come."
Although the Golden Gopherswere
the ones celebrating at the conclusiorn
of the meet Saturday night, the Wol-
verines are staying.focused on what
lies ahead.
In addition to the upcoming U.S.
Olympic Trials, the team is prepared
to defend its national title at the.endo
March.
10-meter platform competition.
Bogaerts took first, with Brett Wilmot,
Al Fleming and Nathan Shepard fin-
ishing second, third and fifth, respec-
tively.
The Minnesota claim on the Big
Ten title could have overshadowed
the Wolverines' record thus far this
season and the remaining Wolerin4
schedule. But it didn't.
"Michigan being so good (iin tfie
past and even this year) has set a high
standard for success in the confer-
ence. This has been really lucky for
us," Minnesota coach Dennis Dale
said.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
TAN KERS
Continued from Page 18
than a second off the pool record in
the 200 backstroke.
The freshman class made a strong
showing in its first Big Ten Champi-
onships. John Reich took third in the
200 freestyle behind All-American
Bernie Zeruhn from Minnesota.
With defending champion Dolan
missing from the 1650, the door was
wide open for the event.
Joe Palmer answered the call, keep-
ing the title in the Wolverines' grasp.
Palmer's win came from the outside
lane, proving that he exceded pre-
meet expectations.
Urbanchek credited the young Wol-
verines with helping Michigan main-
tain second place in the meet.
"Reich, (Andy) Potts, (Tom)
Malchow and Palmer really kept us
running in the meet," Urbanchek said.
"They really (gave) everything there
(was to give)." -
The diving contingent added to the
Wolverine point totals. Alex Bogaerts
finished fifth in both the one-meter
and three-meter events.
The Wolverines faired well in the
The Minnesota men's swimming team celebrates its first Big Ten championship since 1926.
Buyukuncu pronounced Big Ten
Swimmer of the ampionship
By Susan Dann
Daily Sports Writer
Does practice really make per-
fect? It didn't seem that way for the
aanouncer at this weekend's Big Ten
Championships, who pronounced
Darya Buyukuncu's name differ-
ently each time the Michigan swim-
mer took to the pool.
You would have thought after an-
nouncing his name
close to 10 times at
tl awards podium,
hdcould get it right. .
,Byoo-CON-
chew.
It's a name not Notebook:
easily pronounced,
nor is it easily for- _ ___
gotten.
The Michigan
swimmer was
n4med the Big Ten Swimmer of the
Cbampionship, taking home Big Ten
tidies in the 100-yard butterfly, 100
backstroke and 200 backstroke.
Buyukuncu set Canham Natatorium
records with each win. In the 100
backstroke, Buyukuncu also set Big
Ten meet and All-Time Big Ten
records.
-His times qualified him for NCAAs
iii all three events.
Michigan swimming aficionados
might have been surprised to hear
Buyukuncu's name announced for the
I00 'butterfly.
It wasn't another mispronunc iation.
Even Buyukuncu was surprised by
his own name on the score board and
the time next to it.
"I never thought I could win (the
event) because I'm not even a flyer,"
Buyukuncu said. "After the prelims, I
thought I could win. Obviously, I was
right."
Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek
spoke freely about his pleasure with
the sophomore's performance.
"Among the people who tapered
for this meet, Derya is the most fo-
cused," Urbanchek said. "He is the
only one who (was) fully prepared,
and he (swam) like it. Derya swam
out of his suit. He really gave us
enthusiasm. We needed adrenaline,
and we (got Derya) to do that for us."
SMALL SPLASH, BIG IMPACT: Min-
nesota diver P.J. Bogarts was named
Diver of the Championship after tak-
ing first in the one- and three-meter
events.
Bogarts won the award for the sec-
ond consecutive year.
The Golden Gopher diver had wrist
surgery in September, returning to
the board Jan. 10. The diver and Min-
nesota coaching staff were consider-
ing red-shirting his senior year.
He opted to have some meet com-
petition before the upcoming Olym-
pic Trials, however.
His performance this weekend made
a strong statement that Bogarts is back,
and in contention to make the U.S.
team and repeat as NCAA champion.
Derya swam
out of his suit.
- Jon Urbanchek
Michigan men's swimming
coach, on Derya
Buyukunca's performance
this weekend.
"(He was) awesome, just awe-
some," Minnesota coach Dennis Dale
said. "I'm glad he's on my team."
The Minnesota coaching staff had
a clean entry into the Big Ten Cham-
pionships' award designations. Dale
was named Swimming Coach of the
Year and Doug Shaffer received
Diving Coach of the Year honors.
SURF THE NET: The water at Canham
too cold for you? Try the water from
the comfort of your own modem.
The University has provided com-
plete final results of the 86th annual
Big Ten Men's Swimming and Div-
ing Championships on the World Wide
Web.
The site includes event results and
team standing from all three days of
competition.
Some digital photos are also avail-
able from the site.
To access the web site, go to the
Michigan Main Gate: http://
www.umich.edu/-mgoblue/
To get to the Big Ten Champion-
ships, just click on-the story headline.
WARREN ZINN/Da
Michigan's Tom Maichow takes second in the 200 butterfly Saturday in the Big Ten Championships at Canham Natatorium.
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Grapplers g
By Jennifer Hoduik
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan wrestling team (10-
5-1) recorded a sweet sweep to hit its
peak this weekend as the season rolls
toward its finale.
The team's exploits during the stretch
included a pair of upsets over two of the
Big Ten's best in No. 7 Minnesota (9-7-
1) and No. 11 Wisconsin (10-3).
Sunday's event at Minnesota proved
to be yet another Big Ten nail-biter as
the Wolverines rallied to win by sweep-
ing the final three matches to prevail,
18-14 over the Gophers.
Michigan grabbed the early lead with
victories at I 18and 126 pounds. Michi-
gan freshman Chris Viola (118) re-
corded his third straight win, defeating
Kipp Williamson, 12-9. Sophomore
Brandon Howe then pushed the Wol-
verines' lead to 6-0 with an 8-3 deci-
I
tpairofup
But the Gophers were quick to
counter with three consecutive wins.
Nick Antila outlasted Michigan fresh-
man Corey Grant, 4-3 at 134. Fresh-
man Jeff Reese followed by dropping
a major decision at 142 to No. 7 Jason
Davids of Minnesota. After Chad Kraft
upended No. 9 Bill Lacure of Michi-
gan, Minnesota led, 10-6.
Michigan got a win from No. 5
sophomore Jeff Catrabone at 158 as
Catrabone extended his winning streak
to seventeen and improved his overall
record to 36-4.
But Minnesota's advantage was 14-
9 after No. 8 Gopher Gerald Carr re-
corded a major decision at 167 over
Josh Young, who has been wrestling
several weight classes above his natu-
ral position of 142.
Michigan coach Dale Bahr acknowl-
edged Young's value in playing this
sets in weekend sweep
"Josh Young fights like crazy out
there not to get pinned," Bahr said. "He
comes out at 167 when he's really only
a 42 pounder, and he comes out real
frustrated. But he did his job and he's
helping the team."
At this point, the Wolverines' upper
weight class wrestlers stepped in to
clear up any doubts left about the out-
come of the match.
Senior captain Jesse Rawls Jr. de-
feated Minnesota's Tim Hartung at
177, 6-1. In the 190-pound class, se-
nior Lanre Olibisi recorded another
victory for Michigan, upending Jer-
emy Goeden, 10-4.
The heavyweight match did not live
up to its billing as No. I Billy Pierce
did not represent the Gophers. Instead,
the meet concluded with a win by
Michigan sophomore Airron
Richardson over Josh Dodd, 7-3.
ated by the match.
"Airron's match was something to
remember," Bahr said. "The crowd
loves it, but it gives me gray hair."
The other critical match of Friday*
event was Michigan freshman Corey
Grant's win over Brett Werkheiser at
134. In recording a 5-2 decision, Grant
also recorded his first Big Ten confer-
ence victory.
Bahr was quick to place emphasis,
on Grant's win.
"The critical win for us was Coreyf
Grant, no question," Bahr said. "We:
needed that win and it equaled Airron
match."
All four of Michigan's ranked wres-}
tiers were successful in the outing,'
including Jeff Catrabone at 158, who:
expanded his winning streak-with a
13-0 major decision over Greg Keigher.
No.4 Jesse Rawls Jr. and Bill Lacure
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