I 10A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 22, 1996 U Winless gymnastics rivals set to face off y John Friedberg For the Daily Rivalries: They make college sports great. The best, most bitter rivalries often fall within the borders of a state. That is what makes the men's gymnastics meet Saturday special. The opponent: Michigan State. The Spartans edged Michigan 225.75-225.50. When Michigan State sophomore Joe Duda brought the house down with a Spartan record - 57.30 in the all-around last year. The Wolverines are still looking for their first win of the season when they take on their intra-state foes Sat- urday at 7 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena. Michigan is hoping to rebound from its lackluster performance against Minnesota last l Sunday.6 "'We were flat; The n m this meet got away from us," ( h Michigan coach Bob Darden said very comj after the loss. "But the final and we're score is right in dan ed with our season , average, and if_ we continue to train hard, the scores will in- crease to make us a competitive team." Michigan is changing things this week in preparation for the Spartans. "We are doing more sets than usual this week to improve our confidence," junior Flavio Martins said. "We are also planning to change the lineup this week, having the more consistent guys go first. The meets with State are usually very cpmpetitive, and we are looking to find an edge." In most gymnastics meets, the stron- ger tumblers usually follow the weaker ones. This shakeup is being made so Michigan can gain team confidence. Meanwhile, Michigan State comes into Ann Arbor also looking for its first win. The Spartans are 0-2 in the young season. In their last meet, Michigan State lost a heartbreaker to Minne- sota, 223.4-223.1. The defeat came to the same Minnesota team that beat Michigan, by more than 13 points Sunday. "I have heard that they have been scoringswell and area very solid team," Martins said. This is not the first time that the Wolverines have seen the Spartans this season. Michigan State finished seventh at the Windy City invitational, four places in front of the Wolverines. The Spartans are led by now-junior Duda. Duda has failed to reach the school record that he set last year against the Wolverines, but he has had several strong performances this year. Included in his efforts are his school-record 9.85 on the parallel bars against the Gophers and his strong performances in the all-around. Duda showed signs of his record- breaking form by sets with ) State are ietitive, looking to f~e. - Flavio Martins ichigan gymnast winning the all- around against Minnesota. Duda is not the only Michi- gan State tum- bler who has been on a hot streak as of late. Sophomore Ethan Sterk is coming off three season- bests in the Minnesota meet, including his top all-around score of the season (55.15). Sophomore Keith Douglas placed second on the vault against the Golden Gophers, posting a ca- reer-high 9.45. Michigan is looking to rebound from Sunday's effort against Minne- sota. "We had good perspective (Sun- day), but it was just one of those days," Michigan senior captain Chris Onuska said. Michigan can build on some posi- tives from the Minnesota meet. The Wolverines hit their sets on the high bar, scoring a season high, 37.55, in the process. This effort was strong enough to move Michigan up to 1Ith in the country as a team for the event. The high bar has been Michigan's most consistent event this season. The match against Minnesota was highlighted by season bests from Martins (9.05),, junior Jason MacDonald (9.6), and sophomore Jin Bin Im (9.4). DIANE COOK/Daily The No. 11 Michigan men's gymnastics team hosts Intra-state rival Michigan State this Saturday. Wveries among favoites A*to take women's track titlAe'R Ailing womwz tumblers visit Comnhuskers1 By Nancy Berger Daily Sports Writer Lincoln, Neb., won't be the only place that meml f the Michigan women's gymnastics team will be v't g this week. For at least three Wolverines, a visit tokhe doctor's office was one of the destinations on .lr schedules. For senior co-captain Dianna Ranelli, an appoin .i t with a physician will be the only gymnastics-riad engagement for the week. Ranelli, whose season against Utah Saturday, injured the anterior crutiatej2- ment in her knee. No prognosis is known as yet, but the injure probably require surgery. The severity of sophomore Heather Kabnick's i $y is not clear, but the results of a bone scan will reli if she has a stress fracture. If Kabnick is in fact suffz g from a stress fracture, Michigan coach Bev Ploct- pects the gymnast to be in rehabilitation for at lesta couple of weeks. : Almost a month has passed since freshman =ii Peters went down with an unidentifiable injury .i e Wolverines' meet against Minnesota. "They have done a CAT scan and had X-rays dogE didn't find anything," Peters said. "It is prob ta muscle tear." The muscle tear had been bothering Peters even when she walked, but the pain has since subsided. "I can walk and that is a step," Peters said. "Right now I am on the bars and have gotten up on the balance beam." While the prognosis for some looks better than for others, the outlook for Michigan's meet at the Masters Classic seems to be healthier than that for someof its gymnasts. Michigan will visit No. 8 Nebraska Sunday. The fending Masters Classic champions will also host No.T7 Washington and Ball State. So far this season, the.Vol- verines' average score has been well above the Huskers' Classic winning score of 190.025 a year ago. Michigan has been averaging 193.674 points per meet. - Michigan's average was dramatically boosted after upsetting defending national champion Utah in one of the finest performances in the school's history. Michi- gan hopes to duplicate its home success on the roa