The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 29, 1996 - 9A
Women
tumblers
gear for
ig Tens
SNancy Berger
Daily Sports Writer
Professional baseball players won't be
the only athletes participating in spring
training in the month of March.
Whilemajorleaguerspolishtheirskills
for the regular season, the women's gym-
nastics team will be doing some spring
training for its postseason. The Wolver-
ines hope to be in peak condition by the
time Big Tens come around at the end of
'xt month.
Michigan's preparations seem to be
going smoothly.
"We are on the right path to recovery,"
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said.
The Wolverines will be competing
against some major league competition
astheybegintheirMarch schedule. Michi-
gan won't be heading south for spnng
training, though,but out westtoCorvallis,
fire: for the Shanico Invitational. Begin-
ingwith this weekend's meet, Michigan
will spend threeweeks competing against
four teams who participated in the 1995
NCAA Championships.
The flrst ofthese teams is the host ofthe
invitational - No. 5 Oregon State. The
Beavers, who took sixth atthe 1995 NCAA
Championships, will be the only ranked
team to compete against No.6 Michigan.
Minnesota will be the only team at the
invitational who has defeated Michigan
s season.
The Golden Gophers aren't the only
Big Ten team in this weekend's field of
competitors, though, as Penn State and
Ohio State will be an attendance as well.
Even though Michigan will be compet-
ing against numerous conference foes,
the invitational will have no impact on the
final conference standings.
"The win-loss record is not important.
It has no bearing on the championship
*cept that you never want to give your
opponent an advantage," Plocki said.
Having already beaten Michigan once,
Minnesota may have more confidence
than some of the otherBigTen teams who
will face the Wolverines.
' Plocki said that Michigan won't be
looking to avenge its loss to the Gophers
but will instead try to use this meet to its
psychological advantage.
"Ithinkitisamental edgeforourkids,"
ocki said.
With the Wolverines' training becom-
ingintense, they will be lookingto call up
some oftheir freshmen who are currently
in the individual events, to compete in the
all-around.
The most recent rookie to get the call to
compete in the all-around was Kathy
Burke in last weekend's meet in Ne-
braska. Burke turned in career perfor-
inantces on the uneven bars and balance
am en route to a fourth place tie with
fellow freshman Beth Amelkovich.
Burke's performance looks to be the
first step on Michigan's road to a full
recovery later in the season, while the
Wolverines will depend on the freshman
to add the much needed strength and
depth that has been running low.
Plocki looks to deepen the depth chart
even further in about two weeks, as an-
otherfreshman, LisaSimes, isonherway
rck from a stress fracture in her shin.
ithSimesenteringthe all-aroundlineup,
this trio of freshmen will prove to be vital
to the team.
"Simes, Burke, and Amelkovich'sper-
formances have been key to our team,"
Plocki said.
Looking to join her fellow gymnasts is
freshman Nikki Peters whose muscle tear
injury is the biggest question mark due to
the little amount of documentation on the
ury.
Peters has been competing on the un-
even bars but has been unable to do her
double-layout dismount. Peters will be
working hard in the coming month to
make up the ground that she has lost due
to the injury.
"I have been out for a while - I am
working on my endurance," Peters said.
Sophomore Heather Kabnick, out with
apossible stress fracture, is expectedtobe
j. the lineup in a few weeks.
Blue gymnasts look for 1st win
By Sharat Raju
For the Daily
Ahhhhh, spring break - a college institution.
What could be better to do during this fun time than
to take a trip to Utah? How about one to New
Mexico?
Well, that's exactly where the Michigan men's
gymnastics team will be, but it won't be skiing or
hiking. For them, spring break means flipping,
vaulting and tumbling.
The Wolverine tumblers have two meets during
break, one March 7 at Brigham Young in Utah, and
the other March 9 in New Mexico.
In addition to the host schools, Michigan's op-
ponents will include Michigan State and Penn
State at BYU, and Penn State again at New Mexico
State.
The team hopes to return from "vacation" with
a newfound confidence and maybe even a good
suntan.
Michigan coach Bob Darden knows the impor-
tance of this break.
"Historically, March has been a real turning
point for our program," Darden said. "The scores
we use to qualify for regionals usually occur in
March.
"It gives us a little bit of time to focus on training
and get into a competitive frame of mind without
quite the academic pressures."
The Wolverines have struggled as a team this
season. They are currently 0-4, but are still ranked
No.23 nationally. The most recent loss came at the
hands of Michigan State Saturday.
The Michigan gymnasts are not dismayed, how-
ever.
"We realize we are still a young team," senior
Kris Klinger said. "We are starting to get optimis-
tic, and we feel we're getting things together to
perform better in meets."
Klinger and senior Chris Onuska, junior Flavio
Martins and junior Jason MacDonald are among
the individuals who have performed brilliantly in
spite of the dismal team start.
"Right now it is the individuals building into
the team concept," Darden said. "We're having
the strength of the team driven by the individu-
als."
Between taking a dip in the pool and relaxing in
the sun, the Wolverines will have to contend with
some strong gymnastics programs.
Penn State is ranked fourth, New Mexico is No.
6, BYU is No. 10, and Michigan State is No. 14
nationally.
The Nittany Lions are particularly tough in the
floor exercise and the high bar, where they are
ranked No. 1 and No. 4 as a team, respectively.
An opponent list like that couldbe disheartening.
"If we go in with the attitude that we'll fare well
against good teams, that will help the younger guys
and give them confidence," Klinger said. "If we
put in a good performance, we feel we can compete
with any tough opponent, like competing against
(top-ranked) Ohio State did for us (earlier this
year)."
For the tumblers in maize and blue, an enjoyable
spring break will be a successful one.
"This spring competition week is very pivotal,"
Darden said.
The Michigan
men's gymnastics
team will
compete twice
over spring break.
The Wolverines
travel to Utah and
New Mexico in
the hope of
Improving upon
their No. 23
national ranking.
DIANE COOK/Daily
NCAA 1st-round tickets will not be available to students
By Michael Rosenberg
Daily Sports Writer-
The Michigan men's basketball
team may or may not make the NCAA
Tournament, but students' fates are
already decided. No tickets will be set
aside for students unless Michigan
makes it to the third round.
Students can, however, apply for
tickets at the regional semifinals and
finals, as well as to the Final Four.
Applications for tickets to Regionals
will be taken March 11-13 at the
Michigan Athletic Ticket Office at
1000 S. State St. Final Four applica-
tions will be accepted March 11-15
and March 18-20, also at the ticket
office. Students must apply in person.
Prices for
Regionals vary
from $60 to $65,
depending on the
site. Final Four
tickets are $73 for
one ticket to each
game.
If Michigan
stumbles and ends
up in the NIT, stu-
weekend was four - against Ohio
State and Bowling Green at the end of
January-which coincidentally were
the last goals given up before the 0-
for-36 streak.
"Up until this weekend special
teams had been the key to our suc-
cess," Michigan coach Red Berenson
said following Saturday night's 7-3
loss. "We've never beaten as badly on
special teams all season until tonight."
So what happened?
"They have a nothing power play,"
Berenson said of the Lakers. "All they
do is take shots from the point and
hope for a rebound in front. We gave
them too many rebounds at the front
of the net and (Michgan goaltender
Marty Turco) didn't control the loose
pucks.
"A lot of times it'sjust luck and the
bounces the puck takes."
-Alan Goldenbach
Women's
basketball
The Big Ten conference announced
its 1995-96 women's basketball all-
conference teams earlier this week,
and for the first time since the 1992-
93 season, one of them included a
Wolverine.
Sophomore Pollyanna Johns was
named to the All-Big Ten Second
Team by the media panel and to the
All-Big Ten Third Team by the
coaches in her first conference cam-
pai.gn.
"It's not a big deal to me," Johns
said, although she was glad to be
selected. "It will probably sink in
later."
Her shots, though, were sinking all
season long and she cleaned the glass
when opponents shots weren't.
The 6-foot-3 center led Michigan
in points and rebounds, averaging a
double-double for the season (14.4
ppg., 10 rpg.).
Johns was sidelined for the Big Ten
season last year with a knee injury
and nobody knew what kind of impact
she would have entering the season.
"I didn't know what to expect,"
Michigan coach Trish Roberts said.
But ask Johns if she thought she'd
play this well and her response comes
rapid-fire: "Oh yeah. Definitely."
- Andy Knudsen
Men's Golfs
The men's golf team is back in the
swing of things and they are packing
their bags.
The team is headed to South Caro-
lina for the Fripp Island Ben Hogan
Intercollegiate and is looking forward
to the sunny skies. This trip involves
a first for the men's golf team. It gets
to practice before the start of the spring
schedule.
Head coach Jim Carras is very op-
timistic and very enthusiastic about
his team. They have eight returning
players, and two promising freshmen.
Freshman Mike Emanuel left dur-
ing the fall season without playing in
a single tournament. He had a serious
case of mononucleosis and spent most
of the semester at home. Mike is back
and eager to play for the Wolverines.
Expectations for this year's team
are high, even though fall results
brought the team disappointment.
"This team is very talented, and the
guys have a lot of ability," Carras
said. "Our top players, Chris
Brockway and Kyle Dobbs, must play
well, and it is imperative that we all
play well to make it to the Central
Regionals."
The University will be hosting the
NCAA Central Regional Champion-
ship May 16-18.
-Kim Hart
Women's Golf
Fab freshmen seem to flock to
Michigan in droves these days, and
the Michigan women's golf team is
reaping some of the benefits.
Katy Loy of Ann Arbor, Sharon
Park of Lexington, Ky., and Sarah
Lindholm ofGrand Blanc, Mich., form
the team's terrific trifecta of fab fresh-
men that will look to make an imme-
diate impact.
In the Owl Preview Classic, the
first tournment of the season, the top
three finishers for Michigan were the
freshmen - Loy in 15th place, Park
in 16th and Lindholm in 18th. Over-
all, the Wolverines finished fifth out
of 13 teams.
In the team's next tournament, the
Charleston Spring Invitational in
South Carolina March 4-5, Michigan
coach Kathy Teichert looks for the
team to improve, including the fresh-
men.
"We're looking to improve each
time out," Teichert said. "The fresh-
men have done an excellent job. They
are diligent, they work hard, and they
like to compete."
- Richard Shin
NcboigaIk
Notebook
dents will have an easier time getting
tickets. Ifthe game is at Crisler Arena,
students can buy one ticket for $5 at
Ticketmaster locations.
Hockey
There was one simple reason why
Lake Superior swept Michigan last
weekend.
And it wasn't just because the Lak-
ers scored more goals than the Wol-
verines.
It was the special teams game, which
Lake State decisively won.
The Lakers were successful seven
out of 13 times with the man advan-
tage. It was the worst showing of the
season for the Michigan penalty-kill-
ing unit.
Moreover, it followed a stretch of
more than six games where the Wol-
verines killed off 36 consecutive
power plays. The most power-play
scores Michigan gave up in a single
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