Men tum conferen By Sharat Raju ly Sports Writer It's pretty safe to say that the Michigan men's gymnastics team will be the under- dog going into this weekend's Big Ten championship meet at Columbus. So what else is new? The Big Ten is arguably the toughest conference in the nation. Host Ohio State is the top-ranked team in the country and has been for the entire season. Iowa (No. 3); Michigan State (No. 4), Penn State o. 6), Minnesota (No. 9), Illinois (No. )and Michigan State (No. 8) are cer- tainly-no slouches in competition, either. This leaves No. 25 Michigan (0-10) in a familiar position: the bottom of the list. Normally, ateam would get down after suffering 10 consecutive losses. But the Wolverines are riding a wave of momen- tum. They are most recently coming off their best performance of the season, a 217.75 point team output. *This total improved on their previous oest by more than seven points. It was also 10 points higher than their preceding meet at Penn State. "1 think this might be a good turning point," Michigan junior Flavio Martins said. "Now we know what we are capable of." Michigan will have to improve its new season-high if it intends to win the Big Ten championship. The reality is that the tsightwill befirmlyontheotherteams mpeting for the title. Each ofthe othersix teams have at least twoperformers in the top 20 in at least one event. The big guns for the No. 10 Illini are Greg. McGlaun and Yuval Ayalon. McGlaun is ranked No. 10 on the vault and No. 14 on the high bar, while Ayalon During the Passove observance, alternati meal options are avail for residence hall resid or students with entree meal plans. University the HillelI The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 28, 1996 - 11A Hers ready for ce championships is No. 10 in the all-around. Illinois is toughest in the high bar, ranked No. 3. Minnesota, at No. 9, has three key gymnasts - Chris Harrington, Frank Ti cknorand Andrew Weaver. Harrington is the most versatile performer of the three, ranked fifth on the floor exercise and seventh on the still rings and vault. Ticknorand Weaver are ranked No. 17 on the rings and No. 8 on the high bar, respectively. The Golden Gophers are strongest on the rings at No. 4. Hugh Lau, Tyler Vogt and Aaron Cot- terare the three notables for the Hawkeyes. While Lau is ranked No. 12 on the pom- mel horse, Cotter and Vogt are ranked No. 16 and No. 18, respectively, in the all- around. Vogt is also No. 19 on the high bar and No. 20 on vault, while Cotter is also No. 15 on the high bar. Iowa's team strength lies on the vault and the parallel bars (No. 3 in both). Penn State has an extremely talented squad with five members ranked in the top 20 nationally in at least one event. Roy Malka is the strength of the Nittany Lions, ranked in five events. His No. 6 spot in the all-around includes being No. 16 on the parallel bars, No. 14 on the rings, No. 10 on the pommel horse and No. 9 on the all-around. In addition, Penn State is the top-ranked team in the nation on floor exercise. Fourth-ranked Michigan State began the season not even ranked in the top 20 in the nation. The Spartans have enjoyed success due in no small part to the six nationally ranked gymnasts on their squad: Ethan Sterk, Sam Smith, Chris Skidmore, Joe Duda, Keith Douglass and Stephen Bello. With Sterk ranked No. 9 on the pommel horse, No. 15 on the high barand No. 5 in the all-around, and Duda at No. 7 on the rings, No. 4 on the parallel bars and No. 8 in the all-around, they are a tough combination to beat. The Spartans' No. 4 ranking in pommel horse is the team's strongest event. The team to beat, however, will be host Ohio State. "Winning the Big Ten is one of our goals," Ohio State coach Peter Kormann said. "It means a lot to those guys." "Those guys" refers to a group of tal- ent-laden gymnasts. Nine Buckeye gym- nasts are nationally ranked in at least one event. Five of those are ranked in at least three events. Two of those five are U.S. National team members Blaine Wilson and Drew Durbin. Make no mistake, those two are quite a potent combination. Wilson is No. 2 in the all-around, including No. 8 on the floor exercise, No. 15 on the pommel horse, No.3 on the rings and high bars and a top-ranking on the parallel bars. Durbin is the top-ranked performer on the pom- mel horse and No. 4 on the parallel bars and the all-around. The Wolverines look to have a tough weekend ahead of them. There are no Michigan gymnasts that are ranked in the top 20 nationally, although the team is ranked No. 17 on the high bar. The team is not intimidated by these opponents, however. The Wolverines hope to ride the momentum from their season-high performance last week. They also want to end the season on a high note for the sake of outgoing coach Bob Darden. "They've proven to themselves that it is a dynamic that they have ... to do this well," Darden said. "(Their performance) will show for the talent and ability we always knew existed in the program." MA RK FRIEDMAN/Daily Former Michigan gymnast Brian Winkler (1992-95) was an NCAA Regional champion last year in the floor exercise, as well as a seventh-place finisher at the 1995 NCAA Championships. The loss of performers like Winkler has contributed to the Wolverines' 0-10 start this season. A MUSIC FASHION .. ate ::..:.: ... IN FLIGHT 215 S. STATE - UPSTAIRS D OWNTOWN ANN ARBOR 995-3323 SPORT LY r Information and forms ve available at all residence able PASSOVER hall offices, Entree Office ,, ents and Housing Information Office. Forms must be submitted by April 3. Housing, Division of Student Affairs in cooperation with Foundation and Chabad House (Jewish Student Centers) U- Give us ST EVE WRIN ~' a piece o0 Y' 4000 A summer is a terrible thing to waste. Particularly when Grand Valley State University makes it so convenient to catch up or pull ahead while you're home on break. GVSU is offering an expanded course selection this summer at our campuses in Allendale and Grand Rapids, and Centers in Holland and Muskegon. It's a perfect time to pick up that class you missed because of scheduling conflicts or to choose an elective not offered by your college or university. Registering as a guest student is as easy as making a phone call. Tuition is affordable and classes are taught by faculty, not graduate students. 1. E. :'Y~ ,f p. h , - s' py,. : v .. gs^ . rc ! . . ' . 1. ' '. A JO [NLN fMn F In s i