The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - September 9, 1996 - 3B

OLYMPIANS
ntinued from Page 18
could amount to more than one chap-
ter. The end of the Olympics probably
spelled the end of their playing days,
so now it is time to settle down, so to
speak.
The three women have traveled
from college to professional stints
and back to field hockey, struggling
ithout family, money and knowl-
edge of whether they were coming or
going.
"It gets difficult financially, but
we never had (the money)," Pankratz
says. "It's not like it was taken away."
And now that the three women are
:in Ann Arbor, their stories can begin.
The stories about how that intangible
thing called fate always seemed to
work in their favor.
Pankratz grew up in a small town in
assachusetts, but her family is origi-
nally from the Midwest. She returned
to her roots when she played field
hockey for Iowa from 1982-85..
A two-time collegiate All-
American, Pankratz finished her
career with 76 goals. She was named
Big Ten Athlete of the Decade in
1992 and to the Big Ten All-Decade
Team for the years 1981-91.
Pankrantz was a member of the
988 Olympic team, an assistant coach
at North Carolina from 1988-91 and a
business woman from 1990-92.
Fuchs was an in-state blue-chipper
when she attended Connecticut from
~1984-87. She is one of the most sto-
ried athletes in UConn history. A
three-time All-American, she led the
Huskies to the national title in 1985

and became the first field hockey
player to, have her number retired in
UConn history.
Fuchs spent six years as an assistant
and one year in the athletic administra-
tion office at her alma mater.
Storrar, the baby of the group,
hails from Mahopac, N.Y., an hour or
so outside of New York City, and"
played her college ball at North
Carolina from 1990-1993. And that's
when Storrar and Pankratz first
crossed paths.
Pankratz recruited Storrar and was
her first coach in Chapel Hill. Storrar
spent one year as an assistant with
the Tar Heels during the 1994-95.
season before packing her bags and
heading to Atlanta to practice with
the U.S. team for a year before the
Games.
Pankratz and Fuchs came together
as members of the '88 Olympic
team, while Storrar was still playing
field hockey, ice hockey and soccer,
at Mahopac High School. They went
their separate ways after the games
but were reunited again this past
summer.
The Summer Games, if they could
be found buried under the heap of
professional sports, endorsements
and marketing genius, were about
monopolizing on athletic talent. And
the field hockey team, caught in the
eye of the storm, was almost part of
a cruel joke.
Field hockey players epitomize the
same hard work and dedication of
other athletes, but it is not regarded
as a major revenue sport and did not
receive a minute of television cover-
age.
Pankratz, Fuchs and Storrar will

be the first to agree that it falls far
short of being a lucrative career.
It was difficult for them to swal-
low its international popularity while
living its relatively unpopular,
unprofitable existence in the United
States.
They remember struggling to
make ends meet on $200 a month
while hopping from part-time job to
part-time job. Yet, they wouldn't
trade their experience for the world.
They played for a chance at Olympic
glory and for the pure, simple love of
their sport.
"Think of all the people who
would love to do what we do,"
Pankratz says. "I haven't had to
work, I've been able to travel around
the world for free, I've been on every
continent at least twice with 16 of
my best friends just playing a game
that I love."
The U.S,.field hockey team fell
short of the medal round. It stung,
but that's in the past. The new chap-
ter has begun and the three women
are more concerned with teaching
hard work, their ideals and what they
learned through their years of experi-
ence.
"The kids come first, and their
health and well-being as people and
student-athletes is the important
thing," Pankratz says.
"They come in as 18-year-old
girls, and you want them to leave as
well-prepared 22-year-old women,"
she adds.
You will not hear complaints or
regrets from these women. They
want to make their team understand
that field hockey has allowed them to
grow in tremendous ways. They want

to extend the same opportunity to
their team.
"I think coaches are the biggest
educators, more than professors in a
classroom," Fuchs .says. "We have
them for 20 hours a week, day in and
day out."
U,,
The pride of, the Midwest, the
hometown hero and the coach's
prodigy carried the American flag in
their hearts and hands in Atlanta.
Ironically enough, in the United
States' 3-2 victory over South Korea
Pankratz and Fuchs scored two of the
goals.
Three little girls from different
places with the same dream grew
into field hockey superstars before
coming together as Olympic team-
mates. And two of the coaches
hooked up for the one-two punch at
the end of the road.
"It's a good thing we are all in it
together," Storrar says. "Everyone
here is equal."
The three women are united again
as coaches and mentors, now carry-
ing the Michigan flag. The coaches
and their players held a Michigan
banner in Michigan Stadium during
the Wolverines 20-8 victory over
Illinois last Saturday.
"During the first football game,
(the field hockey players) were like,
'You gotta come down and hold the
banner with us on the field,"'
Pankratz says. "We went down on the
field, got a tunnel pass and stood out
there on the field. It was fun and they
enjoyed us being down there with
them."
And somehow it seems that's how
fate wanted it to be.

a a
Iers' time has come; :
how long will ft remabi?
R gd Berenson likes to talk about the paper weight that lies on his desk in
idenbach Hall. Rest assured. The Michigan hockey coach is more inter
sting than that. This rock is special. It does more than keep his mail fromw
flying out the window. It has Berenson's inspiration for his team etched in stone.
Our time will come, it says.
And for the Wolverines, it finally has. After so many near-misses, Berenson and
his team finally won a national championship last season. On March 30, Michigan
beat Colorado College to win its first NCAA title since 1964.
For Berenson, it marked the end of a long quest. A quest that began back in 1994
when he inherited a team that had won just 11 games the year before.
"1 kept saying that our day would come," Berenson said. "Just like that paper
weight says. And I really believe that. And it did come, and it was good. It was
great. These kids deserved that. Michigan deserved it."
The summer was a time of celebration for the Wolverines. For the first time, they
were on top of the college hockey world. They still are. But the memories of
Cincinnati have faded. More than five months have passed since the Wolverines
were crowned champions. Their season opener is just over a month away. And
when the puck drops on the 1996-97 season, Michigan will have to prove itself all
over again. It won't be easy.
The Wolverines must fight satisfaction. Now that they are on top, will they have
the desire and work ethic to stay there? Expectations increase. Second or third or
fourth best won't be good enough anymore. With Hobey Baker candidate Brendan
Morrison and eight other seniors returning, the Wolverines won't be favored to win
the NCAA title. They'll be expected to.
And that means every night out, Michigan will receive its opponents' best shots.
Rival Lake Superior State will be the first to attack the Wolverines on Oct. 12 in
Sault Ste. Marie. That is just the beginning of a murderous early schedule that sees
Michigan play its first six games away from home.
"I think there will be pressure," Berenson said. "There is pressure every year. We
put enough pressure on ourselves, so I don't worry about added pressure. We know
what it takes now. We really know what it takes."
As the new year approaches, one might think that winning the title changes
things. It might change the way you prepare for each game. It might change the
way you recruit. It might change the way you deal with the media. But Berenson
isn't taking a completely different approach to this season just because Michigan
finally won the title. He would be a fool to.
The Wolverines were not the Northwestern of college hockey last season. They
didn't jump from a 6-20 team to the national championship. Michigan reached the
NCAA semifinals in 1992, '93 and '95. Some might even argue that the best
Michigan team over the past five years was the 1993-94 squad. That year, the
Wolverines started the season 27-2-1 before being upset in the NCAA quarterfinals
by Lake State. The Michigan hockey program is no stranger to winning.
"I said all along that (winning the NCAA title) is not going to change me or
change our program," Berenson said. "I don't think it changed our team. It's not
like this is the first time our program has had success. We expected to win. And
we've expected to win before."
This summer, a number of Wolverines figured to be tempted by professional
hockey. Jason Botterill was a first-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 1994. Morrison
was a second-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1993. They decided to return
to Ann Arbor. So did the rest of the underclassmen.
"We've got nine seniors who could have left ... and gone on to play pro hockey"
Berenson said. "But they didn't do that. It's gratifying to me that these kids are able
to make good decisions based on what happened."
Our time will come.
It's rather cliche, but who cares? If Berenson derives motivation from it, more
power to him. It helped him stay focused through all of those season-ending losses.
It helped the Wolverines win the national championship.
Who's to say that their time won't come again?
- Barry Sollenberger can be reached over email atjsol@umich.edu.

Michigan men's rugby comes out for
revenge, but falls to Michigan State, 14-7

By Jim Rose
aily Sports Writer
At this time last year, the Michigan
men's rugby team was 0-1, fresh off a
season-opening loss to Michigan State.
This season, the Wolverines find
themselves with the same record, but
team morale is undoubtedly higher than
it was at this point last year.
Saturday, Michigan fell to the
Spartans, 14-7. A rather disappointing
way to begin the season, yes. But con-
sider 1995, when Michigan State pulver-
the same Wolverines, 85-0.
Yes, you read that correctly. 85-0.
What a difference a year makes.
Last fall marked Michigan's first year
of competition in the collegiate league
division of the Rugby Football Union.
After a year of growing pains, the
Wolverines are now ready to compete
with the other teams in the league.
So it's easy to see why Michigan
#ach J.R. Hagerman was fairly pleased
th his team's effort.
"It was definitely much better than
last year," Hagerman said with a chuck-
le.
"Overall, I was pretty happy with the
The University of Michigan
Men's Rowing Team
invites MALE ATHLETES to compete
or Michigan in the 1996-1997 season
(no experience necessary). Attend our
Mass Meetings September 5 & 11 at
6:00 pm in the Union Ballroom.
For immediate information
call 313-668-1477.

match. Considering that 80 to 90 percent
of our team just got into town in the past
week, and we haven't had a whole lot of
practice time, it
was a pretty
good showing.r
And then there Our la
was the weath-
er."
Ah yes, e t plyedah
weather.
Pouring rain out of ga
fell for the bet-
ter part of the -
afternoon, Michigan men'
Mitchell Field
and throwing a wrench into the game
plans of both squads.
"We had a tough time executing,
because of the poor footing," Hagerman
said. "Both teams had trouble running
the ball."
Despite the lousy conditions,

FI
JIl
's

Hagerman praised his team's early play.
"We really controlled the tempo early
on," he said. "For the first 25 minutes,
we looked awe-
some."
Unfortunately,
as Hagerman was
d, butquick to point out,
rugby matches are
80 minutes long.
a YStill, the
Wolverines man-
aged to take a 7-0
R. H agerman lead going into
>rugby coach halftime. Fullback
Jay Frieden put
Michigan on the

"Fitness became an issue," Hagerman
said. "(Michigan State) just kept pressur-
ing us and pressuring us, and eventually
we would make a mistake.
"Then (the Spartans) capitalized. Our
guys played hard, but they basically just
ran out of gas"
Still, Hagerman found several reasons
for encouragement in defeat. Captain
Mike Springs was one of them.
"Mike was excellent all day long,"
said the coach. "He was delivering great
ball."
Hagerman also praised his pair of cen-
ters, senior Jason Wolff and sophomore
Tomas Grigera.
"Jason and Tomas really shut down
(the Spartans') running attack all day,"
he said. "Their play forced Michigan
State to completely change its game
plan."
The Wolverines will next be in action
Sept. 14, when they host Central
Michigan.

scoreboard.
The rain kept up throughout the sec-
ond half, but the Wolverines' lead did
not.
Hagerman said the Spartans went to a
kick-and-chase game plan to wear
Michigan down, and it worked.

1 __. ..'

g; GY4 19' fyCIGoa,

Club Hockey
Sept. 16 8:

TRYOUTS
at Ann Arbor Ice Cube

;20

17
19

8:40
9:20

23
24
26

8:20
9:20
9:20

all times pm
For more info. contact
Mike Forbis
mjforbis@umich.edu

Dan Nacinovich
danmnac @umich.edu

I

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Mail ENT V FORM_(photocopies accepted)
Group 01 - Quarterbacks Group 02 - Quarterbacks
O 1 Peyton Manning, TENN I 1 Brad Otton, USC
]2 Danny Wuerffel, FL OJ 2 Steve Sarkisian, BYU

Enter as many times as you want. For each entry, make one
selection from each box. Scoring will be based on the players'
actual statistics using the point system below. Each entry will be
allowed unlimited trades throughout the season. Players can only
be traded for other players in the same box. Complete details will
accompany your team confirmation report. Entries must be
postmarked by September 13,1996. The season will start with
games beginning September 14, 1996, and go through January,
1997, including all bowl games._-_-
Group 03 - Quarterbacks Group 04 - Tight End Group 13 - Kickers
Q 1 Wally Richardson, PSU 0 1 Chad Lewis, BYU 1. 1 Rafael Garcia. VA
El 2 Thad Busby, FSU QE 2 Pat Fitzgerald, TX L72 Remy Hamilton, MICH
Q 3 Branndon Stewart, TX A&M 0 3 Steve Bush, ASU 3 Phil Dawson, TX
0 4 Ryan Clement, MIA El 4 Pete Chryplewicz, ND 4 Brett Conway, PSU
I] 5 Scott Frost, NE Q 5 Matt Lepsis, COL 1,5 Jeff Hall, TENN

O 3 Jake Plummer, ASU
EL 4 Ron Powlus, ND
] 5 Koy Detmer, COL I

0 3 Donovan McNabb SYR
k 0 4 James Brown, TX
El 5 Scott Dreisbach, MICH

r

-t I,



Group 05 - Running Backs
01 1Troy DavisIOWA ST
O 2 DamellAutry, NWU
O 3 Warrick Dunn, FSUI
S 4 Ahman Green, NE
0 5 Jay Graham, TENN

Group 46 - Running Backs
0 1 Tki Barber, VA
© 2 Danyell Ferguson, MIA
O03 Curtis Enis, PSU
El 4 Autry Denson, ND
E 5 Delon Washington, USC

Group 07 - Running Backs
E 1 Sirr Parker, TX A&M
l 2 Elijah Williams, FL
EL3 Shon Mitchell, TX
[ 4 Chris Howard, MICH
0 5 Randy Kinder, ND

Group 08 - CornerBacks
Q # Ronde Barber, VA
17 2 Dayton McCutcheon, USC
EL 3 Anthone Lott, FL
Q 4 Michael Booker, NE
.M 5 Brian Miller, PSL)

- - - _ .

....:
E I t. r s- : t. %.#

Grand Prize
First Prize
Second Prize

$7,500
$1 000
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