14A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 24, 1996
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Harners will send second
squad to Eastern Classic
By Jacob Wheeler well as we can, we should be competi- Meanwhile, the varsity is looking for-
Daily Sports Writer tive." ward to the Big Ten championships"i1
Michigan men's cross country coach Eastern's course has been moved to a Indiana a week from Saturday.
Ron Warhurst will only send his second nearby park this year. so it should be "We're trying not to get too nerx os
team to Ypsilanti for tomorrow's more challenging. Last year's Eastern about it," Warhurst said. "It's still more
Eastern Michigan Classic. Michigan Classic was held on a golf than a week away."
"We become the varsity for this course. Michigan will be trying to achieve its
week," junior Cory Brown said. "Just Hilly terrain could cause problems goal of the entire season - knockingf
like any other race, the top five runners tomorrow for some Michigan runners. off Wisconsin, the two-time defending
(for Michigan) will score." A few of the Wolverines, like Brown, Big Ten champions.
The top varsity runners will rest in are used to running shorter distances for "We're going to train hard Saturday'
preparation for the Big Ten champi- track season. The fall cross country sea- and Tuesday then go a little bit easier in
onship meet Nov. 2 at Indiana. son is just a way to stay in shape for the days before the championshi l"
"(The first team) will be there in the them. Warhurst said.
ti
The Michigan
women's soccer
team hopes to
extend its two-
game undefeated
streak this after-
noon at Michigan
State.
MA RK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Blue battles for Big Ten basement
By Josh Kleinbaum
For the Daily
The Michigan women's soccer team hopes to continue its
two-game undefeated streak this afternoon against Michigan
State in its last Big Ten match of the season. The game -
which kicks off at 3 p.m. at East Lansing - will be a battle
between the two teams bringing up the rear of the Big Ten.
: After four consecutive losses - the longest losing streak in
team history - the Wolverines (2-3-1 Big Ten, 5-6-3 overall)
«ebounded last weekend with strong performances against
Northwestern and Wisconsin. Led by sophomore goalkeeper
Jessica Jones, the Wolverines topped the Wildcats, 2-0, and
battled to a 0-0 tie with the 10th-ranked Badgers, who have
already clinched the Big Ten regular season title.
Jones, who had 15 saves in the 165 minutes she played last
weekend, was named Big Ten Player of the Week. She earned
one solo shutout and shared the Northwestern win with senior
goalkeeper Jori Welchans. Jones has a 1.35 goals-against aver-
age on the season to go along with a 4-4-3 record.
"Jones has really stepped it up and had a good season, she's
been consistent and solid," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin
said. "She's been coming up with the big saves that keeps us in
games."
The defense has been Michigan's strength all season. While
the offense has had trouble finding the net, the defense has kept
most of the Wolverines' games exciting.
"Our forwards have started to play better defense, and our
midfielders are helping our backs." Belkin said. "There haven't
been a lot of breakdowns."
Belkin points to the level of the competition as the reason for
the offensive drop-off. At the beginning of the season, the
defenses and goalies were not as strong as the ones the team is
facing now.
"We've certainly had our chances," Belkin said, "but the
goalkeepers came up big. We're playing much better teams."
The older players have been stepping up their play to provide
the little scoring the Michigan offense has produced. Junior
forward Ruth Poulin scored two goals against Minnesota on
Oct. 13, and forwards junior Karen Montgomery and sopho-
more 'Jessica Limauro, each scored in the victory over
Northwestern last Friday.
This afternoon could be when the offense wakes up. The
Spartans (0-6, 2-12), last place in the Big Ten, have let up 32
goals in the 14 games they've played this season, an average of
2.21 goals per game. They have lost their last l1 games, and
are trying to avoid going winless for the entire Big Ten season.
The Spartans are led offensively by Kristen Lester, a senior
forward who has scored seven goals and added two assists. The
Spartans weakness is goalkeeping, according to Belkin. Mara
Lee, the Spartans top goalkeeper, is 0-7 on the season with a
2.19 goals against average.
The game could mean more for the Wolverines than just a
contest against their intrastate rivals. While currently in seventh
place in the Big Ten, a win could vault Michigan into fourth
place going into the conference tournament. A loss would keep
the Wolverines in seventh place.
cheering section, though," Warhurst
said. "It'll give us a chance to see the
guys who haven't had much action this
year."
Much of the second team, however,
did see action last Sunday at the
Michigan Interregional.
Last weekend, Chris Bunt (No. 58),
Mike Mahler (No. 59), Steve Kafka
(No. 60), Alex Towbin (No. 61) and
Tom Stamboulian (No. 64) all finished
near the bottom of the pack. They will
run Friday along with Brown, Kevin
Luoma, Eric Sutherland, Kurt Laansma
and Don McLaughlin.
Unlike the rest of the group,
McLaughlin looks to be an integral part
of Warhurst's varsity team in the future.
After finishing in the Wolverines' top
seven in 1995, he is redshirting this year
due to a stress fracture in his femur.
Even though Warhurst doesn't have
high expectations for his second team,
he isn't ruling out a role for them in the
future. The longtime coach has seen
second-team runners work their way up
to the varsity level before.
"I like pleasant surprises," Warhurst
said. "I've seen some big turnarounds
emotionally, where guys just come out
of nowhere in one year."
There is an obvious difference in the
talent level, however, between the varsi-
ty and the second team.
"Cracking next year's top five would
be virtually impossible," Brown said.
"But being in the top seven or nine on
the team is possible."
Michigan's second squad will face
Windsor and Eastern Michigan's full
teams, as well as runners from several
community colleges. Even without their
top runners, the Wolverines should fin-
ish among the top three teams.
"Our second team's top five probably
doesn't have the talent of Eastern's top
five," Brown said. "But if we race as
1 '
DAMIAN PETRESC(U1
Michigan sophomore Todd Snyder (left) and freshman Steve Lawrence (middle)
will sit out tomorrow's meet, allowing second-team runners to see action.
- A M
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Rowers go back to work in Ohio
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By Tracy Sandler
For the Daily
Bring on the Buckeyes - vaca-
tion's over.
After two weeks of rest, the
Michigan women's crew team is
preparing for Sunday's Jack
Speakman Regatta in Columbus.
According to Michigan coach
Mark Rothstein, Ohio State will be
the Wolverines' main competition,
although there will be several
schools competing.
"Our focus is to qualify for the
national championship in the spring."
Rothstein said. "But it's important
any time you race Ohio State."
The rowers are also looking for-
ward to facing the Buckeyes.
"We'd like to beat them," Michigan
rower Jeannette Stawski said. "They
beat us last year in a close race, so
we'd like to get them back for that."
Michigan rower Lisa Labadie said
Ohio State is always strong competi-
"Ohio State Is
always a good
race for us. It.
could be a good
assessment of
where we're at,"
- Lisa Labadie
Michigan rower
for us," she said. "It could be a good
assessment of where we're at."
The race will 'be a three-mile,
head-style race. One team is sent off
every 10 seconds, and the team with
the lowest lap time wins.
Michigan's squad is divided into
two categories.
The freshman - or novice - team
is made up of freshmen and first-year
rowers, while the varsity team is
TLOT HIN E 14x000 s.feet
tion for Michigan.
"Ohio State is always
a good race
composed of the more experienced
rowers.
Sunday's regatta will be the no,
team's first race of the year.
"We'd like to win the event with
our varsity team," Rothstein said.
"With the freshman team,.it is a Iittle
less clear. We have a great freshman
team, and by the spring, they wilbbe
very fast."
This year's practices have A 5n
more intense than in the past. '
"We have great facilities .ad"I
equipment." Stawski said. -e
trying to capitalize on that."
Labadie said the Wolverines.h ;e
been working hard in preparation for
the spring.
"I think we've been putting ina lot
of work this fall," Labadie said.
"We'll have to see how that wrk
translates to the water.
"This year we have (put) more
overall time. into training. We
consistently lifting and consistei*
having ergometer (rowing machine)
practices. We're trying a multi-
faceted training approach."
Sunday's race should be telling-in
many ways.
"Everyone is very excited tQ rvow
and to race," Labadie ajd.
"Everyone is very fueled for this
weekend"
Schedule
Today
Hockey at Alaska-Fairbanks,
Fairbanks, midnight
Soccer at Michigan State, East
Lansing, 3 p.m.
Women's tennis at All-American
Championships,; Pacific Palisades
Calif.
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