4F - The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - September 3, 1996
Field hockey looks to rebuild
By Will MeCahill
Daily Sports Writer
Just as the 1995 season gave the Michigan field hockey
team something brand new to look forward to - a pristine
field - so will the 1996 campaign present the Wolverines
with a novelty.
This season, though, the squad will have a new coach.
After guiding Michigan to a fourth-place Big Ten finish,
head coach Patti Smith resigned after seven years at the helm.
The Wolverines set a 4-6 Big Ten mark, 12-9 overall.
Michigan started the season with a journey to the East
Coast. Sept. 8 marked Michigan's debut on its home turf, the
newly christened Phyllis Ocker Field. The Wolverines showed
few signs of having played indoors for five previous seasons as
they edged the Fighting Blue Hens of Delaware, 2-1.
After a 2-1 loss to Syracuse, the Wolverines reeled off five
straight wins entering conference play. The Wolverines capped
off the streak by handing rival Michigan State a 4-2 defeat.
With the squad's record even in the conference at 1-1, Michi-
gan traveled to Evanston to take on Big Ten powerhouse North-
western. With the score deadlocked at zero and less than a sec-
ond left in the second overtime, attacker and co-captain Aaleya
Koreishi poked in the game-winner to sink the Wildcats.
The victory pushed the Wolverines to a No. 8 national rank-
ing, equaling Michigan's highest showing in the poll.
The Wolverines again did themselves proud at Ocker Field
on Oct. 8. With the field's namesake among the spectators, and
on the day the field was dedicated, Michigan spanked arch-
rival Ohio State, 3-0.
It was mostly downhill for the Wolverines from there, howev-
er. The Wolverines' ultimate defeat in the conference tournament
came at the hands of a least likely opponent - the Buckeyes.
Entering the 1996 season, the Wolverines will have to deal
with some key losses. Gone will be attacker Sherene Smith
and Koreishi, as well as goaltender Rachael Geisthardt and the
other captain, defender Jennifer Lupinski.
Senior attacker Michelle Smulders and sophomore attacker
Julie Flachs will anchor the attack, while the keys to defense
should be held by senior Bree Derr. Two key additions will be
netminder Kati Oakes and midfielder Erica Widder.
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ANN ARBOR
- 11 "Illoo op, ww"
KRISTEN SCHAEFER/Dagy
Bill Lacure (front) tries to break an opponent's hold this season. The Michigan wrestling team had five All-Americans, Including
Lacure, and finished ninth In the nation.This year, four of the All-Americans return to anchor the squad.
Wrestlers finish strong at
NCAAs, prepare for future
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BACK TO SCHOOL SALE!
112 off all carpet remnants
By Will McCahill
Daily Sports Writer
Every team begins its season with the
goal of improving on its last campaign.
For the Michigan wrestling team, the
goal was no different, and the results
upon which it was aiming to improve
were manageable, to say the least.
The 1994-95 squad finished fifth in
the Big Ten - traditionally the nation's
strongest conference - but finished the
season with a disappointing No. 22 fin-
ish at the NCAA championships.
In the 1995-96 season, coach Dale
Bahr set out to bring his team back into
the top 10, and had to do so without the
benefit of much senior leadership.
By the time the Big Ten season got
under way, the Wolverines had already
lost one of two senior regulars, 158-
pound co-captain Jake Young, to injury.
The other senior captain, 177-pounder
Jesse Rawls Jr., led a team made up
almost exclusively of freshmen and
sophomores into the Big Ten.
After a loss to ninth-ranked Penn
State, Michigan - then ranked No. 17
- faced eighth-ranked Illinois.
The Wolverines, on the road, pulled the
upset behind strong performances from
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supj-
two sophomores. At 158 pounds, Jeff
Catrabone pinned defending NCAA
champion Earnest Benion to keep Michi-
gan in the match, and heavyweight Airron
Richardson recorded a 4-3 decision in the
final match to seal the victory.
After tying Northwestern and losing to
Michigan State in front of a packed house
at Cliff Keen Arena - a record 2,200
spectators took in the match - the
Wolverines embarked on a
six-match winning streak. "I've n
Home victories over
No. 23 vPurdue, No. 18 had fii
Ohio State, No. I1 Wis-
consin and No. 9 Indiana, Amend
combined with a road win
over No. 7 Minnesota, ( y)
powered the Wolverines to
a 6-2-1 conference record years.
and a No. 12 ranking
heading into the confer-
ence tournament. Wrest
Michigan entered the
Big Ten tournament look-
ing to have the maximum number of
wrestlers qualify for NCAA berths.
Although the Wolverines did not fare
as well as Bahr would have liked in the
team standings - the squad placed sev-
enth - six Michigan wrestlers battled
their ways into the NCAAs.
Redshirt freshman 118-pounder Chris
Viola finished fifth, while sophomore
Brandon Howe placed sixth at 126.
Sophomore Bill Lacure turned in a
7
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t
fourth-place performance, while Catra-
bone's second-place finish qualified'
him easily. .09
Rawls and Richardson also qualified.
Despite the mediocre showing at Big
Tens, the Wolverines traveled to the Twin.'
Cities hoping to break into the top 10.
The top eight in each class claimed All-
American honors, and five of the six'
Wolverine qualifiers garnered the title.
Lacure paced the
Pever Wolverines with a fourth-
place finish, a mar
l. equalled by Rawls anW
Richardson.
:an S jin Catrabone, who entered'
with a No. 3 national rank-
ing, suffered a broken fi-'
ger that held him to a sev-
enth-place showing. Howe
aeBahrfinished a surprising'
Dale B eighth.
ling coach The individual perfot-
mances propelled Michi-
gan to a ninth-place overao
finish, to Bahr's delight.
"I've never had five All-Americans
in the 18 years I've been (at Michigan)"
Bahr said.
Bahr said the outlook is good for the
Wolverines in the coming season, based"
on the success of the younger wrestlers.
"When you consider out of those five
All-Americans, four of them are just
sophomores, then we have a great future.
ahead of us."
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