The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - January 27, 1997 - 3B
Gymnasts win
despite early falls
By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
Normally, the first two or three com-
petitors of the meet set the tone for the
Sire day.
.ut the Michigan women's gymnas-.
tifs team showed it was able to overcome
a slow start Saturday night, as it over-
came an early deficit to defeat
lMassachusetts, 195-193.7, in Amherst,
Mass.
"A couple of us came out shaky and
had problems on the bars, our first
y event;" Beth Amelkovich said.
Heather Kabnick and Amelkovich
were the first and third participants,
t pectively, for Michigan. Each of them
'uffered a bit from early meet jitters,
falling on the uneven bars.
But from that point onward, the
Wolverines never looked back, en route
to winning three of the four apparatuses.
They would eventually tie the
Minutemen on the bars.
"I was really pleased the kids hung
tough;" Michigan coach Bev Plocki said.
"After a couple of (falls) and tough calls,
easy to get down on your luck."
Nikki Peters brought back Michigan's
hopes with a score of 9.9 on the bars,
pulling the Wolverines to within 0.4.
From then on, it was all Michigan.
The Wolverines took the vault by half
apoint behind Sarah Cain's third consec-
utive 9.9 performance of the season.
"She's just a tough competitor," Plocki
said. "What's even more amazing is that
she never did the handspring-frontpike-
le vault before college. Sarah picks up
ings really quickly."
One event later, Cain recorded her
highest score of the season, with a 9.5 on
the floor exercise.
"As a freshman, she's getting a lot
more comfortable with each coming
meet;' Plocki said.
As a team, Michigan compiled a 49.3
on the floor - a vast improvement over
the previous week.
"Last week in practice, we worked
extremely hard," Amelkovich said.
"Saturday, we just repeated what we did
in practice,"
By the end of the third apparatus, the
Wolverines were out of danger, leading
UMass by 1.5.
Amelkovich capped off the evening
with a 9.85 to win the beam apparatus.
"That's my favorite event,"
Amelkovich said. "I feel very comfort-
able with it. I started out (the season)
shaky, but it's good to get better and peak
at the end."
All in all, Michigan dominated the
final meet standings. The Wolverines
owned the top three vault and beam fin-
ishes, the top two floor finishes and three
out of the top four finishes on the bars.
Sarah Cain once again stole the show,
winning the all-around with a score of
39.475.
Not overshadowed by Cain's perfor-
mance, however, was the performance
of Lisa Simes. The sophomore fin-
ished second in the all-around with a
score of 39.3, her best of the season.
She also tied for second on the floor,
recording a 9.9.
"She's never done that well this early
in the season," Plocki said.
Saturday's scores show a trend in the
Wolverines this year: the top three finish-
ers in each event of every meet have usu-
ally been Cain, Simes and Nikki Peters.
But Peters' performance on the beam
hindered that possibility with a fall dur-
ing her routine.
"Nikki had two real good beam per-
S PS d Column
BARRY e
SOLLENBERGER
Sollenberger in Paradise
Men ' basketball band
needs to add more p
ou've heard it a thousand times.
In Michigan, it's as popular a complaint as, "Boy, the weather sure
stinks." Why is Crisler Arena such a morgue during men 's basketball
games?
The theories abound. The crowd is indifferent. The team is inconsistent.
And these certainly are problems.
But the pep band is to blame for Crisler's deadness, too.
To begin, it plays "The Victors" too much. It also doesn't play at the right
times. And it certainly doesn't do enough to get the crowd into the game.
Now, of course, it would be unfair to place all of the blame for Crisler's aloof
crowds on the band. Through it all, the game is played on the court. An exciting
team excites the crowd, and remember, the Wolverines are underachieving for the
third straight year. If they were to play to their capabilities for a change, you
would see a difference in the Crisler crowd.
And no matter how the band or team performs, the Cnsler crowd will never
win any awards for its personality. Many of the alums that sit courtside act like
they'd rather be at a poetry reading. No matter what anybody does, this isn't like-
ly to change.
Still, it's strange to watch the band sit quietly while opponents shoot free
throws during crunch time.
Indeed, it could do a lot more to encourage the crowd.
And Director Jeff Grogan knows it.
"I've talked with Steve Fisher about changing the rapport of the band with the
crowd and making it more hockeyesque," Grogan said. "We want to be rowdy
without being incredibly negative."
The Michigan hockey band is just that. It does a great job of leading the Yost Ice
Arena crowd - a crowd that hasn't seen the Wolverines lose in more than a year.
"We take great pride in the fact that we have the best pep band in college
hockey," Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson said.
No one is making any such claims about the basketball band.
But there are some circumstances that are, perhaps, inhibiting it from becom-
ing a top-flight pep band.
First of all, the Athletic Department has determined that the band will not taunt
opposing players or officials.
"A band that is part of a game should not be yelling at the referees and oppos-
ing players," said Martha Johnson Chaddock, the assistant director of marketing
in the Athletic Department. "Their role is to support our team."
Second, in a sense, the officials consider the band to be a part of the Michigan
team. If they think the band is out of line, they can slap the Wolverines with a
technical foul.
"When the ref comes to talk to us, we have to settle down," Grogan said.
So that's it, right? The refs have the band under their thumbs, and nothing can
be done about it.
Not exactly.
While the band is prohibited by Big Ten rules from playing during live action,
it could play more during breaks in the game, like the hockey band does.
This would likely create a buzz that would pervade the entire crowd, just like
at Yost. As it stands, the basketball band only plays during timeouts and longer
breaks, such as intermission.
True, the stoppages in play in basketball (e.g., when the ball goes out of
bounds) are much shorter than they are in hockey. But the band does have
enough time to do some sort of routine every time a foul is called on an opposing
player.
It doesn't have to be a whole song. If we wanted to hear "Live and Let Die"
we'd buy a Paul McCartney CD. Just something short, to get the crowd into the
See PARADISE, Page 7
.JPWW V A L ASiMQ/Ly
With moves like this one, Michigan's women gymnasts beat Massachusetts this
weekend, leading coach Bev Plocki to say "greatness is right around the comer,"
formances in the two previous meets,"
Plocki said. "But she let her string of
success get to her."
Saturday's meet was easily Michigan's
finest all-around performance of the
young season. But the Wolverines have
yet to excel from start to finish.
"Saturday wasn't exactly great,"
Plocki said. "But I think greatness is
right around the corner."
Lighter classes have to start pulling their weight
Jordan Field
aily Sports Writer
After dropping three of the first four matches
Saturday night against a weaker Northwestern team,
even Michigan wrestling coach Dale Bahr was quick to
point out the obvious - the Wolverines are struggling
at the lower weight classes.
"We lost at 126 in sudden death, we lost at 134, and
we lost at 142 with a takedown in the last few seconds,"
Bahr said. "I'm not going to lie to you, we're struggling
at the top of the order.
"To win a tight match you have to get out to a good
*rt, and I truly expected to win three of the first four
natches (vs. Northwestern) and we just didn't do it."
Bahr realizes the reason the top of the order is strug-
gling is just as obvious as well. With exception of the
team's tri-captains, Bill Lacure, Jeff Catrabone and
Airron Richardson, the whole starting lineup is either a
freshman or a sophomore. That makes seven under-
classmen starting, six of whom lost to Northwestern.
"We're starting seven guys that are either freshmen or
sophomores, and it seems like we're losing way too
many matches by one or two points," Bahr said. "We
are very inexperienced, and these kids have got to learn
how to win."
AILING FRESHMAN: Freshman Damion Logan had
successful surgery Jan. 22, to repair a subluxation to his
left shoulder. Logan, who was the Wolverines starter at
126 pounds, will miss the rest of the season, and will
receive a medical redshirt. Logan was originally filling
in for All-American Brandon Howe at 126, who is also
sidelined for the season.
Logan had compiled a 15-4 record during the early
season tournaments including reaching the finals at his
first three. He was ranked 12th in his weight class by
both the Amateur Wrestling News and the National
Wrestling Coaches Association, but has dropped out of
the ranking since suffering the injury.
"I'm really disappointed, but I've learned to make the
best out of any situation" Logan said. "I've dropped out
of the rankings and I feel like everything I've worked
for is wasted, but I'm not going to sit in my room and
do nothing, I'm not going to mope around and feel
sorry for myself.
"I'm going to smile and make the best of it, and get
ready for next year, because I'll be back and better than
ever."
THE AWARD WATCH: With this win over
Northwestern, Bahr is one closer to reaching his 200th
win at the university. He is currently at 198, and will be
honored for his accomplishments at this season's
National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star
Wrestling Classic, Feb. 3, at Clarion University.
Junior tri-captain, Jeff Catrabone, who scored a
major decision over Northwestern's Chris Roberts,
moved into tenth place on Michigan's all-time win list
with his 109th win. He also moved into third place in
Michigan history notching his 34th and 35th falls at
National Duals last week. He needs only 10 more to
become Michigan's all-time leader.
I._'
INTRAMURAL
SPORTS
PROGRAM
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
TEAM
BADMINTON
Entries Taken: until Thurs 1/30 4:30pm IMSB (Main Office)
Entry Fee: $25.00 per team
Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Thurs 1/30 6pm IMSB
Tournament Date: Saturday 2/1 at NCRB (2375 Hubbard)
SWIMMING & Entries Taken: until Weds 2/5 4:30pm IMSB (Main Off ice)
DIVING MEET Entry Fee: $5 for individuals/$25 for teams
Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Weds 2/5 6pm IMSB
Meet Date: Thursday 2/6 at Canham Natatorium
FREE THROW Entries Taken: Now and through the event Friday 2/7
CONTEST & Entry Fee: $5.00 per individual
3-POINT
SHOOTOUT
Format: Free Throw (50 Fs); 3-Point (25 shots/75 seconds)
Free Throw & Shootout Date/Times: Fri 2/7 11 a - 8p
VOLLEYBALL Entries Taken: Mon 2/17 - Thurs 2/20 11am - 4:30pm
(Pre-Season)
Entry Fee:
$30.00 per team
Manager's Meeting (Mandatory): Weds 2/20 6pm IMSB
Tournament Date: Saturday 2/22 at IMSB
The entry deadline for the RELAYS MEET is Tuesday February 25.
a