12A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 30, 1997 Michigan q.. duagmatc] :.y Andy Latack aily Sports Writer With the conference season rapidly approaching, the Michigan men's tennis team is preparing to defend its Big Ten title. The Wolverines will begin the dual- match portion of their season this week- end, as they travel to the O'Charley's Tennis Classic at Tennessee. Unlike the individual events in which the Wolverines have participat- d so far, a dual-match gives them a taste of what their conference meets will be like. Players' matches count toward an overall team score, something the Wolverines have yet to experience this year. "So far, we have only been in indi- vidual tournaments," Michigan coach Brian Eisner said. "We have to get back men's tennis hits h portion of season After all these years, Target as in the team concept. It's a different type of focus." The Wolverines will face nationally ranked and third-seeded Alabama- Birmingham in the first round, and Eisner said he isn't looking for any Southern hospitality. "They're always a good team," he said. "At this point in the season,,you never know exactly what to expect, because you don't know who graduated or how their new players are, but they'll definitely have talent." If the Wolverines advance, they will face either South Florida or sec- ond-seeded Middle Tennessee State in the second round. South Alabama, Virginia, Indiana and host- Tennessee round out the eight-team field. The Wolverines will bring eight play- ers, the same eight who contributed to the team's strong showing last weekend at the Big Ten singles championship. Six players will enter the singles bracket and then pair up to form three doubles teams. Dual-match scoring awards the win- ner of the majority of the three doubles matches one point, as well as one point for every singles victory. "It's extremely important to do well in doubles," Eisner said. "They are played first, so they set the tone for the rest of the match." Eisner noted that the singles matches are often split between the two teams, making the doubles matches the deci- sive factor. Junior Brook Blain and freshman Matt Wright join to form the No. I doubles team, and juniors Arvid Swan and Miki Pusztai combine to make up the No. 2 entry. Pusztai is playing in just his second event as a Wolverine after transferring from Virginia Tech, where he was the top doubles player since his freshman year. Junior David Paradzik and sopho- more William Farah completethe dou- bles lineup. With only a few more tournaments before the Big Ten season commences, Eisner knows the team must gain valu- able experience from this weekend. "When we evaluate this tourna- ment, it will be an all-team evalua- tion' he said. "All of the major events we will play in, such as the Big Ten and NCAA tournament, will be dual- matches. We need to get our team focus back. "We like to represent Michigan as a team:' going pro 0 FILE PHOTO The Michigan women's track team heads to South Bend this weekend to compete in the Mayo Invitational. M track to face Pur due at Mayo By Chris Farah Daily Sports Writer All unopened birthday presents carry with them a certain sense of mystery and anticipation. Will the gift be a success and per- haps contain a Nintendo 64 and an eternity of game-playing fun, at least until the next fad? Or maybe the shiny wrapping paper will reveal only disappoint- ment: a pair of wool socks knit spe- cially by Grandma - she thinks video games are evil. Well then, Saturday may just as well be Michigan women's track coach James Henry's birthday. The gift-opening will occur in South Bend, Ind., at the Mayo Invitational, where the Wolverines will prove to him whether they are worth the wait. After Saturday's emotional loss to Eastern Michigan at the Michigan Interregional, Henry isn't sure how the Wolverines will respond. "Well, I think that's going to be the $64,000 question, is how did (the loss) affect them," Henry said. "Psychologically, I know they were set back by it. I don't know how they're going to respond. I do know that they're continually down the practice path to improve themselves in the long run. "What they will do when they get on the track will be something that I will be anxious to see." A mix of new and familiar compe- tition will give Michigan another unknown factor to deal with. Although the meet will only be scored on the basis of individual ath- letes' performances, the Wolverines will face representatives from Notre Dame, Ohio, Purdue and maybe even their old adversaries, the Eagles. Michigan competed against the Fighting Irish at the Red Simmons Invitational earlier this season, but this will be the first time the Wolverines race against against their Big Ten rivals, the Boilermakers. The emphasis on individual place- ment may actually help the Wolverines regain their winning atti- tude after losing to Eastern Michigan. "It's a non-scoring meet, but at the same time, our focus is on being much more mentally tough as we compete," Henry said. "The athlete's focus, of course, is that I want to improve my placing. I'm interested more in them improving their mental toughness." Henry held team meetings yester- day as well as after Saturday's loss in order to rebuild team morale and promote his message of persever- ance. "There was a discussion following the meet stating that this was only a prelude to the Big Tens, so let's make our mistakes now and corrrect them in four weeks," Henry said. Mistakes? The Michigan Interregional included outstanding performances by many of the Wolverines. Sophomore Nicole Forrester placed first in the high jump for the third straight week. Sophomore Sarah Hamilton destroyed the competition in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.89, an accomplishment indica- tive of what many of the distance runners were able to do Saturday. Freshman Maria Brown came close to qualifying for nationals with a winning time of 24.42 in the 200. Henry, however, still sees room for improvement. "The mistakes I might think they have made and the mistakes they might think they have made are dif- ferent," Henry said. "They think their mistake is that they did not win, they did not beateathletes that they should have beaten. "That did occur, but some more important mistakes to me are making the height on the first attempt instead of the third attempt, getting a real good seed time going into the finals from the prelim, those are the things I look at as a coach that need to be worked on." After yesterday's team meeting, Henry has nothing to do but contin- ue to concentrate on training and wait to see what happens on Saturday. "Now, looking more closely at the results, we will talk about the things that were discussed - how impor- tant it is to get a good performance early, how important it is to finish at the finish line very strong," Henry said. "The question is: How will they respond to these instructions?" little known fact: I have som thing in common with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard arid Tshimanga Biakabutuka. I'm going pro. Well, that and the fact that none of us have a Big Ten championship. But they've all gone pro, and I'm soon to join them. That's the purpose of this column, really, to let my boss know that I'm leaving. Boss, I'm leaving. Now, I know what you're thinking, boss. You're thinking, how can we keep him? What kind of ionetary package can we put together to bring him back for another year? Can we show him the money? (Editor's note: As much as Ryan would like to think that, I am really wondering when he's going to clean his mailbox out so I can give it t6, someonek deserving. Also, Ryan's graduat- " ing and could- a n t stay even if ~ .1. we wanted him KY to, which we don't.) k RYAN Sorry bos, WHITE there is nothi* you can do, White on Afterall if' Target Desmond Howard can be Super Bowl MVP, I must be able to find a job. That said, however, I will miss cov- ering Michigan sports. The last three years, covering oen's basketball once and football twicE, have been entertaining to say the I mean, no matter who the t Wolverines were playing, there &s always a chance that they could de something dumb. There was the NCAA tournament game in 1995, when Michigan blew a huge lead to Western Kentucky awd ended up losing in overtime. And who can forget the deba in West Lafayette this season whe te football team managed to lose tti Purdue? At the same time, however, the was always a chance something antaz ing would happen. Like the time ii 1995 when the Wolverines ended Indiana's 50-game home winning streak. And when it comes to football,the two obvious examples are the last two games against Ohio State. More than that, however, there w* times like in 1994, when wrestlerS Brian Harper and Sean Bormet advanced all the way to the NCAA championship match. Both lost, but both were able t smile afterwards. Harper joked that the pain of the loss was nothing afew beers couldn't take care of. They were well-earned beers. It was those kinds of athletes that made this gig fun. Guys like Harper} and Bormet, Jarrett Irons and Rod Payne, Maurice Taylor and Robert Traylor. Everyone of them is a tough, intimi dating figure who could probably toss you over the Burton Tower if he want- ed, but I don't think they ever would. Off the field, all are thoughtful, well-spoken and - this may surprise some of you - intelligent individuals. They're guys who I always looked f1 ward to talking to, at least after wins and usually after losses. In fact, the best quote I never used probably came from Payne. Payne, playing with a broken right hand, was asked if it was difficult to snap left- handed. He made an analogy dealing with the ambidextrous use of toilet tis- sue. Enough said. Then, of course, there are the coaches. Over the years they've come ou and "given a solid effort, fought the fight, shot themselves in the foot, come up big, been banged up, always coached against oufstanding teams who have put up outstanding efforts, and along the way helped their players be as good as they wanted to be." OK, so the coaches have been a lit- tle cliched, but it comes with the teg tory. Probably the biggest thing I've learned at the Daily, however, is that there are more sports at this school than just football, basketball and hockey. The men's and women's swimming -,.. .,r«. 1. '..t a v n n cccn TFEJDU - l Shine (shin), v. i., to excel or be conspicuous ! in splendor or intellectual brilliance Webster Home for the summer? That class you need is here! University of Pittsburgh Summer Sessions i i . . . . . .. ..