The seventh-ranked Michigan women's gymnastics team hopes to be looking down at Nebraska by the time the No. 6
Cornhuskers leave Cliff Keen Arena on Sunday.
gagnuson suffers head injury
women's gymna
y Andy Knudsen
Daily Sports Writer
Practice ended on a somber note for
Ithe-Michigan hockey team yesterday, as
-players and coaches watched freshman
defenseman Kevin Magnuson leave the
ice on a stretcher.
Fortunately, the
scene looked
worse than it was.
According to
Michigan coach
Red Berenson,
Magnuson suf-
fered a cut along
the side of his
head and probably
a concussion.
"With thes
tsts to face mirror image in Cornhuskers
No. 18 on the same apparatuses.
What may cause a problem for the
Wolverines, however, is the uneven bars.
The Cornhuskers are ranked No. 1 in the
nation after recording a 49.3 on the
apparatus last week against Oklahoma.
Still, Plocki is not intimidated.
"I would not say that we are the under-
dog,' she said. "We've beaten them
every time ... except at Nebraska last
year."
Both teams are on a roll after respec-
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tive blowouts last
week. Michigan eas-
ily disposed of teams
from the rest of the
state at the Michigan
Classic last Sunday
and Nebraska beat
the Sooners by a full
7.4 points.
"We need to be in
that kind of zone
r.1lp 'I{1uiI"With these
head injuries, you have to take precau-
ti6ns, Berenson said of the head brace
d stretcher used on Magnuson.
ti opefully, it's just a mild concussion."
The injury occurred during a scrim-
mage drill. Magnuson fell awkwardly
near the boards and hit his head as he
-was falling.
Berenson said that the freshman
blacked out, and when he came to his
senses, his memory was a little spotty.
He wanted to get up, saying that he was
a1 right, but he was kept lying on his
ck until paramedics arrived.
"Magnuson, a native of Lake Forest,
1l., has three assists and 20 penalty min-
:tes in 10 games this season.
-HUMANITARIAN FLNALIST: Michigan
defenseman Blake Sloan has been
,named one of four finalists for college
A h6ckey's "Humanitarian" award. The
winner will be announced tomorrow.
f The award, given by the Hockey
}'Imanitarian Organization in
Sandolph, Mass., is presented to the
vision I player who best "displays
noteworthy examples of personal char-
'dcter, commitment to scholarship, and
inkes significant personal contributions
beyond the confines of their team?'
Sloan helped initiate Student-athletes
4ielping to Achieve Reading Excellence,
organizes trips to Mott Children's
'Hospital, is a motivational speaker for
the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
ogram and was a co-chair of the Travis
y Auction Benefit.
Women's Gymnastics
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the
fairest of them all?
That's what the Michigan women's
gymnnastics team will ask Sunday, when
it looks at Nebraska, a team mirroring
the Wolverines this year.
Sunday's showdown against Nebraska
11*d Illinois State will be Michigan's sec-
ond home meet of the weekend, but a far
tougher one than tonight's meet against
Ohio State.
The fair Cornhuskers are ranked sixth,
with No. 7 Michigan closest in pursuit.
;Like the wicked witch, Nebraska will be
1 elous and out for revenge, after the
'ornhuskers were narrowly eeked out of
Aest year's race for the "Super Six" by the
olverines.
, We beat them by a quarter of a tenth
-f a point) last year to get there"
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "They
ven't forgotten that."
The Cornhuskers are right up there
with the Wolverines in the polls, ranked
No. 11 on the vault and No. 12 on the
again, where we're only focused on our
events,' Plocki said. "We don't even
notice other teams' performances."
- Jacob Wheeler
Women's Swimming
Four months into the season, the
Michigan women's swimming team has
competed in only three meets against
Big Ten foes.
Over the next two days, No. 6
Michigan (3-0 Big Ten, 6-3 overall) will
double that number.
Because of a scheduling quirk, the
Wolverines will swim half of their Big
Ten schedule this
weekend. They
travel to Purdue
tomorrow and will
face Indiana and
Northwestern in a
double-dual meet
>'Saturday in
trip that plagued them in January should
be gone, and the Wolverines should be
starting to swim at their peak times. With
the Big Ten championships just two
weeks away, the Wolverines have started
to ease up their training so they'll be well
rested.
- Josh Kleinbaum
Men's Swimming
No planes. No trains. And no auto ...
well, maybe the Michigan men's swim-
ming and diving team will have to take a
bus or two, but at least it won't have to
cross any state lines.
For the first time since Nov. 23, No. 4
Michigan (2-0 Big Ten, 4-2 overall) will
swim competitively in the state of
Michigan, when the Wolverines make
the trip to East Lansing on Friday night
to face Michigan State (0-3, 0-4).
Michigan will return to Canham
Natatorium to host No. 22 Ohio State (3-
1, 10-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday in its only
home Big Ten meet.
"It's really hard to swim well after
traveling," Michigan captain John
Piersma said. "You get off a plane or off
a bus that you've been on for five or six
hours and you have to swim'
Michigan has defeated its state rival
19 consecutive times and does not plan
on losing its first Big Ten dual meet of
the 1990s this weekend.
The Spartans have yet to win this year,
and have not even come close to winning
any of their meets. Michigan State is
coming off a 165.5 - 73.5 loss to Indiana.
The Spartans are led by Germany's
Andreas Siemes. He specializes in the
100-yard breaststroke and the 1,000
freestyle. He will face stiff competition
in that event, however, as the Wolverines
specialize in the long-distance events.
Michigan State has also received con-
tributions from Chad Hepner in the div-
ing events and Mike Mulshine in the 200
butterfly. Of course, Mulshine will prob-
ably be competing for second place as
Michigan sophomore Tom Malchow has
dominated his Olympic event.
Ohio State, which has lost its last 30
meetings with Michigan, is led by
Marko Strahijo, who swam for Croatia
in the 1996 Olympics, in the 100- and
200-meter backstroke. Christopher Mills
has Ohio State's best times in the 200-,
500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events.
-BJ.J Luria
Men's Tennis
This weekend, tennis players from
across the country will be competing in
the Rolex National Indoors tournament
in Dallas, Texas.
The Michigan men's team had a
chance to qualify for the tournament
back in November at the Rolex ITA
District IV Championships. The
Wolverines needed to reach either a sin-
gles championship match or win a dou-
bles championship. Having advanced no
further than the third round in the singles
and winning only one doubles match,
they didn't quite make it.
So instead, they must wait until Feb.
20 when they head to Madison for the
National Team Indoor Championship.
When the Wolverines return to the
hardcourt, they have a few accomplish-
ments that are on the horizon. Michigan
coach Brian Eisner, after picking up two
victories at the O'Charley's Classic, is
only 11 shy of 500 victories for his
Bloomington.
They will be the
last dual meets of
the season.
Michigan will rely heavily on
Shannon Shakespeare. The freshman
won both the 100- and 200-yard breast-
stroke races last week against Notre
Dame and Eastern Michigan and is also
very strong in the freestyle events.
Senior Melisa Stone is coming off one
of her best meets of the season, and is
looking to have another strong meet.
Stone won the 100 backstroke and the
100 free last week.
Of the three teams, No. 16
Northwestern should provide Michigan
with the greatest challenge.
Northwestern will look to several
swimmers to lead them. Dominique
Deizi holds the team's fastest times in
several freestyle and backstroke events.
Distance swimmer Joy Stove holds the
team's fastest times in the 500, 1,000
and 1,650 free. Kathy Lundin is a
strong butterfly swimmer, and Amy
Balcerzak is the team's strongest
breaststroker.
The Hoosiers will rely heavily on
Jennifer Brooks. The butterfly swim-
mer holds the team's best times in both
the 100 and 200 fly. Indiana's Marnie
Record could also prove to be trouble
for the Wolverines in the freestyle
sprints. Record holds the Hoosiers top
time in the 25, and has second behind
Charnele Kennedy in the 50 free.
The Wolverines are the overwhelming
r