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Piersma takes h
Auburn runs away with its f
By John Friedberg quite materialize."
Daily Sports Writer Stanford, Georgia, Texas and
VIINNEAPOLIS - Blonds really do Tennessee filled out the top five. The
have more fun. hardest-fought competition was for fifth
That old saying defined the 74th place, as Tennessee edged Southern Cal
annual NCAA men's swimming and 235.5-235, for the hardware.
diving championships, as blond-dyed Auburn dominated all three days,
Auburn took home its first-ever title taking four of the five relays. The Tigers
with 496.5 points. After the first day, won only one individual title - Brett
the only question remaining was who Hawke in the 50-yard freestyle - but
would fill out the top five. placed at least one swimmer in the
For the first time since the 1991 sea- finals in all but four of the 13 individual
son, the answer did not include the swimming events.
Olverines, who finished the three-day The Tigers placed four swimmers in
competition in seventh place with 209 the final of the 100 free taking second,
points. third, fifth and sixth. Even diver Koffi
"Coming into this meet, I figured in Kla managed eighth place in the plat-'
my mind, (we would place) between form diving competition.
eight and four," Michigan coach Jdn This is not to say that Michigan was
Urbanchek said. without its highlights during the meet.
"To be fourth place would be the ulti- Michigan senior captain John
mate goal, and it would have had to Piersma waited three years to win his
have been a perfect meet. But it didn't first NCAA individual title. It only took
'M' hitters tame
Lions' roar
By Tracy Sandier
Daily Sports Writer
It's Miller time.
With the Michigan baseball team trailing Penn State, 4-3,
sterday in the bottom of the seventh inning, catcher Andrew
Millerstepped up to the plate with two men on base.
Miller was planning to bunt the runners over, but a passed
ball by Penn State pitcher Greg Arnold did the job for him, and
Miller went to the plate swinging. He got a two-RBI single,
starting an l1-run inning for the Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten, 16-
9 overall) and sparking them to a 14-4 victory over the Nittany
Lions (0-4 in the Big Ten, 11-14 overall).
"I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere, put the ball
in play" Miller said. "I got a good pitch to hit and just drove it
the middle. I just kind of broke things open for a big inning"
e hit changed the tone of the game.
"That was a great, big hit," Michigan coach Geoff Zahn
said. "He was up there to bunt, and then we got the guys over
on a passed ball, and then he got the base hit. That was big.
He's a kid who'll go up there swinging. He did a great job
behind the plate, and I'm happy to see that."
The game started out a little shaky for Michigan, when start-
ing pitcher Luke Bonner allowed three runs on six hits in three
innings of work. Freshman Bryan Cranson came in for four
See LIONS, Page 6B
4, P
~Y
Michigan junior fo
s hocked in the NC
Lg Hs es
AP PHOTO
Ron Mercer (left) will need a repeat of his 20-point showing By Dan Stilman
~~m last year's title game if Kentucky hopes to knock off Daily Sports Writer
~tart Arizona in tonight NCAA championship game. ILWAUE
*~lmention
NCA~swillbe ahockey player Mi
N C A ~ s will be aLegg. His eyes gi
He struggles to f
how he feels ab(
defensive cat fight
tives like "unbel
Morrison wor
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Get the VCRs ready. The pace of Wolverine on Thi
the NCAA title game promises to be so fast you might need to as one of the gri
,tch it in slow motion to catch it all. hockey. Friday, h
Kentucky and Arizona are quick. No, they're quicker than vidual honor in
that. Award - which
The pressure won't be in trying to outstanding play
repeat as national champion, Kentucky's To understand
aim. And it won't be winning the crown name was finally
for the first time, Arizona's goal. It will of Hobey Baker
come tonight from defenses that live to Morrison and B
force turnovers and create easy baskets. Hobart Amory
"Our guys like fast-paced games," St. Paul's prepar
Arizona coach Lute Olson said Sunday. "It's going to be like went on to beco
etching a tennis match, so people better do some neck exer- football at Princ
ises before they come in tomorrow night." playing on amat
Both teams capitalized on their quickness to reach the title "wonder player
game. Kentucky is well-known for the speed it uses in a vari-
ety of defenses, which forced 26 turnovers in Saturday's 78-69 Hobey Baker
victory over Minnesota in the semifinal. lete: fantastic i
Arizona (24-9), the only non-No. 1 seed in the Final Four, and eye, iron di
-.._:a. ... .. ...,_, S- - - --A .........« ..a.- - .. -- r«.
ome two NCAA championships
irst team title; Michigan finishes 7th, wins 800 free relay
one day for him to get his second.
After three years of top-three finish-
es in the 500 free, Piersma took first.
Piersma swam out to an early lead and. .
was never caught by the field.'r
"John's been the backbone of this - "
team as far as competition goes," ;-.
Urbanchek said Thursday night. "He
stepped it up.'
Friday brought Piersma's second vic-
tory. Piersma swam the fastest 50 of the
group in 22.45 and the outcome of the ,
race was never in doubt as he won in a
time of 1:34.88. Rumley took sixth in
1:35.88, and teammate John Reich.C
shocked the field by becoming the third
Wolverine in the final, taking eighth
place in 1:36.91.
"Tonight, I just wanted to go out and A
race those guys," Piersma said. "if one ECC- :r
of them wanted to come out and race it MARGARET MYERS/Dad
would have been a great race. Michigan sophomore Tom Malchow swims his way to a third-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly at the NCAA swimming and
See NCAAS, Page 7B diving championships Saturday in Minneapolis. Malchow also swam leadoff in the 800 free relay. Michigan won the relay for
y
the fifth consecutive year. Maichow was swimming in his hometown oftMinneapolis for the first time in nis collegiate career.
THE AmRMATH
Super Sioux topple
Terriers, 6-4, for title
By Andy Knudsen
Daily Sports Writer
MILWAUKEE - The Fighting
Sioux hadn't been in the NCAA cham-
pionship game in 10 years, and it was-
n't an easy trip back.
They spent Tuesday night in a
Minneapolis airport, stranded, after a
plane ran off the runway, delaying
their flight.
Their Hobey Baker Award candi-
date, Jason Blake, had to play with a
bruised right shoulder all week.
And after beating Colorado College
on Thursday, 6-2, the Tigers' coach,
Don Lucia, congratulated North
Dakota coach Dean Blais saying sar-
castically, "That's all right, you have to
play Michigan now."
Well, they didn't have to play top-
ranked Michigan, but they spotted
Boston University a two-goal lead
after the first intermission.
By 8:38 of the second period,
though, the Sioux tied the game at two,
and went on to score three more goals
in the period, securing the perfect end
See SIOUX, Page 5B
Seniors special for
staying, despite loss
By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Writer
MILWAUKEE - The weekend didn't go as planned
for Brendan Morrison and Jason Botterill, or any of the
other nine seniors on the Michigan hockey team.
This wasn't the way their careers were supposed to end.
Not like this.
But believe it or not, this was why they returned for
their senior seasons.
After the season screeched to a halt against Boston
iol4 1 iS
WARREN ZINN/Daily
rward Matt Herr consoles classmate, goale Marty Turco after the Wolverines were
CAA semifinals by Boston University, 3-2, last Thursday.
University on Thursday night, the scene in the Michigan 11, 02 1 J 1411I
lockerroom was one of devastation. Botterill sat by himself in the corner, staring
in disbelief at the floor. Morrison sighed and blinked into the television lights
and told reporter after reporter that he didn't know what went wrong.
See SENIORS, Page 5B
ERFECT MATCH: MORRISON AND HOBEY
KEE - Something happens when you
the name Brendan Morrison in the
of a conversation with fellow Michigan
dike Legg. A sense of awe overtakes
grow wide with admiration and respect.
find the words capable of describing
out his captain, and he settles on adjec-
ievable" and "incredible."
e No. 9 for the final time as a
hursday night. He will be remembered
eatest players in the history of Michigan
he received the most prestigious indi-
college hockey - the Hobey Baker
is given annually to the sport's most
yer.
why the three-time Hobey finalist's
y called, you must first know the story
himself. The similarities between
aker tell the story best.
y Hare Baker, born in 1892, made the
ratory school hockey team at age 14 He
me a star, even a legend, in hockey and
eton, and continued his hockey career
eur teams where he was deemed the
of hockey."
had all the attributes of a fabulous ath-
reftexes, instant coordination of hand
scipline, blazing courage.
Earlier this season, one game after overtaking former
Wolverine Brian Wiseman as Michigan's top assist man
of all time, Morrison solidified his place in history, sur-
passing Denny Felsner as the most prolific point scorer
ever at Michigan. Morrison's four-year combined goal
and assist total of 284 points has solidified his place in
Michigan history.
Over his four seasons, Morrison was named a
Hobey finalist three times, first-team All-
American three times, CCHA player of the
year twice, and CCHA rookie of theY
year.
Morrison's numerous milestones are3
the by-product of a mastery of the
game that was evident in his first sea-
son at Michigan.
"He was the best freshman, he was
the best sophomore, he was the best+
junior, now he's the best player in the
country," said senior center John
Madden.
One of the keys to Morrison's
success is his vision on the ice.
Time after time, Morrison,
seemingly stuck in a crowd,
finds a way to get the puck to the
open man. He can thread the
puck through lanes that don't.
even exist in the eyes of most
players. Probably no one has
seen him do it more than Jim j
Uitwh n -,a.c k -,
the back of his head, to see the ice so well," Hunt said.
"That's the one thing that's always amazed me.'
Someone who may be the most appreciative of
Morrison's ability to find the open man more than anyone
is senior Jason Botterill, who played on Morrison's line
during the majority of the past four sea-
sons.
/ l"He makes the game so much easier
out there," said Botterill. "You just
'Cneed to drive the net and call for the
puck and he's gonna put it right on
your stick."
Morrison's total awareness on the
ice always seems to land him in the
right place at the most important
times. When the Wolverines need
a goal, Morrison scores it. His
h x knack for the clutch was never
more evidentthan when he scored
the winning goal in overtime of
last year's national championship
game against Colorado College.
"There's not that many players
that have his aura on the ice," said
Jeff Jackson, former Lake Superior
coach and current coach of the U.S.
national team. "The great players are the
ones that make the play necessary to win
when the game is on the line and it's a champi-
onship caliber game."
He did it again Thursday. With the Wolverines
trailinY. 3-1. late in the third neriod. Morrison found
k
I