Uelj t n &tIlg
PRO HOCKEY New Jersey leads, 1-0 Portland 105,
PLAYOFFS
BUFFALO 3,
Ottawa 1
Buffalo leads, 1-0
FLORIDA 3,
N.Y. Rangers 0
Florida leads, 1-0
NEW JERSEY 5,
Montreal 2
PHILADELPHIA 5,
Pittsburgh 1
Phil. leads. 1-0
PRO
BASKETBALL
Seattle 108,
DENVER 104
UTAH 106,
Golden State 93
VANCOUVER 73
PRO
BASEBALL
Seattle 8,
DETROIT 6
MILWAUKEE 5,
N.Y. Yankees4
MINNESOTA 4,
Anaheim 3
Cleveland 4,
BOSTON 3
Baltimore 1,
CHI. WHITE SOX 0
TORONTO 5,
Oakland 4
FLORIDA 2,
ST. Louis 1
PITTSBURGH 3,
Cincinatti 2
Friday
April 18, 1997
10
Holmes, Mika make
greater contributions
No. 14 Minnesota to test slumping softball
Blue advances.
to Super Six
Team title to be determined today
By Josh Kleinbaum
Daily Sports Writer
,,.opportunity knocked. And Kelley
-Holmes and Tammy Mika answered.
At the start of the season, the two
Michigan softball players were in simi-
lar positions. Holmes was the No. 2
pitcher in a three-player rotation, throw-
ing behind and overshad-
owed by All-American Sara
Griffin. Mika was battling wee
for a starting spot after pre- x:N
dominantly serving as a Michiga
pinch-runner a year before. Ten, 37:
Entering tomorrow's I al) Vs.'
p.i. doubleheader with No. M rnneso
IA 'Minnesota (5-3 Big Ten, 3Q-9)
30-9 overall) at Alumni What A
Field, the two have emerged doub(eh
as stars on a slumping When Ti
r. Michigan team. 1 p.m.
Holmes wasn't given an Whert
option. When Griffin suf- Field
fered a broken arm at Iowa Notabe:
after an infield collision on W 5 s e a f cn
April 5, she was forced to gam hc
step it up. ; n
"t enjoy the challenge," was s
Holmes said. "I tend to per- Wens
formu better in the pressure r
situations."
And perform better she has. Since
the series at Iowa, Holmes has only
allowed four earned runs in 49 1/3
innings - a phenomenal 0.57 ERA.
Holmes has met the challenges off of
the field as well.
The senior has compiled a 3.9 grade
point average in the School of Business
Administration - more than three
times her ERA and good enough for
Academic All-America second-team
honors.
Holmes was honored at the Michigan
Academic Achievement Banquet on
high school - not by Michigan, any-
way. But she came here because she
loved the school. Hers is a softball ver-
sion of the typical rags-to-riches story
- from substitute to star.
A year ago, Mika was a role player.
She pinch ran, and she didn't do much
else. She had only 21 trips to the plate
and batted a dismal .231
when she did get to the
end - plate. She had one extra-
12 base hit the entire season
n, (74 Bg and drove in only nine runs.
1ai1 Qver- Over the past 12 games,
N. 14 Mika has done more than
ta (5-3, she did all last year. She has
batted .410 in 39 at-bats,
Big Ten .including three extra-base
Iader hits one double, one
cmorrow, triple and one home run -
and six RBI.
UmnI Mika has boosted her
season average to .391 and
The has cracked the starting
es' 27~ lineup for good, playing
either in the outfield or as
streat the designated player.
pped on "Tammy Mika is an
dayci winspiration to me,"
Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins said. "I've talked
to my team about her. What Tammy
does is get excited about any opportuni-
ty she has. She's never had an attitude
of, 'How come I don't play more?,'
even though for a while she didn't play
all the time."
Mika came to Michigan because she
loves the school - not for the expo-
sure, not for the playing time, not for
the reasons that so many other athletes
go to Michigan. She was recruited
much more heavily by other schools but
came to Michigan anyway, knowing
that she might not get a lot of playing
time.
"She wanted to go to Michigan, she
loves Michigan, and she wants to win
for Michigan," Hutchins said. "She is
totally excited every time she walks out
onto the field, whether walking to prac-
tice today or to a big game tomorrow."
So she's at Michigan. And since she's
been here, Mika has made an impres-
sion.
"I admire her as much as any kid I've
ever coached," Hutchins said. "She's a
winner. She is trying to find ways to
win. She works very, very hard. She
takes everything to heart.
"I told the kids to look up to Tammy
and follow some of her lead, because
we could use more people acting like
her right now."
Meni's tems vs Northwestern, Tisch Tennis Center, 1
pin.
Women's tennis vs. Pernn State, Tisch Tennis Center, 10
a.m.
Men's track/freWd at Kansas Relays,.tLawrence, all day.
Women's track/filed at Micnigan State Invite, East
Lansing, TBA
Men's gymnastics at NCAA championships, Iowa City,
7 p~m,
Women's gymnastics at NCAA championships,
Gainesville, FRa., all day
Men's golf at Legends of Indiana, Bloongton, all day
Grew at Iowa dual, Iowa City, TSA
By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
Success comes in stages - score
after score, leap after leap, or in the
case of the Michigan women's gymnas-
tics team, day after day.
Last night, the Wolverines success-
fully completed stage one in their quest
for a national championship, finishing
second in the evening round of prelim-
inary competition in Gainesville, Fla.,
though they narrowly advanced to
today's finale.
The Wolverines were only 0.225
away from being eliminated - and it
was the injury-riddled Nikki Peters who
saved the day.
Able to compete in only two events
due to two sprained ankles, Peters won
both the vault and the uneven bars with
a pair of 9.95s. The sophomore's per-
formances proved to be the difference,
as no Wolverines placed in the top five
in the all-around. Freshman Sarah Cain
led Michigan with a 39.35.
Michigan advances to today's NCAA
Super Six championship along with
Georgia, UCLA, Arizona State, Florida
and Nebraska. "We are very happy and
excited about qualifying into tomorrow
night's competition," Michigan coach
Bev Plocki said. "The level of talent
among all of these teams is incredible."
But things didn't go nearly as smooth
as the Wolverines had planned.
Michigan - entering the champi-
onship No. 1 - scored a 196.2 in the
all-around, its lowest score since early
March. The Wolverines finished fouO
overall among the teams advancing to
the Super Six, handing the No. t seed
over to the Bulldogs, who held the top
spot the entire season.
Georgia proved its bust at the
Southeast Regional was nothing more
than a fluke, as it easily won the after-
noon round with a 197.025 in the all-
around. As expected, the Bruins cruised
into second with a 196.425.
But Nebraska was the aftemoo@
biggest surprise. Entering as a dark-
horse for a spot in the prized Super Six,
the Cornhuskers edged out Utah in a
tie-breaker based on throw-out scores.
Both teams scored a 196.025.
Another underdog emerged into the
light, as evening fell on the first
evening of nationals. Arizona State'-
rarely mentioned in the same breath as
the nation's elite this season - proved
why the meets are held at all. TheS
Devils jumped over everyone in t
evening round, tallying an all-around
score of 196.275. The team champi-
onship will be determined today, but
individual titles won't be handed out for
another day. Entrance to Saturday's
individual competition is based on last
night's scores.
Peters' performances on vault and
bars propelled her into those respective
finals along with Cain on the bars-4
the all-around; Heather Kabnick on t e
floor exercise; and Kathy Burke,
Andrea McDonald and Beth
Amelkovich on the balance beam.
JON KRAFT/Daily
One, two, three, four - Michigan's gotta get visa Simes on the floor.
Haro eliminated,
DeGraw surpises
Monday, where she gave the invocation
speech.
"It was a great honor," Holmes said.
"There were so many students being
honored there, and they called and
asked me to give" the speech.
In her speech, Holmes thanked the
people who helped her during her
Michigan career - not just her coach-
<:es and teammates, but her professors,
too.
Mika was one of six Wolverines hon-
ored at the banquet Monday. The
sophomore was named to the Academic
Al-Big Ten team.
But what is most impressive about
Mika is what she has done on the field.
>-Mika is not the typical Michigan ath-
lete.She wasn't heavily recruited out of
..~ r -
By Sara Rontal
and Nita Srivastava
Daily Sports Writers
They are like two corn stalks in the
middle of an Iowa cornfield. And the
husker cut one of them down last night.
That's what happened to the Michigan
men's gymnasts who com-
peted in the NCAA champi-
onships in Iowa City. With
most of the gymnasts com- W66'
peting in Iowa with their W
teams, individual qualifier men gy
Jose "LaLo" Haro was put at H
a disadvantage, because he ,
didn't have the team support
he said he needed to place ch-Mplor
well. 1Wlrn: To
He did not advance to tMorrow
Saturday's individual finals. Where:.1
He placed 11th in the all- Notable:
around competition, missing ex
the finals cut by three places. contd
Haro was expected to con- Jfldivldt :
tend for the all-around title. Q
"LaLo was disappointed,"
Michigan coach Kurt Golder Dr
said. "He is very down on .ud
himself right now."
It was the first national meet for Haro,
the No. I seed entering the competition.
His score of 56.9 in the all-around was
bettered by nearly two points by the all-
around winner, Olympian Blaine Wilson
of Ohio State (58.625).
"Blaine is 10th in the world," Golder
said. "It was no surprise that he did that
well.'
But fortunately for the Wolverines,
one man was left standing. Timothy
DeGraw, a transfer from Western
Michigan, placed high enough in the
preliminaries to qualify him for the
finals in the floor exercise. He scored
9.8. "It wasn't his best score all season,
but he did well," Golder said.
DeGraw has some luck on his side for
Saturday. He is the last draw in the meet,
and his routine caters to his ability. After
suffering an ankle injury midway
through the season, he is not
able to do all of his hardest
tumbling routines. His ankle
mc '' feels fine now, and his new
floor routine has been creat-
asts ed to hide his injury.
ands "His routine is designed
well for him," Golder said.
A - "He doesn't have to stick a
E0s lot of his landings, only the
fay endj dismount.'
7. pfm Old scores are not taken
ra City intoconsideration for the
arcs, who finals, so DeGraw should be
ted to in better standing for his
r the floor exercise.
lIrounr: Six of the eight competi-
~llflil~l tors in the finals are awarded
* Y with All-American titles, so
it is a possibility that
DeGraw could place well,
according to Golder.
"Tim could finish sixth," he said. "It
wouldn't surprise me if he won the
whole thing."
The competition was not just a disap-
pointment for the Wolverines. The No. 1
seeded Ohio State team placed fourth in
the meet, one place away from qualify-
ing to the next round.
They placed behind California,
Oklahoma and Iowa. Placing fifth and
sixth were Penn State and Stanford.
"It didn't surprise me that they didn't
make the finals," Golder said. "Iowa
beat them this season already."
Sunday
No events scheduled
____
Jose "LaLo" Haro, expected to contend for the all-around title at the NCAA men's
gymnastics championships in Iowa City, placed 11th yesterday and was eliminated
from contention. "LaLo was disappointed," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said.
"He Is very down on himself right now." His teammate, Tim DeGraw, is stir
around, however. His 9.8 in the floor exercise yesterday was not his best of
the season, but it put him in a position to make a run for the championshl.@
MMMMMMME
Ta ~ ~