Ub S il ThdIv
COLLEGE
BASKETBALL
No. 1 Arizona 99,
BOSTON COLLEGE 69
No. 4 Duke 104,
CHAMINADE 70
No. 7 Kentucky 70,
GEO. WASH. 55
No. 10 XAVIER 118.
NE Louisiana 61
No. 11 CONN. 72,
Coppin State 50
No. 18 MISS. 81,
Ark.-Pine Bluff 36
APPALACHIAN ST. 66,
No. 23 UNC-Char. 60
No. 25 WAKE F. 81,
Liberty 47
Penn State 90,
LOYOLA (MD.) 82
PRO
HOCKEY
PITTSBURGH 5,
Buffalo 1
San Jose 2.
MONTREAL 2
PRO
FOOTBALL
DENVER 31.
Oakland 3
PRO
BASKETBALL
9
Tuesday
November 25, 1997
Sullovan u. pp4"
SulvaMcGregor shine in NCAA final meetmJt
y JobsiBorkin
Daily Seets Writer
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The
Michigan women's cross country team
reached a stepping stone toward the
future yesterday. The Wolverines fin-
ished seventh overall at the NCAA
championships and learned the pres-
*es of national competition.
Michigan was considered a long shot
to place in the top five at the meet due
to its lack of depth and experience.
Katie McGregor and Elizabeth Kampfe
were solid leaders throughout the year
and once again proved to be dominant
at Furman University.
The warm southern temperatures
were an advantage to all runners. It was
a big change from last week's snowy
gather that Michigan encountered at
the regionals.
Michigan finished seventh overall
with 232 points, separated by only five
points from fifth-place finisher
Carr basks
n glow of
perfection
By Danielle Rumore
Daily Sports Editor
Lloyd Carr entered yesterday's week-
ly press conference with a smile as
bright as the bouquet of roses sitting a
'h feet away. .
ichigan's victory over Ohio State
Saturday undoubtedly put Carr in a
good mood, so much so that he walked
into the press room and said, "How was
your weekend? My weekend was great."
The Wolverines' victory over the
Buckeyes gave them their first Big Ten
title and Rose Bowl berth since the 1992
season and Carr's first as head coach.
Michigan is 11-0 for the first time
ce 1971 and has a legitimate shot to
the national title for the first time
since the 1948 season - now that it is
ranked No. 1 in both the Associated
Press and the USA Today/ESPN
Coaches' polls.
"Fords to come out of the season with
a great-win over Ohio State and be the
Big Te champions and be able to repre-
sent the:Big Ten conference in the Rose
Bowl ia certainly a tremendous thrill for
of us," Carr said.
ntering the season, most pollsters
did not expect Michigan to finish in the
,top three in the conference, let alone
first in the nation.
But it did, and now it is bound for
Pasadena, where it will face No. 10
Washington State (11-1) on Jan. 1.
The talk at the press conference cen-
tered around Michigan's preparation for
one of the biggest games in its history.
Carr said that he is changing his pre-
WI routine for this game to avoid prac-
ticing during finals.
In the past, the Wolverines practiced
duringltinals week, but this year, Carr
said the 4eam will leave on Dec. 19 and
begin practicing at a site that will be
determined on a trip out West this week.
"We~ie going to practice out in
California the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd,
and do most of our practicing in the days
pror t he game," Carr said.
Wisconsin.
Michigan coach Mike McGuire was
pleased with his team's performance
yesterday.
"Last year, we did not even qualify to
run in the national championship,"
McGuire said. "We ran some young
and inexperienced runners, and to place
seventh is quite an accomplishment."
Katie McGregor finished fourth
overall with a time of 16:48, and earned
All-America honors.
"It was really crazy, running with
girls I had looked up upon all these
years," said McGregor. "I was happy
with my performance, but as an athlete,
I don't think you could ever be satisfied
completely with how you run."
Kampfe ran a strong race, finishing
23rd and recording a time of 17:11. A
week ago at the regionals, she had
defeated McGregor, but the competi-
tion at the NCAA championships
proved to be a little overwhelming.
Running away
Both Michigan cross country
teams finished in the top 10 at
their respective NCAA champi-
onship races. Below are the top
four Wolverines and their times in
yesterday's meet.
Men
2. Kevin Sullivan
11. John Mortimer
21. Todd Snyder
52. Steve Lawrence
Wong
5. Katie McGregor
23. Elizabeth Kampfe
65. Julie Froud
97. Lisa Ouellet
29:01
29:44
30:07
30:39
16:48
17:11
17:40
17:58
By Josh Bo rdn
Daily Sports W iter
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Deter-
mination and teamwork was a constant
theme during the Michigan men's cross
country season.
The Wolverines capped off one of the
most successful cross country seasons in
recent years with a fourth-place finish at
the NCAA cross country championships.
The Wolverines traveled to Furman
University in hope of "placing into the
top four" according to Michigan coach
Ron Warhurst.
Yesterday, Michigan accomplished its
goal, and the team "showed more heart
than they had shown all season," said
Kevin Sullivan, who earned his fourth
All-America honor.
The blue skies and warm temperatures
enabled all of the runners to record some
of their fastest times this year.
"The beautiful weather made it easier
to run faster and the dry course also
made it a quicker race," said I1th-place
finisher John Mortimer.
Overall, the Michigan squad finished
fourth with 116 points. Stanford won the
team championship with 53 points, fol-
lowed by Arkansas with 56, and
Colorado with 108.
The race was controlled by UCL A's
three-time All American Mebrahtom
Keflezighi, Sullivan, and Colorado's
Bernard Lagat.
Through the halfway point, all three
runners were spread out, though all were
clocking sub-5:00 miles. The pace did
not differentiate much throughout the
race, and Keflezighi was able to hold on
to the front position to record a course
record time of 28:54.
"I got out the way I wanted. I had a
great start' Keflezighi said. "I knew at
the last mile that I had won the race, and
I just had to keep up the pace."
Sullivan finished a close second with
29:01.
LVU.JIJ I1UVVT Fl.'OWJ
in his final meet as a collegian, Kevin
Sullivan finished as an All-Americanfor
the fourth time, finishing second.
Ward leads 'M' in.
Maryland squeaker
Towson triples nearly doom Wolverines
By James Goldstein
Daily Sports Writer
TOWSON, Md. - On a night when
Towson was practically unconscious
from the 3-point line, Michigan's Robbie
Reid hit the biggest 3-pointer of the game.
Reid's trey from the top of the key with
one minute remaining in the game and
the shot clock reading 1.6 seconds gave
the Wolverines a needed four-point cush-
ion. Towson is a school that hails from
the America East conference and whose
competition is usually conference foes
such as Maine, Vermont and Hofstra.
In the
' Michigan 75 schools'
first-ever
TO 7ON Towson 72 m e e t i n g,
Michigan
survived a barrage of 3-pointers and an
energetic Towson team en route to a 75-
72 victory over the Tigers in front of a
record-setting crowd of 5,086 at Towson
Center.
Jerod Ward led the Wolverines with a
career-high 21 points - with most com-
ing in the early stages of the first and sec-
ond halves. Maceo Baston added 19 and
pulled down 10 rebounds.
Raul de Pablo connected on 6-of-7 3-
pointers, topping the Tigers with 18
points. Ralph Biggs and Ryan Lexer had
13 points apiece. The Tigers' 13-for-25
shooting from beyond the arc kept them
in the game.
After Michigan built an eight-point
lead 10 minutes into the second half,
Towson came back and took the lead on
Biggs' acrobatic shot in the lane that
made the score 63-62 with 4:49 left.
Baston's layup and a free throw soon
thereafter gave the Wolverines the lead
once again. But Towson forward Derrick
Newton drained a 3-pointer with 2:57
left, giving the Tigers a 66-65 lead. On
the next Towson possession, Lexer
missed the shot and fouled Baston, who
sank both free throws. Towson couldn't
convert again as Robert Traylor tied up
Biggs near the sideline, but possession
was awarded to the Tigers. Towson did
nothing with it, however, as Lexer missed
another shot and Louis Bullock pulle
down the rebound.
Michigan ran the shot clock down on
its next possession, passing the: b.il
around the perimeter. Louis BuI16 ,
who finished with 13 points, ho-a
decent look from behind the aret
opted to pass to Reid, who nailedthe
clutch 3-pointer, giving the Wolverisa
70-66 advantage.
Towson still managed to fight Hak
from a six-point lead in the last 35. pc-
onds and had a chance to tie the gate
with a 3-pointer with five seconds to gd,
but Tigers' Marlin Wise air-balled or his
three-point attempt from the top ofthe
key as the buzzer sounded.
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe knew
Reid's shot was huge.
"Robbie grew up today," said Eltebe
about the transfer point guard. "He bit a
tough shot. He got better tonight."
Bullock was playing just 30 miles
from home and could have made a le-f
his friends and family happy by taking
the shot, but he chose not to.
"I felt the shot that I would've take'
would've been forced, so I tried to get1a
gap and create something off the dribg
Bullock said. "(Reid) stepped up. I'm
glad he shot it because he has been mak-
ing those shots in practice all the time."
Ellerbe, who also was experiencing a
homecoming -- he lived five miles from
Towson before leaving his job as Loyola
(Md.) coach last summer - couldn't
prepare his team for the Tigers. Towson
played Friday night against American,
and it was too late for Ellerbe to get the
tape of the game.
So, at 2:30 a.m. yesterday, instead of
being fast asleep, Ellerbe drove into
Washington D.C to get a videotape from
an assistant coach at American.
The homecoming was also difficult
for Bullock. The Temple Hills, Md,,
native thought he had 40 tickets to pro-
vide for his family and friends, but he
had to cut 10of them and had a hard time
deciding who wo going to be left out.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Maceo Baston slams home a basket as Robert Traylor looks on in Michigan's 7572 victory over Towson State. Baston scored
19 points to help the Wolverines survive the Towson scare.
Turnovers, free throws haunt Guevara, Blue
By Josh linbaum
Daily Sports Writer
It's beginning to sound like a broken
record.'
Reporier: So coach, what does your
* need to work on for the next game?
aichlgn women's basketball coach
Sue Guevara: Well, we have to cut down
on our turnovers and improve our free-
throw shooting.
Turnovers and free-throw shooting.
After the Wolverines (2-0) beat
Sporitelha Bratislava in an exhibition,
Guevara said it. After they beat St.
John's in their season opener, she said it.
After they beat Michigan State in their
nd game, she said it. And a day
before tonight's 7:30 game against
Illinois State at Crisler Arena, she said it
again.
"We're, going to work on our
turnovers; pretty much in the half court,"
Guevara said. "We had four offensive
charges against us (against St. John's
and Michigan State), and that's iust a
work on our free throws again.
"Those are our two nemesis right now
- turnovers and free throws."'
To say turnovers are a "nemesis"
might even be an understatement, In two
games, Michigan's 46 turnovers have
led to 38 opponent points. Junior guard
Ann Lemire has been the primary cul-
prit - she has committed 12 turnovers.
The only players who see considerable
playing time that have missed the
turnover bug are Akisha Franklin and
Tiffany Willard. Both have committed
just two turnovers each.
The free-throw problem has plagued
Michigan, as well. The Wolverines have
only connected on 41 of 66 free throws
- just 62.1 percent. Pollyanna Johns, a
player who spends a lot of time at the
line, has connected on just 12 of 21.
Stacey Thomas, one of the team's better
shooters, is just nine of 17 from the
charity stripe.
The Wolverines have been lucky -
they've been able to survive despite
er, and if they make those same mistakes
tonight, Illinois State (0-2) could be the
team to beat them.
The Redbirds are a bit unknown to
Guevara. Michigan has never played
them before, and Guevara has not
coached against them since she was an
assistant at Michigan State.
"When I was at State, we played them
at least six times," Guevara said. "They
are always a very fundamental basket-
ball team. They are a very well coached
basketball team. (Illinois State coach)
Jill Hutchison is one of the best teachers
in the country, and her team plays hard
all the time."
What the Wolverines do know is this:
Illinois State posted a 17-11 record a
year ago, including a second-place fin-
ish in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Redbirds return four starters from
that team, three of which averaged in
double digits last year,
But this season, they have lost all of
the games they have played, including
two official and two exhibition games.
While all four games were close - the
most they lost by was I I point to both
Kansas State and Athletes in Action -
the Redbirds didn't come within five of
any of them.
The Wolverines' poor free throw
shooting could pose a problem in this
game. In a 69-59 loss to Missouri,
Illinois State sent the Tigers to the free
throw line 34 times. Missouri's 27 suc-
cessful free throws were a big reason for
its victory.
S I
U of M Ski Team's
28th Annual
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