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16 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 9, 1997
'M' seniors leaving their
S
mark as program improves
By Fred ink
Daily Sports Writer
This season the Michigan women's
soccer team has two things that it never
had before - a national ranking and a
senior class.
In their fourth year as a varsity sport,
the Wolverines feature three players
who have been with the team since its
inception.
With a more mature team, Michigan
opened the season 3-1 and is ranked in
the top 25 for the first time in the
team's brief history.
Being ranked is "an honor and an
accomplishment," Michigan coach
Debbie Belkin said. "At this point in
the season, though, its hard to tell
where you stand. Until we beat some-
one who is ranked, we don't deserve
anything."
One reason for the Wolverines' fast
start has been the contribution of the
senior class.
"Ashley (Marks) and Deb (Flaherty)
are definitely leaders on and off the
field," freshmen midfielder Kacy
Bietel said. "They've been great at
motivating us in practice and in
games."
On the field,' Michigan's seniors
have been instrumental to the
Wolverines' 3-1 start. In a 6-0 victory
over New Hampshire last weekend,
Michigan's seniors racked up six
points.
Senior co-captain Flaherty, who has
started every one of the Wolverines'
59 games as a varsity team, had two
assists, giving her 45 career points and
moving her ahead of fellow senior
Ruth Poulin on the team's all-time
career points list. Senior co-captain
Marks also had two assists while
Poulin added a goal.
Beyond scoring goals, the seniors
have given the team more continuity
from season to season.
"Every year you gain experience and
you learn from your mistakes," Belkin
"It would have r
been a lot S
tougher to come
in as freshmen
without them."
- Erin Gilhart
Michigan soccer player
said. "People come back knowing w
to expect. That gives you sort of a com-
fort level," that was missing in the past.
Away from soccer, too, the seniors
have helped incoming freshmen adapt
to college life, offering both academic
and social advice.
"They've been great," freshman
defender Erin Gilhart said. "It would
have been a lot tougher to come in as
freshmen without them"
W
FILE PHOTO/Daily
The Michigan soccer team has broken into the nation's top 25 for the first time in its short history, aided by the experience
of three seniors. Ruth Poulin, Ashley Marks and Deb Flaherty are Michigan's first seniors to spend their entire careers as
varsity players.
MASS MEETING
Wednesday September 10th
7:30 PM * CCRB
What a difference 8 makes.
Mac OS 8, Apple's newest Macintosh operating system, is
available to U-M students, faculty, and staff.
Only $16for aCD
See ITweb to learn about Mac OS 8 features and to determine
if you should upgrade: http://www.itd.umich.edu/hotncool/
Mac OS 8 is also available free to the U-M community
through electronic distribution (no media included). This
means you can install the software over Ethernet directly to
your Mac hard disk by opening the Mac OS 8 file on the ITD
Software Distribution Directory (-swdist). For information on
this method, take a look at the Web reference above.
If you have an upgradeable Mac, but have neither an Ethernet
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