The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 9, 1997 - ilA

M' women's cross country looks to be cohesive

4

Sy Rick Freema But wh
For the Daily times is a
When the Michigan women's cross country answers, r
team runs in the Michigan Intercollegiate runners w
tomorrow, coach Mike McGuire will be any las
counting on his big three. It's the other two Wolverin
nners that have been the Wolverines' Wolverin
biggest worry. worked s
The Wolverines lost a close meet on Sept. don't fix
27 when their first three runners grabbed the Accordi
top three spots in the William & Mary sures hav
Invitational, but their fourth and fifth run- between t
ners finished 16th and 25th overall. looking f
All season, the Wolverines have had trouble runners w
running in a close-knit pack. At the Spartan lower for
Invitational on Sept. 20, the difference "I'd like
between the first and fifth Michigan finisher and findi
as 1:11. In Williamsburg, Va,, it was 1:09. McGuire
Blue tennis
ready for ITA
grand slam
By Mark Frummecut
fr the Daily
The Michigan men's tennis team is ready to continue to pum-
mel the competition - this time in a shoot-out at the OK cor-
ral of Austin, Texas, at the ITA All-American Championships
this Saturday. The Wolverines will send three seniors - Arvid
Swan, Brook Blain and David Paradzik - for what will be the
second of four collegiate grand-slam tournaments for the 1997-
08 season.
In the first grand slam, last month at the ITA National Clay
Court Championships, Blain and Swan struggled. Blain was
competitive but lost quickly in the first round. And while Swan
experienced a little more success, winning his first two match-
es, he came out the next day looking rusty and fell in the third
round. Still, the Wolverines' struggles were mostly caused by
the court surfaces - Michigan only plays on clay once per sea-
son.
Now that the clay is gone, and familiar surfaces are upon
hem, the Michigan seniors are ready to try to conquer the Texas
Wapital and improve on their poor first performance.
United as a team, however, Michigan dominated at this past
weekend's Tar Heel tournament. Facing some of the best teams
in the nation including, No. 5 Duke and No. 16 Notre Dame, the
Wolverines took a step toward showing they arebetter than their
51st preseason ranking by winning four out of five brackets.
The power of the Wolverines was so apparent that Paradzik
in his impressive performance over the weekend, won the Blue
Singles Draw with a 4-0 record by defeating his own teammate,
Blain, in the final round. "Our performance was outstanding;
because it is the first tournament, you never know how the team
s going to play." Michigan coach Brian Eisner said. "We have
been practicing very hard, and it really showed on the court."
The rest of the team will get the week off to prepare for its
next challenge - the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational on Oct. 17-
19.
Michigan, even with its low ranking, is primed to challenge
the top teams in the country. With an all veteran team, a full
summer of practice behind them and no injuries as of yet, this
season may be the Wolverines' best chance to capture a Big Ten
title.
But will the Big Ten be too strong for Michigan? Five teams
tre in the top 50, including last season's confetence champion
illinois (17) and Northwestern (24).
Swan and Paradzik have already tasted a Big Ten
Championship in the 1995-96 season, and their leadership and
experience can only help the Wolverines.
Blain, who transferred to Michigan the next year, wants in on
a Championship also. He is very positive about how the team.

at to do to produce more consistent
mystery. McGuire said he has no
he just hopes his current stable of
ill click eventually. Don't look for
t-minute alterations to the
es' lineup tomorrow. The
es intend on sticking what has
o far with an "if it ain't too broke,
it" mentality.
ing to McGuire, no special mea-
e been taken to improve the time
he first and fifth runners. But he is
or better performances out of the
vho have been finishing fourth and
the Wolverines.
to see them looking for each other
ng each other during the race,"
said. "I'd like to see us do a little

"The way we've been
working so hard, we
might as well go out
and win."
- Julie Froud
Michigan cross country runner
better job (working together)."
"How we've addressed it in practice is that
everyone has to step up," sophomore Julie
Froud said. "You just go and you train hard
,and you have to keep that in the back of
your mind."

The Wolverines are confident going into
the race, not only of their ability to run a
good race, but also in their ability to regain
the Michigan Intercollegeiate trophy.
The Wolverines had never lost the trophy
until last year, when they were surprised by
Eastern Michigan. They will have to get past
every Division I women's cross country team
in the state to regain the title.
Michigan State, Western Michigan,
Central Michigan, Detroit Mercy and the
defending champion Eastern Michigan will
all be fighting for the trophy, along with sev-
eral Division II schools.
"I consider us the flagship school in the
state, and I think it's really important that we
go to this meet," McGuire said.
The Wolverines are ready to win back the

trophy from the Eagles, who will most likely
provide the strongest competition at' the
meet.
They are not overlooking the other teams,
though, and they do not expect to need any
gimmicks, least of all archaic football plays
from the turn of the century.
"We need just to come back and put every
other Michigan team in their place and prove
we're the best in the state of Michigan;'
junior Katie McGregor said.
Froud, who has finished second and third
this year for the Wolverines, echoed' her
teammate's confidence.
"The way we've been working so hart, we
might as well go out and win," Froud said,
"We should win, there's no doubt about it, we
should win."

FILE PHOTO
Men's tennis will send three seniors - Arvid Swan, Brook Blain and David Paradzlk - to the ITA All-
American Championships this weekend.
will perform.
"Hopefully we can perform well; the Big Ten is a lot stronger
than in years past," Blain said. "All of us played a good sum-
mers worth of tennis, which we didn't have last year. I think we
can do very well this year."
Last season, the Wolverines had a similar amount of talent, ,.
but without enough practice and healthy players, they faltered to
a 54th ranked (sixth in the Big Ten) 9-14 record. The maturity
of this team shows in its no-nonsense approach to practice
according to Eisner.
At yesterday's practice, the sound system was playing the
song "This is Your Night." Well, for the Wolverines, "this is their
season," they hope, to add another Big Ten championship.

I0,


H)LO RALPH LAUREN


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