The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 21, 1998 - 23
The recruiting game
The Michigan men's basketball team
may be getting hit hard by graduation
this year, but the Wolverines have
landed a couple recruits to step in next
year.
Chris Young, a center from Catholic
Central High School, committed
during the early signing period.
And now, sources within the
organization confirm that Leon Jones,
a swingman from Battle Creek, will be
with the team next season, though his
ffcial letter has not yet been received.
Jones committed to Michigan before
last season, but failed to qualify
academically and spent the year in a
prep school.
Harris bends his putter, but never the rules
By Rick Harpster
Daily Sports writer
Looking to bounce back from a rough start
to the spring season, the Michigan men's golf'
team traveled down US 23 to Columbus,
Ohio, last weekend to compete in the Kepler
Intercollegiate.
Playing on the 7,109-yard Scarlet Course,
the Wolverines were sitting in a respectable
sixth place after the two rounds on Saturday
with a team score of 301 for the first round
and 295 for the second 18 holes.
Just three schools posted lower second-
round scores than Michigan. But a disastrous
and unfortunate third round sent the
Wolverines home with a 12th-place finish in
the 16-team field.
The main reason for Michigan's struggles
in the final round was the disqualification of
star Mike Harris. After carding scores of 74
and 71 in rounds one and two, respectively,
Harris entered the third with visions ofanoth-
er top 10 showing individually.
On the second hole, however, disaster
struck when he left a putt just on the edge of
the cup. Harris then tapped the putt in, but
only after he had kicked his putter and bent it
slightly.
Harris tapped in the putt when he was
unaware that the putter was bent. Golf rules
do not permit a golfer to take any shot - even
a little tap-in putt - with an altered club.
After Harris placed the putter in his bag, he
called the penalty on himself.
Harris proceeded to fire a score of 76, even
as he putted with a two-iron for the remainder
of the round - a testament to the talent of
Michigan's best golfer. His score, however,
had to be thrown out due to the disqualifica-
tion.
By calling the infraction on himself, Harris
not only proved that he is one of the
Midwest's top collegiate golfers, but lie also
exemplified the class that separates golf from
other sports.
"To call the penalty on himself was a very
honorable thing to do," Michigan coach Jim
Carras said. "The putter was bent so little that
I could hardly see it when I looked closely at
it. That kind of honesty is what makes golf
such a fantastic sport."
Due to Harris' disqualification, Michigan
was forced to count its four other scores for
the final round, which included Mike
Affeldt's 83. The Wolverines' final round
score of 314 was by far the worst of the 16-
teams competing in the Kepler Invitational.
Nevertheless, there were bright spots for
Carras' squad this weekend. Harris, who has
already won three tournaments this year,
played well again, posting scores of 74 and 71
in the first two rounds. Keith Hinton contin-
ued his strong spring by carding a total score
of 222 (75-71-76), good for an 18th-place fin-
ish individually.
But the Wolverines failed to get the consis-
tent play from the bottom of their lineup,
which has struggled all season.
Kevin Hinton, Keith's younger brother, got
off to a spectacular start on Saturday morn-
ing. The freshman, who posted an average
score of 79 in his three competitive rounds
last fall, found himself one-under par with
four holes to play in the first round this week-
end. But a poor finish left him with a score of
75, and he proceeded to finish with a three-
round total of 230 (75-76-79).
Kevin Vernick continued to struggle this
spring as he posted a score of 232 (79-77-76).
Vernick'has symbolized Michigan's fortunes
this year - he's had a rough spring after per-
forming solidly this past fall.
Affeldt rounded out Michigan's scoring by
carding a 54-hole total of 239 (77-79-83). His
83 could not have come at a worse timr
because it was posted,when the Wolverines
were forced to count his score.
"The situation pretty much remains the
same for us," Carras said. "We just have to get
better play out of our bottom three players."
Michigan will not compete this weekend
due to final exams and will turn its attention
to the Wolverine Invitational on May 2-3. The
18-team field will host the top teams in the
Midwest, including every Big Ten team and
some of the top MAC schools.
Carras has already told Harris and Keith
Hinton that they will be representing
Michigan in the Wolverine Invitational.
Carras plans on holding a qualifier around his
players' exam schedules to determine who
will compete in the final three spots.
The Wolverine Invitational will allow
Michigan to prepare for the Big Ten
Championships, held in East Lansing from
May 8-10. Furthermore, it offers area resi-
dents the chance to see some of the best golf
in the area. Admission is free for students or
Ann Arbor residents who want to watch some
of the country's top golfers compete at the
University of Michigan golf course in less
than two weeks.
Few wins, but plenty of success
for M' women's track team
Women's golf crunches for 'finals'
By Chrs Duprey
Daily SportsWiter
The invitational the Michigan
women's track team ran in this past
weekend wasn't the U.S. Olympic
Trials. But the meet sure looked like it.
The Wolverines responded to the
challenge at the Mt. SAC Relays in
Walnut, Calif., with only one individ-
,al victory, but that does not tell the
_ull story of Michigan's success.
Top-tier runners from all across the
nation gathered for the event. The field
:n cluded many Division I and H uni-
versities, as well as elite unattached
runners, raising the bar of expectations
for the Wolverines.
"It was a whole other level of com-
etition out there this weekend,"
pophomore Olive lkeh said. "We did
really well, considering some of us
competed against Olympians."
The only win for Michigan on a
very successful weekend was courtesy
of the 1,600-meter relay. The fresh-
man-based team of Regine Caruthers,
amika Craig, Adrienne Hunter and
Brandy Taylor captured the victory in a
time of 3:42.59. Of the quartet, only
Taylor is an upperclassman.
High jumper Nicole Forrester went
ri'double-duty for Michigan this
weekend, qualifying herself automati-
tally for NCAAs. Competing in a dif-
ferent meet on Friday, Forrester broke
her own school record by half an inch,
clearing the 6-foot-3 114 bar:
Returning to Walnut with the rest of
the Wolverines, Forrester then took
third place with a jump of 6-2. Her,
height was actually the same as the
winner's, but Forrester lost the
tiebreaker based on the fewest misses.
Katie McGregor produced an
NCAA automatic-qualifying time of
16:03 in the 5,000 meters, finishing
ninth in the race. The junior has started'
to expand her repertoire recently, mo,-
ing away from the 800 toward the
longer races.
Perhaps most impressive about
McGregor's performance is the class
of runners she competed against. The
5,000 was won by Kathy Butler
(15:27), who won 16 individual Big
Ten titles during her tenure rat'
Wisconsin and the NCAA cross coun-
try championship in 1995 - a testa-
meat to McGregor's opponents.
More success in the distance events
came the Wolverines' way when
Elizabeth Kampfe qualified provision-
ally for the NCAA Championships
with a second-place time of 34:42 in
the 10,000. The race was Kampfe's
personal best by two seconds.
Both McGregor and Kampfe's
efforts in their respective events were
the best collegiate times in the nation
so far this season.
Multi-event specialist Tania Longe
showcased her wares in the heptathalon
with an eighth-place finish. The
senior's total of 5,428 points was the
seventh-best mark in the nation this
season. Longe rounded out her week-
end by finishing fourth in the 100 hur-
dIes, posting a time of 14,19 seconds.
The elite competition did little to
scare off sprinter Maria Brown, who
placed in three events. Brown's runner-
up finish in the open 100 was the high-
light of her weekend. The sophomore's
time of 11.76 was just hundredths off
the winner's pace. In addition, she was
sixth in the 200 and fifth as part of the
400 relay along with Craig, Caruthers
and Kenise Bocage.
"We're running on heavy legs,"
Bocage said. "It's hard to run two days
in a row like we did."
Because the meet took all of Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, Henry rewarded
his team with a day off from practice
yesterday. While the Wolverines
haven't started to taper yet, it is a sign
that the big meets are not far in the dis-
tance.
Michigan travels to Des Moines,
Iowa, for the Drake Relays this Friday
and Saturday. The Wolverines are
scheduled to compete in both the
Toledo Invitational May I and the
Jesse Owens Classic May 2, but may
split their squad that weekend.
By Tracy Sandler
Daily Sports Nriter
Finals time means crunch time. For
the Michigan women's golf team, finals
have a double meaning. The Wolverines
will be finishing their season the week-
end of May I with a trip to the Big Ten
Tournament.
Due to final exams. Michigan has not
been competing much as of late. And
yet, the time off is not necessarily a bad
thing.
"As far as competition, more time off
can be a disadvantage "Michigan coach
Kathy Teichert said. "Since it is so close
to finals, it could be more detrimental
to be competing, because golf is so
mental. When you're thinking about
your five finals and the three papers
you have due, it can be tough. From that
standpoint, the time off is fine."
In terms of practice, the Wolverines'
schedule has pretty much remained the
same. The only change has been the
time of practice. As long as the time
does not conflict with anybody's finals,
Michigan has been practicing early in
the morning, in order to simulate com-
petition conditions, Teichert said.
The Wolverines played on Sunday,
and they will play three more times this
week.
"We've been working a lot on our
short games," Teichert said. "We've
been focusing on being more target-ori-
ented, and we're getting better."
In looking at the season as a whole,
Teichert commented on freshman
Jennifer Bauman's continued improve-
ment throughout the season. Bauman's
average score for the season is at 86.07,
with her lowest round an 81.
"She redshirted last year, so she did-
n't play at all,' Teichert said. "Her
scores have gotten lower and lower, and
she has given more contribution to the
team."
The biggest contributor for the
Wolverines has been Sharon Park. Her
lowest round this year has been a 73,
but she leads Michigan with the lowest
stroke average of 78.
"She was selected All-Big Ten last
year," Teichert said. "In order for her to
repeat, she is going to need to perform
well at the Big Ten Tournament."
But, the Wolverines' success at the
conference tournament is going to
depend on more than just the play of
Bauman and Park. They will also be
relying on Nicole Green, Laura Hess,
Amy Talbot and Trish Watkins to come
through as top competitors.
"We're hoping to finish in the top
seven teams," Teichert said. "We're
hoping for that to be a realistic expecta-
tion and a realistic goal. We need every-
one to be on top of their games and to
be prepared mentally. When the chips
are down, we need to realize that there
are a lot of holes left. We need everyonq
to give everything they've got."
End of semester? No way, not for
Michigan's runners and jumpers
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SP ECIAL K ITION TrE-1.IT
Dedicated to:
, ' :r:: :::<::.':.All Those who
i'vouctshave ever had
wi1> a dream and been
told "You can't.
You couldn't, or
' You'll never,
and Did!
To you we join
Sin a toast to say.
"I Did it...KMAI"
By UJ. Luria
"Daily Sports writer
While most University students are
itting the home stretch of the semes-
t y, the Michigan men's track and
Wfjeld team is just getting warmed up.
With just more than a month to go
util the Big Ten and NCAA
Championships, the runners can't
exactly relax with the end of finals'
next week.
This coming weekend's meet is one
of the more famous track meets in the
'country. The Wolverines travel to
Philadelphia for the Penn Relays this
Friday and Saturday. The relays will
feature a special 4x 1-mile relay, as
opposed to the usual 4x 1500-meter
relay.
The Wolverines will also partici-
pate in several other events, but
Michigan head coach Jack Harvey
says the 4x1-mile relay will be the
highlight of the weekend.
"They're really playing this thing
up big. It's going to be Arkansas, us,
Colorado and Stanford - said Harvey.
"They're trying to see if they can get
four guys on the same team to go
under four minutes each."
Michigan will celebrate the end of
exams by heading down to Columbus
for the Jesse Owens Invitational on
May 3. The Wolverines will have a
chance to check out the venue for this
season's Big Ten Championships, to
be held on May 23-24 in Columbus.
The Invitational will feature at least
three or four Big Ten teams.
"There are a bunch of invited teams
at that one, so it winds up being a real
good competition," Harvey said. "The
Jesse Owens meet will be 'a good
opportunity for some qualifying (for
NCAA Championships) because it's
going to be a good meet."
Each meet gives the Michigan run-
ners an opportunity to qualify for the
NCAA Championships, June 4-6 in
Buffalo, NY. So far, two Wolverines
have qualified. John Mortimer earned
an automatic qualification in the
3,000 steeplechase and Kevin
Sullivan earned a provisional qualifi-
cation in the 1,500 run.
"Now it's just a question of maybe
trying to qualify Brian Theisen in the
intermediate hurdles and Jay Cantin
in the 1,500, and Don McLaughlin in
See TRACK, Page 25
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CCopyright 1997 by KMA International, Inc.
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1998
Hopwood Awards
Will be announced
Tuesday, April 21
at 3:30 in the Rackham Auditorium
Open to the Public
Kasdan Scholarship in
Creative Writing
Arthur Miller Award
Jeffrey L. Weisberg Poetry
Award
Dennis McIntyre Prize
Chamberlain Award for
Creative Writing
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