The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday -- January 26, 1998 - 3B
Wolverines overcome jetlag, top teams
N . . 0III
By Jacob R. Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
When you lose the kind of senior
class the Michigan men's swimming
team did to graduation, contending for
a national championship isn't usually a
foreseeable goal.
W Apparently, the Wolverines didn't
know that.
. No. 7 Michigan stole second place at
the Dallas Morning News Classic this
past weekend, amidst six of last year's
top 10 NCAA teams.
"We were happy with that," junior
,em Malchow said. "A couple of top
teams pulled out of the tournament and
last year we finished third. So we're
looking to finish in the top three."
There were other obstacles as well.
wo of Michigan's top swimmers were
virtual zombies, still recovering from
jet lag after the World Swimming
Championships in Perth, Australia.
Senior Derya Buyukuncu and junior
Tom Malchow just returned to the
United States on Monday night. They
won three events Saturday, despite the
19-hour time difference.
"My body still is definitely not
apted," Malchow said. "Friday night I
only slept for about three hours in
Dallas. So I was pretty happy with the
way I swam."
Malchow took the 500-meter
freestyle and the 200-meter butterfly
and finished second in the 200 free on
Friday. Buyukuncu won the 200-meter
backstroke.
Captain Owen von Richter also took
two events in his field of expertise with
victories in both the 200 and 400 indi-
Sidual medleys. Those events, which
assistant coach Eric Namesnik also
dominated at Michigan, kept the
Wolverines close to the lead.
Third-ranked Texas won the tourna-
ment, finishing II points ahead of
Michigan and 14 ahead of No. 10
Southern Methodist.
The Longhorns dominated from the
beginning, winning the 400 medley
relay and the 800 free relay on Friday.
Michigan swimmers have dominated
the latter for years. But they managed
just a third place finish in Dallas.
"We're a little disappointed with our
800 relay," Malchow said. "We'll have
to make a few changes. But John Reich
was swimming with a broken angle and
he's one of the key parts of that relay."
Southern Methodist occupied second
place most of Friday and after
Saturday's first event, it looked like the
Mustangs would gallop away with the
remaining spoil. Southern Methodist
opened the last day of competition with
a victory in the 400 free relay, leaving
No. 7 Michigan in the dust - almost
four seconds behind.
But the Wolverines swept both the
championship final and the consolation
final in the next two events and closed
out the day with two more victories to
steal second place.
The Wolverines found themselves
just seven points behind the Longhorns
after von Richter's victory in the 200
medlev.
But they would merely tread water in
another freestyle relay. The team of
Malchow, Reich, Mike McWha and
Andy Potts finished sixth -- an
immense 4.8 seconds behind Auburn in
the last event of the tournament.
Still, Saturday was a great success.
Michigan entered the day 23 points out
of first place and had cut that margin in
half nine events later.
"Our first day was some good swim-
ming," Malchow said. "But we really
stepped things up and dominated the
second day of the meet. If our relays
were better, we could have won it."
JOHN
LEROI
Out of Bounds
The Michigan men's swimming team took a surprising second place even with some members just returning from overseas.
Sullivan smashes a 12-year-old M' record
Ann Arbor, Green Bay,
more alike than you f/i
S AN DIEGO- When the last few seconds ticked off the clock and
tears streamed down faces, both in jubilation and in sorrow, there w as,
even in the darkness surrounding newly named Qualcomm Stadium, a
glimmer of familiarity. Like something out of a Ray Bradbury novel or a
rerun of "Murder, She Wrote", here was this eerie feeling.
The hot dogs smelled awfully familiar blending with the salty aroma of the
nearby Pacific Ocean. The guys in the pads with the cumbersome plastic hats
seemed to bear a striking resemblance to men I have seen before.
Then it hit me like an anvil over the head in a Roadrunner cartoon.
Although not evident at first, these muscle heads from Green Bay who call
themselves the Packers bear a striking and undeniable resemblance to our
very own Michigan Wolverines. Chuckle if you may, but really, it is quite
uncanny.
Sure, it would have been nicer to compare our Wolverines to the Super
Bowl champion Broncos, but really, does Brian Griese have a Stanford edita-
tion? Are Michigan's uniforms that bad? How far is Ann Arbor above sea
level?
No, it is the Packers that remind us of these Wolverines. There are skeptics
out there, mostly from Capitol Hill who want to put a lid on this story
because it just might prove there was an improper relationship between
President Clinton and Griese (which, according to my sources, is an uncon
firmed rumor). Some pundits won't even respond, as if this were just another
instance of a talentless journalist making a large and pitiful stretch at forming
a column idea, and somehow managing to pretend that they don't even care.
Phooey on them.
But this is no magic bullet theory; there is no red herring. The similarities
are there ... and they are astonishing.
First the obvious. They play football, we play football. They wear yellow
pants, we wear yellow pants.
OK.that's the end of the obvious ones, but these are almost as good. 7.
0 Green Bay is a Midwest town, population just less than 100,000, not Oar
from a bustling metropolis (Milwaukee). Ann Arbor is a Midwest town, popu-
lation just more than 100,000 near a ghost town Michiganders call a bustling
metropolis (Detroit).
0 Madison is the capital of Wisconsin. James Madison was Secretary of
State under Thomas Jefferson and was the defendant in the landmark
Supreme Court decision Marbury v. Madison. The chief justice of that Court
was John Marshall. Marshall is a city in Michigan.
Brett Favre, the three-time NFL MVP, toiled in relative obscurity during
his first year in the league. Brian Griese, the Rose Bowl MVP, didn't play.
during his first two years with Michigan.
® Favre is from the South, Griese is from the South.
Green Bay's largest export is cheese. Michigan's largest export is cheesy
liberal arts majors.
Green Bay's phenomenal defense is led by defensive back LeRoy Butler.
Michigan's phenomenal defense is led by defensive back Charles Woodson,
who is soon to be a pro.
Wisconsin-Green Bay hasn't won an NCAA tournament games since
1994 -- the last time the Wolverines won an NCAA tournament game.
And the teams play similar styles of football, with a balanced offense aid
stingy defense. Mike Holmgren served for years as an assistant in San
Francisco just like Lloyd Carr served as an assistant in Ann Arbor for years.
Both institutions have coaching legends, Vince Lombardi and Bo
Schembechler, though it would be difficult to decide which is more attrac-
tive,
And it's hard to argue with both squads' success. Sure Green Bay lost the
Super Bowl. It's not like the Packers won the Rose Bowl or anything, but you
have to appreciate their gusto. Desmond Howard, after all, was a Packer at
this time last year. In fact, he was the Super Bowl MVP.
Move over Angela Lansbury.
- John Leroi can be reached via e-mail at jrleroi &umich.edu or at the greater
Green Bay Chamber of Commerce when he returnsfrom San Diego.
By Josh Borkin
Daily Sports Writer
If there were any doubts about Kevin
Sullivan's status, or the productivity of
" he sprint team, Saturday's Red
immon's Invitational silenced all crit-
ics.
Saturday's Invitational at Michigan's
Indoor track facility provided a show-
ease for some of the best times this sea-
son.
Kevin Sullivan added another
remarkable credit to his already-stellar
career, by breaking a 12-year Michigan
record (7:54.87) in the 3000-meter run.
Sullivan's time (7:51.65) not only put
Os name in the Michigan record books,
.bu it made Sullivan an automatic qual-
ifier for the National Championships.
"I just wanted to break eight min-
utes Sullivan said. Michigan track
coaches Jack Harvey and Ron Warhurst
"were really pleased with my time:'
A critical aspect to the success of
Sullivan was the pacing by All-America
John Mortimer. Mortimer acted as the
,bbit in the 3000. He ran the first
1,000 meters at a blistering pace, that
helped Sullivan run his record-breaking
time.
"It is really hard to pace your self
correctly in this type of race, Sullivan
said. "John is such a talented runner and
having him pace me was a large factor
during the race:'
Sullivan essentially ran the race alone
during the final 1,000 meters. The sec-
ond place finisher, Todd Williams (unat-
ched), finished nearly seven seconds
Tehind Sullivan with a time of 7:58.
"After John left, I just had to run
against the clock," Sullivan said.
"Everything just clicked for me during
the race:'
Sullivan stole the show on Saturday,
but the distance team continued to be
successful in the indoor circuit.
Michigan supplied the top two spots
in the mile run. While the "big three" of
vllivan, Mortimer and Cantin didn't
MALLORY S.E. FLOYD/Daily
Michigan men's track team plays catch up in the 600-meter dash. It was a rare occasion Friday night as several Michigan
runners broke records and qualified for the NCAA tournament at the Red Simmons Invitational.
participate in this race, the efforts of
first and second place finishers Steve
Lawrence and Don McLaughlin did not
go unnoticed.
In a relatively weak field, Lawrence
(4:11.85) and McLaughlin (4:12.10)
ran against each other for the most part.
While McLaughlin led Lawrence for
most of the race, McLaughlin stored
enough energy to kick on the last
straight-away, and glide past Lawrence
at the finish.
"I was a bit discouraged with my
time," Lawrence said. "I wanted to run
faster then I did, and Ijust felt a little off
today."
A familiar face helped pace the mile
as well. Mortimer, abstained from com-
petition today and helped pace his sec-
ond race of the day, by running the first
800 meters of the mile.
"John is a fantastic pacer, and just
really helped me and Don run a good
first half," Lawrence said.
While the distance team continued to
shine in the national spotlight, the
sprinters emerged Saturday afternoon
as Big Ten contenders.
After two disappointing meets by the
sprint squad; Kevin Bowman, Steve
Jenkins, and the 4-x-100 meter relay
team provided top finishes in each of
their events.
Steve Jenkins reached the finals in a
competitive 55 meter dash. He was the
last qualifier in the finals, but was able
to earn a sixth place finish with a time
of 6.54.
Kevin Bowman, a vocal leader for
the sprint squad, ran one of his best
200-meter races (22.33), finishing
third.
M' women gymnasts
take second place
I I
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El.. 5-
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Cgs
By Kim Hart and
4A Sdvastava
A~y Sports Writers
With a confidence boosting victory
over Utah on Friday night, the Michigan
women's gymnastics team headed to
Athens to face No. I Georgia and No. 25
Arizona yesterday with hopes of improv-
ing its record while nursing a few nag-
ging injuries.
The 17th-ranked Wolverines finished
the day in second place with a score of
*94.15, falling to the Bulldogs (196.95)
and defeating the Wildcats (193.65).
Freshman Bridget Knaeble led the
effort with a career best total of 39.25 and
:anew career high of 9.925 on the uneven
bars. Knaeble was Michigan's only all-
around comnetitor and finished second
personal best of 9.825 in the floor exer-
cise.
"It's a different ball game competing at
home," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said.
"The confidence level at home is com-
pletely different."
Knaeble finished second in the all-
around to Utah's Shannon Bowles
(39.25) with a score of 39.075. Also
competing in the all-around was junior
Lisa Simes who finished fourth with a
score of 38.925. Nellans, who saw limit-
ed competition last season due to
injuries, also contributed. She finished
second in floor exercise (9.875) and bal-
ance beam (9.775).
Eu,.....
Theirs and Yours.
Join AmeriCorps, the Domestic Peace Corps. By tutoring
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