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 Ve El.. 5- ,the 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. 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