8B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, February 16, 1998 Golder's first win is golden By David DenHerder Daily Sports Writer On a day dedicated to the "Sweet Tooths" of the world, the Michigan men's gymnastics team tasted Big Ten victory for the first time in two years. And how sweet it was. The Wolverines (1-5) blew out No. 17 Minnesota, 226.85-222.575, en route to their first dual-meet win under second-year coach Kurt Golder. "One fourth," Golder said after Saturday's meet at Keen Arena. "One fourth of the routines today were personal bests." But personal records weren't the only marks falling. Michigan had record team performances on the pommel horse (38.0) and vault (38.45), while establishing a season-high team-point total. The outstanding performance may be attributed in part to the team's week off before the contest. Originally slated to take on No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus last weekend, a scheduling change allowed the 11 th-ranked Wolverines more time to focus their energy on the Golden Gophers (0-4). "It gave us a little bit of time. We focused more on cleaning up some skills and perfecting skills," Golder said. "We were able to get away from the grind of routine, routine, routine." And that translated into an anything-but-routine showing Saturday. Michigan sophomore Jose "LaLo" Haro and freshman Kevin Roulston tied for first at 56.9, giv- ing the Wolverines a one-two punch in all-around competition. Minnesota's Fang Lindsey placed third in the all-around with a 54.75. For Roulston, the score represents an all-around personal best, and Haro showed signs of once again emerging among the Big Ten elite. Despite lagging 0.9 off last season's pace, the Michigan co-captain and All-Big Ten team member bested his score on the pommel horse and came close to hitting a dif- ficult routine on the floor exercise. "le did his mount on floor in the warm-up, just a few minutes before the meet started, and it was perfect," Golder said. "That's a new skill, a new sequence that he has to do to be competitive inter- nationally. "It's short-term versus long-term. In the NCAA Championship, if we water down (the difficulty level) now, he might be able to get a bigger score right now, but when it comes to international com- petition we're not going to win a championship. So we're taking our lumps now." Michigan redshirt freshman Tim Dehr also raised some eyebrows Saturday. Dehr won the vault with a personal best 9.75 and also recorded a personal high on the pommel horse. But just as it seemed everything was going Michigan's way, the Wolverines received a scare on the still rings. As freshman Kenny Keener went into the dismount of his routine, one hand slipped off the ring and he slammed into the mat below. The impact was powerful enough to jettison one of Keener's contact lenses. "When he swung through the bottom, his hand slipped, and the other hand slipped and he landed in a heap on his shoulder," Golder said. Despite the slip, Keener, Michigan's top ring man, seemed to be all right. "It could have been an injury," Golder said. "But he came out of it OK and he did fine on the next event." Saturday's team score, which improved by more than three points, could prove important as the Wolverines attempt to qualify for the NCAA Regionals in April. Qualification is based on the average of one home team score, one away and one at-large. "We're going to be right on the bubble," Golder said. "This will help our average. Hopefully, those 223s we got earlier we won't even use - and if things go the way they should, we won't even count this score." WRESTLING Continued from Page lB and he is very, very quick?" Bahr said. "Airron went righ after him, and almost took him down a couple times. But with his speed, he just got out of it every time." Possibly the most important loss for the Wolverines was at 150. Michigan senior Bill Lacure, who is ranked fourth in the nation, lost to third-ranked Chad Kraft, 3-1, ater a last- second take-down by Kraft. Last season, Lacure scored a 9- 0 major decision against Kraft. "That was probably the difference in the match," Bahr said. "We should have been up 13-4 at that point, but instead we're up 10-7. That loss kind of took the wind out of o4 sails." Bahr said this was the first time he can remember that all three seniors - Lacure, Catrabone and Richardson -- lost in a dual meet. "Those are the big guns that we count on," Bahr said. "They have all been All-Americans, and I don't think they have ever all lost in the same match before." Fortunately for the Wolverines, other starters are stepping up. Warren and Logan are two guys the team is beginning to count on for wins, Bahr said. "Damion has been doing a super job lately, and the same goes for Joe," Bahr said. "Both of them have been wrestlin great, and we are starting to really feel confident with those two weight classes." Logan is currently on a six-match win streak. "Ever since we returned from the National Team Duals, Damion has been on a tear," Bahr said. "He is getting him- self in a position where he could really have a good Big Ten tournament and possibly an NCAA run." The Wolverines' troubles look to be coming at an inop- portune time as only one dual meet remains before the Big Ten tournament. But Bahr said he sees the losses as a sourc of motivation for the guys. "When you are always winning, you tend to wrestle on your laurels," Bahr said. "But with a slight taste of defeat, you can get it together and spur yourself to motivate for the Big Tens and NCAAs." The Wolverines will conclude their dual-meet season on Friday at 7 p.m. against Indiana. The match against the Hoosiers will be the last at Cliff Keen Arena for Lacure, Catrabone and Richardson. MARGARET MYERS/Daily Freshman Kevin Roulston led the way with a 56.9 as the Wolverines captured their first conference victory of the coach Kurt Golder era. Gymnasts tame 'Cats with perfection 0 By Vaughn Klug and Nita Srivastava Daily Sports Writers Practice makes perfect, and perfection is exactly what the Michigan women's gymnas- tics team accomplished this past weekend with three perfect scores in a lopsided win over Kentucky. The eighth-ranked Wolverines entered the competition ranked below the Wildcats, but now control the series with a 5-0 lifetime record versus Kentucky. Sunday's meet at Cliff Keen Arena marked a season-high score for Michigan of 196.80. Kentucky struggled throughout, finishing with only 191.60 points. "Kentucky coach Little's comment after the meet was, 'I apologize for our performance," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. The Wildcats' performance was lacking throughout the meet, as they only secured one top-three position, and even that was in the form of a three-way tie on the uneven bars. Michigan juniors Nikki Peters and Heather Kabnick set the tone in the first event with perfect scores on their vault routines. "It's always a mood-setter when they settle into their zone and nail an event," Plocki said. "They went into the uneven bars feeling very relaxed." The groove Michigan settled into with the vault translated into a first-place tie in the uneven bars between sophomore Sarah Cain and Kabnick, with scores of 9.850. Both Cain and Kabnick have fully recov- ered from their injuries and are now back in the lineup for good - as long as they remain healthy. "We are still not at 100 percent," Plocki said. "But getting people healthy has helped a lot." Each of Michigan's top four finishers in the uneven bars earned personal bests for the sea- son. Senior Lisa Simes and freshman Bridget Knaeble finished directly behind Cain and Kabnick with scores of 9.825. Cain contributed a perfect 10 on the floor exercise on her way to a first place in the all- around with a score of 39.550. According to Cain, the score was especially gratifying con- sidering how tight the judges have been this season. "They're judging harder this year," Cain said. "It's harder to get a 10, so I didn't expect it." Plocki said that her team's performanc this past weekend made up for a rather subpar showing one week ago in the UCLA Invitational. "I will not allow my team to make excuses for UCLA," Plocki said. "They were not in it mentally last week, but coming back and hav- ing a meet like this assures us we are good." Michigan has two weeks off to prepare for its meeting with No. I Georgia on Feb. 28. Plocki will be recruiting while the team will take a three-day weekend to rest. In the mea time, The Wolverines hope to build on this weekend's performance. "This is the best meet so far," Kabnick said. "We're finally starting to put four events together. We're peaking at the right time." JOHN KRAFT/Daily The women's gymnasts soared over Kentucky this weekend - high enough to prompt an apology from the Wildcat coach. The Wolverines are back on track after a dismal performance against UCLA. TENNIS Continued from Page 11B everything it could handle. "Playing against the defending Big Ten champions, they can just go for it, there's no pressure on them," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. The Spartans went for it, and they almost got it. The doubles matches are played first in Big Ten meets, and Michigan got off to an early 2-1 lead over the Spartans. Michigan's No. I doubles team of Brooke Hart and Lund beat Michigan State's Brooke West and Isabell Oelze, 8-5, while the No. 2 doubles pair of Weggenman and Moon dispensed MSU's Kelli Hayes and Jamie Tannenbaum, 8-2. Michigan State kept it close, though, as its No. 3 doubles pair beat Boylan and Harris. Consequently, the Wolverines needed three singles wins to take the meet. This proved to be difficult, as Michigan State came out firing. Moon fell 3-6, 1-6 in her No. 5 sin- gles match, and Boylan, already down one set, lost a tiebreak in the second set at No. 6 singles. Michigan got its first singles win of the afternoon when Hart beat West at No. 1, 6-4, 6-0 RICHARDSON'S 91 P T I C AL Student discounts on eye exams and eyeglasses Great Brands Polo TommyHilfiger Calvin Klein Things were looking good for the Wolverines as Harris also came through with a win at No. 3 singles. Harris trailed five games to four in both sets, but rallied each time t take a 7-5, 7-5 victory. With two matches remaining, Michigan led, 4-3. Both Lund and Weggenman won the first sets of their matches. But after leading three games to none in the second set, Lund fell 6-4. Weggenman also dropped her second set, in a tiebreak. So it came down to the third set of both matches. Michigan needed one Michigan State needed both. Lund took another three-game lead in the third set, this time 4-1, but gave up a break and her lead was cut to 4-3. Lund held serve to take a 5-3 lead, but could not break her opponent's serve for the match. She served the next game, though, and didn't give up a point. Michigan's victory was secur with Lund's 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win. W Weggenman also took the early lead in the third set, but she did not allow a comeback. She broke Tannenbaum's serve three times, and did not give up a break, taking a 6-0 victory in the set. Weggenman's win gave Michigan a 6-3 victory in the meet and a 1-0 conference record. Michigan Union Board of Representatives is accepting membership applications from interested students. UNION Some Resumes Make The Rounds Faster Than Others. 6 rr: #. s 8~ D *:q a I Applications are available at the Campus Information Center in the Union and at the North Campus Information Center in Pierpont Commons. Applications due Febnary 20 at 5pm. Return to Sara Perkins, Room 1310 Michigan Union 49wLoft styleI 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartment Homes ' Deluxe Loft Style '24 Hour Fitness Center Designs 'vFull Size Washer/Dryer Optional 'Volleyball Pool . Gourmet Kitchens and A i INITIOMIV Mna A Ar 1 I