FA9KETBALL
(5) Utah 68,
TEXAS EL PASO 46
(9)Stanford 79,
ARIZONA STATE 71
Brigham Young 79,
(15) NEW MEXICO 60
(22)SYRACUSE 76
Pittsburgh 61
WOMEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(3) OLD DOMINION 60,
East Carolina 39
(4)Louisiana Tech 83,
SW LOUISIANA 36
(18) Hawaii 87,
UNLV 70
(20) W. Kentucky 100,
South Alabama 42
NHL
HOCKEY
NY Rangers 5,
TORONTO 2
Buffalo 1.
BOSTON 1
COLORADO 1,
Phoenix 0
Los Angeles at
CHICAGO. inc.
SPORTSkjn d~
During break, the following Michigan teams will be at
Big Ten tournaments: men's and women's basketball,
men's and women's track and men's swimming. Of
those, the only defending Champion is the men's swim-
ming team.
Friday
February 27, 1998 7
._....
'M' swimmers trail Gophers after a day
By Jacob R. Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
A slow and steady pace won't win the sprint events,
but it might eventually win the tournament.
Michigan men's swimming coach Jon Urbanchek
knows that the Wolverines are not in hot water, just
because they got off to a slow start in the first day of
he Big Ten Championship yesterday in Minneapolis.
Michigan's strength is - and for years has been -
in the distance events. So Urbanchek isn't surprised
that Minnesota, the other conference powerhouse, is
wiming the tournament after cleaning up in the
sprinting events.
"Last year we were down 20 after the first day,"
While most students are away on
break, six Michigan teams will vie
F for conference titles this week.
Urbanchek said. This year the deficit is only 16. So
we're still in a pretty good position to go for the title
on Saturday."
The Golden Gophers lead Michigan, 208-192, after
fairing well in the 200-meter individual medley and
dominating the 50 freestyle. Minnesota took three of
the top eight spots in the 200 preliminaries and just
dominated the 50 free. The Gophers' Ty Bathurst won
the 50 free with a time of 19.8, and Jeremy Rients fin-
ished in third place only 0.38 seconds behind.
But Michigan did fair well in the 500 freestyle, yes-
terday's only distance event. Wolverines occupied the
top five spots and six of the top eight in the prelimi-
naries. Freshman Chris Thompson swam a 4:19.67 to
win the race. Tom Malchow, Andy Potts, Mike
McWha and Joe Palmer all finished within 2.5 sec-
onds of each other to fill out the top five.
"That's our domain," Urbanchek said. "That's the
event we've been well prepared in. We're just follow-
ing in the footsteps of previous teams."
Urbanchek says he is not worried about the deficit.
Minnesota led until the very last event last year. The
Wolverines managed to salvage their 11th title in the
past 12 years, winning a majority of events on the last
day of competition.
But the Gophers have the home pool advantage this
year, which may translate into a few more Minnesota
points by tomorrow evening.
FILE PHO
-Despite dominating the 500 freestyle, Mike McWha and the Wolverines trail con-
ference rival Minnesota after one day of the Big Ten Championships.
Down the stretch they
come
Women searching
for first tourney win
Inaugural tourney is
ahead for 'M' hoops
B.J. Luria
Daily Sports Writer
In three years at the Big Ten
Tournament, the Michigan women's
basketball team has never won - a
game.
The Wolverines (10-6 Big Ten, 18-8
overall) will make his-
tory tomorrow if they Tomorrow's
beat the winner of Who: Michigan
itght's game between or Minnesota
Wisconsin and Where: Indianap
Minnesota. When: 6 p.m.
In all likelihood, the Notables: The N
Gophers don't stand trying to w" th(
much of a chance of Big Ten touram
advancing to the sec-
ond round. Minnesota, which won only
one Big Ten game this season, has sus-
pended seven players, including five
starters.
"Of those seven players - Angie
Verson, Sarah Klun, Lynda Hass,
Kiuna Burns, Theresa LeCuyer -
those are their meat and potatoes,"
Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "I'll
say it publicly: We will prepare for
Wisconsin."
The Wolverines' last meeting with the
Badgers (9-7, 20-8) was a debacle.
Without leading scorer Pollyanna Johns,
Michigan suffered a 16-point road loss.
Vf hockey
v5.
poll
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"Wisconsin is a lot, I think, like we
are. They're just bigger," Guevara said.
"They have a good inside-outside
(game). Katie Voight is one of the best
3-point shooters, one of the best scorers
in the Big Ten."
On Jan. 23, Voight lit up the
._--_---Wolverines for 19 points on
>ne 5-of-9 shooting from the 3-
s point line and senior Ann
Klaperich poured in 22.
is If Michigan wins, the
Wolverines probably will
erines are face Illinois in the semi-
finals. But with an NCAA
it g. tournament bid on the line,
they cannot afford to take
anything for granted. The selection
committee will announce at-large bids
on March. 8.
"I'd by lying if I said 'no, we weren't
thinking about it,"' Guevara said. "I
don't think its a lock at all, but I think
we're getting serious consideration. I
think a lot's going to depend on how we
play in the tournament."
Although the Badgers finished in
sixth place in the conference, Wisconsin
is far better than its record indicates.
The Badgers were once ranked as high
as eighth in the nation and come into the
tournament ranked No. 23.
By Mark Snyder
Daily Sports Editor
With the Big Ten tournament begin-
ning next Thursday and Michigan's first
postseason game on Friday, the
Wolverines have reason to be excited.
After thrashing Indiana
Sunday and bouncing
around Penn State on
Wednesday, Michigan is
brimming with confidence
that wasn't present a week
ago.
Just like that, Michigan
(10-5 Big Ten, 20-8 overall)
went from pretender to con-
tender in the Big Ten race
and possibly beyond.
this past
secure with the No. 4 seed at the tourna-
ment, their opponent remains a mystery.
Indiana, after losing again Tuesday to
Illinois, must fend off Iowa on Saturday
to gain the No. 5 seed and a rematch
with Michigan. The game will be the
first of three games on Friday.
------------- ----
Tomorrow's game
Who: Nichigan vs. Wisconsin
Where: Crisler Arena
When: 12:15 p.m.
Notables: After facing
Wisconsin, the Wolverines
head to the first ever lBig'Ten
tournament next week in
Chicago.
The inaugural tourna
ment, held at the United
Center in Chicago, will
feature four days of com-
petition. As important as
the inaugural tournament'
may be,and as focused as
the Wolverines are about
making history as the
first champions, they still
4
Yes, with the magical 20th victory on
Saturday, Michigan secured its place
among the NCAA's top 64 teams, a posi-
tion it lacked after last season's stumble
to the finish. In the collapse that forced
the Wolverines into the subpar National
Invitational Tournament last year, they
lost five of their last seven games.
As if to make a statement about
renewed focus, Michigan ended this sea-
son with a 48-point trouncing of Indiana
and a similarly impressive 16-point win
over the Nittany Lions.
While the Wolverines know they are
have a regular-season game to play.
The tradition of senior recognition,
continues tomorrow afternoon when
Michigan hosts Wisconsin (3-12, 11-17).
The absence of one of Michigan's
three seniors remains the biggest ques-
tion entering the game. Maceo Baston
sat on the bench again at Penn State, but
that may change tomorrow. His plan is to
practice today before deciding whether
to play in his Crisler finale.
"We'd like to have him back for
'senior day,"' Michigan coach Brian
Ellerbe said. "But we're not gonna push
it."
PAUL IALANiAN/Uaily
Michigan guard Robbie Reid has a good chance of seeing Indiana guard A.J.
Guyton soon. The fourth-seeded Wolverines might face the Hoosiers in the first
round of the Big Ten tournament at the United Cetner in Chicago next Friday.
7 faces four final foes
By Sharat RaJu CCHA, 25-8-1 overall) host Ferris State
DaySports Editor (11-12-3, 14-16-3) tonight and Lake
-its the most crucial time of the sea- Superior (12-11-4, 15-13-4) tomorrow at
sor:here are four hockey games left. Yost Ice Arena at 7 p.m. tomorrow's con-
4 " second-place ------- - ---- test against the Lakers is
Michigan wins all four and Tonight's game the final regular-season
first-place Michigan State Who: Michigan vs. Ferris and 'senior night' for
s one, then the State Michigan.
Wolverines can lay claim to Where: Yost Ice Arena The following week-
yefarother CCHA champi- When: 7 pn., end, Michigan travels to
otnIiip. Notables: Michigan begins a Bowling Green (5-18-3,
The tension is building, four-game season-ending 7-24-3) next Friday and
1.stretch against low er-division
the situation is getting CHA opponents - Notre Dame (10-13-4,
intense ... and few fans State, Lake Superior, Howling 15-16-4) next Saturday
vl be able to experience Green and Notre Dame. The The importance of this
I Spring break has arrived Wolverines trail first-place stretch for the Wolverines
at the University, just in Michigan State by one point. increased after last week-
3e for Michigan's most end's two losses to No. 2
ical part of the season. Michigan State, enabling the Spartans to
The fifth-ranked Wolverines (14-6-1 take over first place by a single point.
Michigan State plays the Bulldogs and
the Lakers, also, but also travel to fourth-
place Northern Michigan in the season
finale. The Spartans have to travel to
Marquette and face a team that they tied
nearly a month ago.
Fortunately for the Wolverines, each
of the final four opponents is in the bot-
tom half of the conference. Ferris State,
however, did give Michigan a run for its
money this season. The Bulldogs forced
overtime in both previous games against
Michigan - losing once and tying
once.
"We have to win our games,
Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "If
Michigan State wins all their games,
they'll be in first place. We can't worry
about them winning. We have to win our Michigan forward Bill Muckalt and theI
games.
Trackreaches climax
Women travel to State; men head to Purdue
JOHN KRAFT/Daily
Wolverines will play four games over break.
- ---- ---------- ----
dig Ten Indoor Championships
Who: Men's and women's tack teams
Where: Men - West Lafayette; women -
East Lansing
When: All weekend
Notables: The women's team will have to
contend with powers Wisconsin and Illinois
in East Lansing. The men's team hopes to
rebound from a fifth-place finish last year.
By Chris Duprey
and Rick Harpster
Daily Sports Writers
While many Michigan students leave
campus this weekend for a much antici-
pated spring break, the Michigan track
teams will head into the most important
weekend of the season - the Big Ten
Indoor Championship.
It's a guarantee that the women will
come into the Big Ten championship at
Michigan State with their top lineup in
place. This is the meet that the
Wolverines have had circled on their cal-
endars for a long time.
"Wisconsin and Illinois are the two
programs we're striving to reach,"
Michigan coach James Henry said.
The Badgers bring their solid distance
core - the same group of talent that
won the Big Ten women's cross country
title last fall. The Illini sport a solid line-
up overall, much like Michigan.
The men's team heads to Purdue with
hopes to improve on last year's fifth-
place finish. In addition to superstars
Kevin Sullivan and John Mortimer, the
distance team is hoping for points from
Jay Cantin and Don McLaughlin - who
have been huge contributors this season.
The Wolverines also hope for strong
showings from their sprinters.
GUADALATARA SUMMER SCHOOL 1998
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