14 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 18, 1998 'M' swimmers seek revenge against Gophers at nationals By Jacob R. Wheeler Daily Sports Writer Don't ask Michigan swimmer Tom Malchow about the Big Ten Championships anymore. They're over and done with. The Wolverines finished a disap- pointing second to conference rival Minnesota just before spring break, in what many Gopher fans are calling an historic event. Minnesota ran away with the cake at the Big Ten Championships, primarily because of team depth. But now members of both teams have their eyes set on the NCAA Championships, in Auburn, Ala., on Mar. 26 - a meet far more presti- gious than the last. And because of its individual-ori- ented style, Michigan may be in a better position to grab a bunch of items, not just the cake, off the bak- ery shelf. "We know we're better than them," Malehow said of the Gophers after the disappointing loss. "Everybody knows we're better than them. They know we're better than them. We'll Wresding seniors on ,the wayv out By Jordan Field Daily Sports Writer Nearing the end of the wrestling season, it is time for the Wolverines to realize that next year's team is going to look a lot different than the team that finished fourth in the Big Ten this season. The Wolverines will be graduating four All-Americans in Brandon Howe, Bill Lacure, Jeff Catrabone and Airron Richardson. The first three have been four-year starters and will compete in the NCAA Tournament this weekend in Cleveland. For Catrabone and Richardson, this is their fourth trip to NCAAs in as many years. In addition to their NCAA qualifi- cations, Lacure and Richardson both won Big Ten titles this season, and all three have been captain of the team during their four years at Michigan. Despite their accomplishments on the mat, Michigan coach Dale Bahr says the seniors' absence next year 'may be felt most outside the arena. "These guys are not just great wrestlers, they are great people," Bahr said. "For student athletes, and as leaders, these guys have been ideal, and I know they will be suc- cessful in life long after wrestling. "We are going to miss them in the lineup, but every year, we lose seniors and find a way to replace them. The problem with losing these guys will be in replacing their leader- ship on the team and in the communi- ty." Replacing the seniors on the mat are two former starters who sat out this season because of injuries. Junior Frank Lodeserto looks to return from a shoulder injury for his senior sea- son while Teya Hill should be back from a knee injury for his junior sea- son. Lodeserto was the 190-pound starter the past two seasons before his injury. Hill has been injury-plagued prove that at NCAAs." The number of qualifiers each team sends doesn't necessarily back up Malchow's boast, but the national championships aren't based on sheer participation. The team that places the most swimmers at the top will win. Eleven Wolverines will compete in Auburn -- an impressive amount, even though it won't match Minnesota's 15. But more importantly, three differ- ent Michigan swimmers are favored to win a total of four events. The Gophers will be hard-pressed to match that. Michigan senior Derya Buyukuncu is ranked No. I in the 200 back- stroke, and fourth in the 100 back. He just set new Big Ten Championship records in each of those events. The nine-time All- American will also swim the 100 but- terfly. Freshman Chris Thompson is favored to win the 1,650 freestyle, 'which he has dominated all year. Thompson shattered the conference record in that event at the Big Ten Championships. The youngster even managed to make the often-monotonous regular- season dual meets exciting this year, nearly eclipsing former Michigan standout and household name Tom Dolan's school record in the 1,650 against Indiana. Luckily for Malchow, the times registered January at the World Championships in Perth, Australia ,count toward national championship qualification. Just convert the three- time All-America Perth's time in the 200 butterfly from meters to yards, and he ranks first in the 200 fly as well as the 200 freestyle. Of Minnesota's 15 participants (14 swimmers and one diver) at this year's national championship, only junior Martin Zielinski placed in the top five in any individual event at last season's finale. The Gophers' 200 medley relay team also finished fifth last year. The depth that enabled the Gophers to upset Michigan for the Big Ten Championship should be less MARGARET MYERS/aily Michigan swimmer Tom Malchow has boldly predicted a revenge victory over Minnesota at the NCAA Championships this weekend. Now, all the Wolverines have to do is back it up. The Gophers won the 1998 Big Ten Championship. of a factor in Auburn, as Minnesota just doesn't have the firepower at the top. Michigan, however, has a long resume of NCAA titles that actually rivals the feats of southern power- house programs such as Stanford, Auburn and Texas - the undisputed top three teams in the country. The Wolverines have not hidden the frustration they felt when Minnesota escaped with the Big Ten title for the second time in three years. But make no mistake about it, Michigan knows that the NCAA Championships are more important than the Big Tens. "You want to do your best when it matters most," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "You want to play your best basketball at the NCAA Tournament, not just win the Big T Tournament. You want to store some- thing away for the very end." Women's basketball struggles to find respect HOOPS Continued from Page 13 uncontested layup to set the Connecticut record. The Wildcats then scored an uncontested layup of their own, knotting the score at two and letting the game begin for real. Sales hadn't even left the floor when columnists across the country dove for their laptops and started typing the words that brought on a national debate. The integrity of the sport has been compromised. Sales wont be able to live with hersel/ knowing she didn't really earn the record. Sales represents all that is wrong with sports. And as if that wasn't enough, ESPN The Magazine pub- lished a report saying Sales was credited with two extra points in a game two months ago, leaving her still one point shy of the record. The fact is, in a few years, Sales'record will be broken and all this won't even matter. And after everyone has forgotten about the incident, Sales will have something that no one can take away from her: a sense that her coach, if no one else, appreciated what she gave to her team for four years. At a time when so much is right with the sport of women's basketball. at a time when the sport needs as much good press as it can get, it's disappointing that sports writers across the nation have to focus on the one thing that they decided was wrong. But it gets worse. Sunday night, UCLA beat Alabama, 74-73, in the Midwest Region semi-finals of the NCAA tournament, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. But the officials decided to award Alabama the game. The officials started the clock far too late - confirmed on replay - on the final play of the game, and Alabama was able to get off the winning shot and move on to the Sweet 16. The NCAA suspended the officials for the rest of the tour- nament for their mistake, implicitly admitting that UCLA deserved to win the game - but they refused to award the Bruins the victory. This time, the NCAA messed up. The Bruins should have won the game. And they gave the sports writers an opportuni- ty to pounce again - and pounce they did. Women:s basketball can't get anything right. LOUIS BROWN/Daily Brandon Howe, Bill Lacure and Jeff Catrabone will represent the Michigan wrestling team at the NCAA championships this weekend. for the past three seasons, compiling a 21-15 record in his first two sea- sons. The Wolverines will also look for help in sophomore Otto Olson and freshman Matt Brink, both of whom were redshirted this past season. Olson started as a freshman last sea- son and stacked up an impressive 26- 16 record. This year he leads the team in open-tournament wins with a 13-1 record and was the 167-pound cham- pion in both the Edinboro and Miami (Ohio) Opens. His only loss of the season came at the Michigan State Open, where he lost in the finals. Brink, a true freshman, won his first tournament as a heavyweight at Edinboro this season and boasts a 12- 4 tourney record. "Otto has had a great season, and he will fill right in where Jeff is leav- ing at 167," Bahr said. "And Matt has been wrestling great, too. He's been giving Airron fits all year long at practice." With those slots accounted for in the lineup, the team now looks for leaders off the mat. Lacure and Richardson, especially, were very active in the community and on cam- pus. Lacure was the co-founder and coordinator of BALANCE, the fresh- man athlete orientation for Michigan athletes. He was also a member of M- PACT, a Michigan peer-advising trust, and the co-founder of the Student Athletes Helping to Achieve Reading Excellence program. Richardson was a frequent visitor to local Ann Arbor schools, where he spoke to students about the impor- tance of academics and read books to younger students. The most logical answer to filling the shoes of the team leader will be 118-pound Chris Viola, who will be the Wolverines' only fifth-year senior next season. Viola was an NCAA qualifier his freshman and sopho- more seasons and has been a main- stay at the top of the lineup for the Wolverines. "It will be interesting to see who steps it up next year for us," Bahr said. "But no matter who it is, it will be difficult to replace the guys that we're losing this year. Jeff, Bill and Airron have been major contributors to Michigan wrestling for the past five years, and they will be missed for their wrestling and for their lead- ership, both by their teammates and their coaches." MALLORY SE. FLOYD/Daily The Michigan women's basketball team had its second-best season ever, but still struggles to find respect. This is what happens when you play NCAA Tournament games at campus sites. And pretty soon, everyone forgot about the incredible story of the Harvard team that shocked top-seeded Stanford on the Cardinal's home court - if they managed to stay awake for the 12:30 a.m. tipoff in the first place. Women's basketball is a growing sport at a fragile st< The quality of the basketball is as good as it's ever be . Tennessee's team is perhaps the best team to ever play the sport. The games are exciting, even without the dunks and the physical play of the men's game. It's too bad nobody is noticing. YOST Continued from Page 13 living chess game. You can sit back, stretch out, and enjoy hockey. Pure hockey. Pure sports. True, there is a hustle and bustle - almost a controlled chaos --unique to game day in Yost. The feeling of ner- vous anticipation when Michigan needs another goal as time runs down in the third period. The excitement of know- ing that this game could make or break Michigan's tournament hopes. These same feelings are particular to this time of year-- a time when the Wolverines will have to prove just how good they really are in the CCHA and NCAA tournaments. Winning or losing. That's what really counts at this time of year. That's the only thing that matters if a team is to continue playing, or end its season early. Fans thrive on these feelings - of tournament time or game day in Yost - as they should. That's one of the biggest parts of the sport. But there's something pure and unadulterated about hockey in Yost dur- ing Michigan's practice time. The per- sonalities of the players become a little more apparent. The ones who work harder than others. Those who always wear a look of serious determination on their faces, as opposed to those quick with a smile or laugh. The sights and sounds sink in a little deeper than on game day. The cold, still air. The commands of the coaches as the team readies for another drill. The autographs signed for young hockey- hopefuls as the Wolverines walk off the ice, or the tours given to groups of gradeschoolers who made the trip down to Yost for an afternoon excursion. Maybe it's all about childhood. As we grow older, the innocent fun we remem- ber from our youth becomes more and more replaced by the adult responsibili- ties of our relationships and our careers, Maybe watching a bunch of grown men howling with laughter, poking fun at a teammate or playing hockey as if* they were little kids takes us back to a time when nothing on Earth was really important to us. Numbers and stats don't matter in practice. Awards don't matter in prac- tice. Practice is about hockey. Practice is about teams growing together and learning, developing chemistry and friendships. Watching practice is about taking us back to a time still current to others, to which we can never return. Go to the games. Marvel at the chaos and noise of Yost when it's filled to capacity. But before you graduate from Michigan, before the Wolverines' play- off run is over, learn to appreciate the cold, still purity of watching hockey during practice in Yost at least once. I bet you go back again. - Chris Farah can be reached at cfarah alumich.edut. i SUMMER SCHOOL FOR PEOPLE nm TuhI Wn vTUB TAD 4 [ L