December 7, 1998 - SportsMonday -- The Michigan Daily - 3B *Women tankers win Notre Dame Invite Sy Michael Shafrir Daily Sports Writer IThere was no reason to, expect the Michigan women's swimming team to iepea t as champion of the Notre Danie Invitational this weekend. After all, this was just supposed to be a meet where it would see how it stacked up against some tougher competition. The Wolverines found out that they could compete pretty well in this nine-team field. In fact, they won. "Our goal wasn't to win this meet. It never really is," said freshman Kerrianne Kalbko. "This meet was just really to see how far along we are." -Entering the third and final day ahead of Notre Dame by 73 points, the Wolverines knew they would have to swim well in three events - the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle and 400 freestyile relay - in order to make up for weaknesses in others.. Junior All-America Shannon Shakespeare led Michigan to a 1-2-3 sweeep in the 100 freestyle. This 0 enabled Michigan to overcome depth difficulties in the 1,650 freestyle and the 200 breaststroke. The Wolverines never trailed in the event. They led Florida State 360-274 after day one, helped by a win in the opening event of the meet, the 200 freestyle relay. Senior Jennie Eberwein, sophomores Jen Crisman and Missy Sugar and junior anchor Shakespeare swam to a meet and pool record in 1:32.61. Shakespeare was dominant all weekend, winning three individual events in addition to swimming on four victorious relay teams. Shakespeare recorded three NCAA consideration times and two NCAA automatic times. "Shannon swam really well," said Kalbko. Michigan coach Jim Richardson "wanted to see if she could make some NCAA considerations or automatic times." Crisman took the 100 breaststroke in an NCAA auto- matic time of 1:01:65. A time of 23.08 in the 50 freestyle was good enough for a win and an NCAA consideration time. The fall season has seen the emergence of freshman Lindsay Carlberg, and she continued her winning ways this weekend. Carlberg took first in the 200 backstroke with a NCAA consideration time of 2:00.15. She also placed second in both the 200 and 400 individual med- leys, behind Shakespeare and senior Cathy O'Neill, respectively. Kalbko, who has also performed well this fall, gave the Wolverines three top-five finishes. Michigan was especially strong in the relays, losing only the 400 medley relay to Notre Dame. In addition to the 200 freestyle relay, the Wolverines set a meet and pool record in the 800 freestyle relay. The Michigan diving team, meanwhile, was at the Eastern Michigan Invitational. Senior Jill Unikel and junior Hanna Shin took first and second in the three- meter springboard. Unikel's score of 426.55 was good enough for NCAA zone diving qualification. This was the last meet before the Wolverines head to Hawai'i for their winter training trip - but not before they go up against perhaps their toughest oppo- nent yet. "Hawai'i is going to be really nice," said Kalbko. "But first we have to study and take our finals" JIM ROSE Wrestlers cash in at Vegas, finish fourth By Tracy Sandier Daily Sports Writer The Michigan wrestling team left Neyada and the Cliff 'Keen Las Vegas Invitational with a fourth-place finish out of 43 teams,. Mong with five wrestlers placing in their respective weight classes. Both 125-pound wrstler Chris Viola and 133-pound wrestlei Joe Warren fin- ished. third, while 141-pounder Damion Logan finished fifth. Otto Olson (174 pounds) placed foiurth for the Wolverines, and 184-pounder Andy Hrovat placed seventh. Racking up 9045 points, the Wolverines were beat b'y Arizona State, Oregon State and Illinois. Overall, Michigan was pleased with the way it performed as a team. "We wrestled pretty well and with a lot of intensity,"Viola said. "A lot of the scores weren't indicative of how much we dominated." On a personal levelAthe second-seed- ed Warren was slightly disappointed with the way, the tournament went. Warren lost in the semifinals to the third-seeded wrestler--- who went on to win the individual title, "I wrestled great until the semifi- nals;' Warren said. "I got down by a lot in the first period, and I just didn't have *enough time to come back. I'm kind of angry with my perforrance, but it's the beginning of the year, and the end is what counts." Although he didn't place as high as he may have hoped, Logan was pleased with the way he wrestled. The seventh- seeded Logan was forced to compete against the No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5-ranked participants in his weight class. "I got beat in the quarterfinals by West Virginia's Whitey Clebo," Logan said. "He's tough, but it was a good match." Logan secured a fifth-place finish with a 7-0 victory, and all in all, he did a lot of things that he was happy with. "I wrestled aggressively, but I made little mistakes," Logan said. "I had a good tournament. Was it great a great tournament? No. But was it a poor tour- nament? No. Am I happy with it? For now, yes. I have to make adjustments. I know what I have to do to improve." One problem the Wolverines had as a team was close matches. It was difficult for Michigan to finish them out. "We're in great condition, but we lost a lot of close matches." Warren said. "We did better on the mat than on the tables." With a strong tournament behind them, the Wolverines go into Friday's home meet against Michigan State knowing that a little work can take them a long way. "We just need to get in the wrestling room and work on a few things,"Warren said. "I'm looking forward to Friday. It's going to be a great dual." Gfkanazzis resginaton-A sad day for more tan players ometime this past Friday evening, the phone on The Michigan Daily sports desk rang. The caller was Greg Giovanazzi. That, in itself, was nothing unusual. Giovanazzi, in his seven years as Michigan's vol- leyball coach, has made countless calls to that very phone. What was unusual, however, was the conversation that followed. He wasn't calling to talk about a match, and he wasn't returning anybody else's call. Now, if you've ever spoken to Giovanazzi, you know that he has a very distinct voice. On this day, it sounded a little bit different. It,wasn't quite as resonant -- not as sure of itself as it usually is. That was clue No. I that something was wrong. It didn't take many more clues to pinpoint the problem. "I've resigned my position," Giovanazzi said, about 10 seconds into the conversation. He went on to say that his resignation "is required by" a neu- rological condition that literally leaves him "unable to function on a daily basis." Boom. The last time I had personally spoken to Giovanazzi, I was asking him why his team was under .500 this season. We were talking about expecta tions, and the crowds at Cliff Keen Arena, and we talked a great deal about his current group of seniors. We were not talking about functioning on a daily basis. Now, I don't want to sound overly dramatic. Giovanazzi made it explicit- ly clear that his condition is not life-threatening - he described his cond tion as a near-constant migraine headache. "This is not a life-or-death deci sion," he said, "but a quality of life decision." He was concerned, under- standably, that the news be handled tastefully, with the appropriate respect. Keeping all of that in mind, this much should be said: Michigan's Athletic Department is losing more than a volleyball coach. I've never played for him, so I don't know whether he's a good coach or not. The way his players talk about him, you'd think he was a volleyball god, but that isn't the point. Here's the important part: In terms of sheer personality, Giovanazzi is someone the Athletic Department will have a difficult time replacing. In terms of people skills, finding an adequate successor will be darn near impossible. His players respect his volleyball knowledge; they revere his people skills. You learn that much in the first couple sentences. Since learning of his resignation, various team members have described the decision in terms ranging from "sad" to "heart-wrenching." Giovanazzi himself said the "emotional" team meeting, during which he informed the team of his resignation, was the toughest part. "The women on this team have been so, so supportive," he said. "Meetin- with the team was difficult, but they really have been incredible. They just are a great group of people." I don't know Giovanazzi on a personal level, per se, and my experiences with the volleyball program have been minimal, to be honest. But I do know, after four years of working in this sports section, a thing or two about the impression he's left. Every year, without fail, there are a handful of Michigan Daily sports writers who sit around sometime near the start of volleyball season and malk about the beloved Coach Giovanazzi. The lucky writer who's assigned to the volleyball beat each fall is generally the toast of more than a few con- versations. "He's the best,"the experienced ones gush. "You're sooo lucky to be covering volleyball!" Nobody does this when you take over the football beat. Trust me. I could be wrong, but my general impression is that when a coach makes his job the absolute, No. 1, get-out-of-my-way top priority, he seals himself off from the rest of the world just a tiny bit (sometimes more). With some of the high profile sports, that's perhaps an unavoidable evil. But one of the admirable things about Giovanazzi is that he certainly seems to have the proper perspective. Michigan had its best-ever season while he was coach - but winning has never taken precedence over some of the other, more important things. That, I think, is refreshing. He'll tell you that volleyball has been his top priority, and there's no rea- son to doubt that. But the fact is, his resignation shows that there's more in his life than volleyball. "Quality of life" is the term he used. Yes, it will be a life without, from now on, volleyball - but it will still be a "quality" life. In the middle of our phone conversation on Friday, Giovanazzi was inter- rupted briefly. I could tell that somebody - presumably his daughter - entered the room on his end of the phone. He put the phone down for just a second to say hi. "That's the good part about all of this," he said when he returned his attention to the phone call. "I still get to be a parent." Michigan's next volleyball coach has a tough act to follow. - Jim Rose can be reached via e-mail atjwrose@umich.edu. FILE PHOTO Michigan wrestler Joe Warren captured third place in Las Vegas at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Overall, the Wolverines took fourth place at the meet, with Warren's third-place showing tied for the highest finish by a Michigan wrestler. Freshman leads gymnasts in season opener By chnIs Grandstaff Daily Sports Writer. The Michigan mean's gymnastics team jump-started its season on Friday night in front of an enthusiastic Cliff Keen Arena carowd at the Maize and Blue intrasquad meet. The event, which split the team evenly into two squads, pitted the, Maize team versus the Blue team. The Blue team was. victorious, posting a score of 219.85 to the Maize's.216.65. "I was really pleased with the way some of the guys attacked the event,' Michigan gymnastics coach Kurt Golder said. The evening was highlighted by the perfor- mance of freshman Scott Vetere. Vetere, competing fqTtthe Maize team, placed first in the all-around standings with a score of 56.10. He defeated junior, fiv time national champion and fan favorite Jose "LaLo" Haro, whose score of 55.65 helped lead the Blac team to victory. "1'm not surprised about Scott's performance,'said GoIder. "He's been re ally steady in practice." *After a wild picture beco 'Me Associated Presst Vetere, who was competing in his first collegiate event, also placed first in the pommel horse and paral- lel bar events with scores of 9.80 and 9.60 respectively en route to his all around victory. "Scott rose to the occasion," Michigan assistant coach Mike Burns said. "He's gonna be a good one." Not to be outdone, Haro placed in the top two in four of the six events. His performance included a first -place tie with last year's Big Ten freshman of the year, Kevin Roulston, in the vault with a score of 9.65, sec- ond place in the floor exercise (9.40), second place in the parallel bars (9.50) and second place in the hori- zontal bars (9.40). Haro's performance was a major factor in the Blue team's victory, and his popularity was evident as screamsof "LaLo" filled the arena preceding each and every one of his attempts. "LaLo is a great competitor and knows how to play the crowd," said Burns. "He's a classic showman." Other Wolverine standouts included senior Randy D'Amura, who placed first in the floor exercise with a score of 9.50, junior Ethan'Johnson, who took first in the still rings with a score of 9.60, and freshman Daniel Diaz-Luong, who grabbed first in the horizontal bar event with a score of 9.50. The team's performance was especially impressive considering that it was short two gymnasts. The Wolverines were missing freshman Brad Kenna, who was out with a bad back, and sophomore Justin Toman, who was in Colorado with the U. S. National Team. , Despite all the praise, the Wolverines left some room for improvement. "I'm a little disappointed with some and I'm very pleased with others," Golder said. "Guys were happy just with dismounting and that's not good enough." Expect practices to get a little more difficult for the Wolverines from here on out. "We suffered in the routines and dismounts later in the program," Golder said."We need to emphasize our training and endurance." The Wolverines will have plenty of time to make any needed adjustments. Michigan's next event is Jan. 16, when the Wolverines travel to Chicago for the Windy City Invitational in their official season opener. Saturday, bowl mes crystal clear U ce.t un a No i vc Nn ? '-College football has the national title matchup fans want to see every season - INo. I vs. No. 2. And this time it will be Tennessee vs. Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. -It took a wild Saturday of upsets, but when the results vwre in there was real- ly.no need for. comnputers, quartiles and stgth-of-scheidul es after all. The biggest loseor in the maneuvering was No. 4 Kansas State (11-1). The Wildcats lost to Texas A&M 36-33 in double overtime inithe Big 12 title game and lost out on a $12 million payday by * not being included in the Bowl G6rmpionship Series mix. The biggest winner turned out to be No. 7 Florida, which despite losses to Tennessee and Florida State was selected because it will helpfill the Orange Bowl by bringing tens ofthousands of fans. In the final BCS standings, which use .dUsl.I LJ . b UL U I . V. . INV. G matchup and incorporated The Associated Press' media poll, the coach- es' poll, three computer ratings, strength-of-schedule and the number of losses into the process of picking the top two teams. Tennessee finished with 3.47 points - I point for poll average, 1.67 points for computer ranking, 0.80 for the 20th- toughest schedule and zero points for losses. "I feel we arrived at two tremendous- ly qualified teams to be ranked 1-2," BCS chairman Roy Kramer said. "They deserved to be there based on all the cri- teria. We want to create No. 1 vs. No. 2 .The others are up to the individual bowls." The Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., was the site of the last 1-2 matchup in a post- season game. In the '96 Fiesta, No. I Nebraska won the national title with a 62-24 rout of No. 2 Florida. It will also mark the 12th time No. I played No. 2 in a bowl game. Top- ranked teams have won six times. "We have been a resilient team all season and we've found a way to get it done," Vols coach Phillip Fulmer said after he watched UCLA and Kansas State lose before his team had all it could handle before beating Mississippi State. "We've been on the edge of play- ing in a national championship game, and now we have a chance to do it." Kristen Schoenfeld, Nursing Freshmen, University of Michigan IM C SALUTESOUR SCHO Chun-Ma Taekwondo 9 Kickboxing Acadamy V'Sr LYYtr vt :%,r Armv ROTC books. lab fees and an allow- liverLy year L £ m.~&y v ------. ",._.,_w_ __ - __