20A - The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - September 8, 1998
'M' gymnast makes U.S. team
By Tracy Sander my head
Daily Sports Writer such a bi
He may be young. He may have rotation as
been a rookie of sorts. But Michigan hers.
gymnast Justin Toman took it all in "I had a
stride and left Indianapolis as a got all the
member of the U.S. national men's day of co
gymnastics team. fun and n
.Competing with Michigan team- my group.
mates and former Olympians alike, Also re
Toman arrived at the 1998 John tournamen
Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Roulston,
Championships Aug. 19 for his first Wolveri
trip to the tournament, which took Kenna a
place at Market Square Arena. at the se
During two days of competition, Daniel Di
Toman earned the ninth of 14 open the junior
spots on the U.S. national team. Vetere's
Toman's all-around score was 100.725y
103.200, including a fifth-place fin- Kenna fin
ish on the still rings (8.850) and around sc
ninth on both the floor exercise ished 64th
(8.925) and the parallel bars ment's fin
(9.000). At thej
"There were two days of competi- finished n
tion, and on the first day I was real- bracket, n
ly nervous," Toman said. "It got to national te
Coaches will
play recruiting
game, as well
By T.J. Berka
Daily Sports Writer
When former Michigan basketball coach Steve
Fisher was fired by athletic director Tom Goss last
October, the Michigan basketball program went
into a state of upheaval.
The changing of the guard was completed this
summer with the hiring of assistants Lorenzo
Neely, and Kurtis Townsend, and administrative
associate Tom Sorboro. Michigan also signed coach
Brian Ellerbe to a six-year contract.
While Ellerbe has been in the Michigan spotlight
for a year now, leading the Wolverines to a 25-9
record and a Big Ten tournament title as interim
coach last season, the hiring of the new assistants
represents a clean break from the Fisher era.
"They are both great coaches," senior guard Ron
Oliver said of Fisher and Ellerbe. "Things should
be pretty much the same around here except for a
few differences in approach and coaching style."
The main difference that the new regime will
bring is a different playing style. With a smaller
lineup for this season than in past seasons,
Michigan has discussed playing a more aggressive
style.
"We will probably play up-tempo basketball a lit-
tle more under Ellerbe and the new staff," Oliver
said.
The new assistants are hoping to provide a
recruiting boost as well. While many schools have
used blockbuster recruiting classes to improve their
programs, Michigan has seen its recruiting efforts
fail to pay large dividends, thanks to an NCAA
investigation and instability within the program.
But the Wolverines now have some stability in
the form of Ellerbe, named permanent head coach
in April.
The Wolverines also plan to use Neely, a former
head coach at Redford High School in suburban
Detroit and a former Eastern Michigan player and
assistant, to recruit locally.
that I was competing in
g meet. I was in the same
s other national team mem-
acouple of big falls, but I
bugs out. On the second
mpetition, I tried to have
ot worry about who was in
"
presenting Michigan at the
nt was sophomore Kevin
who finished 15th.
nes Scott Vetere, Brad
4 Josh Levin participated
'ior level, and freshman
az-Luong participated at
level.
all-around score of
placed him 27th, while
nished 28th with an all-
ore of 100.675. Levin fin-
and made it to the tourna-
als.
junior level, Diaz-Luong
inth in the 16-18 year-old
missing the junior elite
am by 0.575 points.
Roulston was impressed with
Toman's ability to stay calm and per-
form at such a high level.
"He did really well both days,"
Roulston said. "It was his first time
competing at this tournament, and
he handled the pressure really well.
He only missed two routines out of
the 12 during the whole competi-
tion."
Toman's success did not come
without hours of hard work and
careful preparation.
Roulston said he practiced "a lot
of routines. High volume of rou-
tines. Kevin and I did a lot of mini-
meets where we would be judged by
our coaches. That really helped us a
lot."
Roulston said such preparation is
common for both Toman and him-
self.
"He's a hard worker in the gym,"
Roulston said. "We're always the
last two guys to leave the gym after
practice. He doesn't like to leave
until his routines are perfect."
... Michigan gym,
nast Justin
Toman earned the
ninth spot (out of
14) on the U.S.
national team
last month.
NATHAN RUFFER/Daily
Nebraska- Omaha to
join CCHA in 1999
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe has surrounded himself with a cast of assistants, picked as much for their coach-
ing ability as for their skill at recruiting.
By Josh Kloinbaum
Daily Sports Editor
Melanie Gherardini will have to
bust out her atlas. The travel coordi-
nator for the Michigan athletic depart-
ment has to find out how to get to
Omaha.
That's because Nebraska-Omaha
was accepted as the 12th member of
the CCHA a little more than two
months ago, effective for the 1999-
2000 season.
"It's terrific," CCHA commission-
er Tom Anastos said. "It's a good fit
for the CCHA and Nebraska-Omaha.
They have a very committed program
- they're committed to being suc-
cessful."
With 12 teams in the conference,
the CCHA will likely go to a division-,
al system.
"There was even talk to add divi-
sions this year," Michigan assistant
hockey coach Mel Pearson said. "I
definitely see it as going that way.
(The schedule) won't be balanced,
and that'll be a concern, but I think
that's the direction the conference is
going."
The CCHA had been considering
expansion for months, and then-com-
missioner Bill Beagan set up a five-
person expansion committee to look
into the matter.
The committee, which considered
expansion in general and not specific
cases, recommended expansion
before Nebraska-Omaha even
approached the CCHA.
"The process usually has three
steps," Anastos said, "the application,
due diligence and a vote. Since due
diligence was completed before UNO
even applied, it sped up the whole
process."
By the time Nebraska-Omaha
approached the CCHA, Beagan had
already announced his retirement, and
he introduced Anastos to the
Nebraska-Omaha staff at the CCHA
Championships in March at the Joe
Louis Arena.
The school made a formal presen-
tation, along with Niagara, at the
CCHA coaches' meetings in Naples,
Fla., and impressed the coaches.
"Once they made the presentation,
the decision was pretty easy," Pearson
said. "They have a great facility and
With Neely's knowledge of the Detroit area, the
Wolverines are hoping to tap into more local play-
ers. Once a Michigan stronghold, the Wolverines
have only recruited one player, freshman Chris
Young, from the Detroit area in the past three years.
Townsend, a native of San Jose, Calif., was a for-
mer assistant at Eastern Kentucky under Scott
Perry, an assistant at Michigan under Fisher.
However, Townsend's value is in his California
roots, a place where Michigan has not recruited
well in the past.
After graduating from Menlo Park Junior
College in Menlo Park, Calif., Townsend spent nine
years coaching high school in San Jose and three
more years as an assistant at California.
Townsend "has a lot of contacts on the West
Coast and is a very skillful recruiter," said assistant
coach Scott Trost, the only holdover from the Fisher
era, "We plan on using him as well as Neely, Ellerbe
and I on the road in recruiting."
Sorboro, while not as visible as Neely or
Townsend, will be a valuable commodity this
upcoming season as well, taking care of the team's
travel and other administrative details. A graduate
of Bowling Green, Sorboro worked as an assistant
under Ellerbe at Loyola (Md.).
they drew so well. The dollars stag-
gered a lot of people, and it was pre-
sented in a very professional manner."
On June 24, the athletic directrs
of the member schools took a vote ong
a conference call. While Anastos said
the vote was not unanimous, thesup-
port for the expansion was "over-
whelming."
Pearson said it was the business
side of the deal that made the expan-
sion so quick and painless.
"They're one of the few teams in
the league actually making money,"
Pearson said. "They're drawing well
and the program is healthy and stable*
There's no reason for that to change.
There's not that much else to do in
Omaha."
The CCHA was not Nebraska-
Omaha's first choice. Compared to
the WCHA, the CCHA makes, little
sense for the team from a geographic
standpoint. Travel will be difficult for
some schools, especially the ones in
Michigan's upper peninsula.
But the WCHA put a moratorium
on expansion earlier this year, sayinD
it was not interested in any new
teams.
The CCHA took a different
approach and they still might not be
done.
"The CCHA has always been a
progressive group," Pearson said.
"There may even be more expansion.
The conference has to decide how
many teams it wants."
Niagara has already shown inter-
est, and made a presentation to the
CCHA, and Pearson said Oakland and
Wayne State may be going varsity
soon.
The immediate concern for the
Mavericks is whether or not it will be
able to compete in the CCHA. Last
season, playing a schedule against
mostly independent teams with some
affiliated ones, including NCAA-
tournament qualifier Princeton, the
Mavericks put together a 12-18-
record in their first varsity season.
"It's a decent record for their first
year varsity," Pearson said. "I think
they have a chance to be middle of the
pack."
Against affiliated teams, the
Mavericks only win came in a 4-3 vic-
tory over Maine.
61
Continued from Page 13A
The two teams play again Tuesday
night, giving McGwire and Sosa
another chance to highlight the
greatest homer chase ever, topping
even the race between Maris and
Mickey Mantle in 1961.
McGwire and Sosa have homered
on the same day 20 times this year,
twice connecting in the same gam
It's easy to keep track of howth
stand, too, by looking at the out-of-
town scoreboard in center field.
Right below an inning-by-inning
listing of the Florida-Colorado
game, there's a section where it's
posted - McGwire 61, Sosa 58.
McGwire and Sosa, who have
become friends throughout their
friendly rivalry, spent the early part
of the morning holding a news co
ference together. Sitting bicep to
bicep they took turns praising each
other.
"Wouldn't it be great if we just
ended up tie" McGwire said.."'T
think it would be beautiful."
With how many homers, guys?
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