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? B.C. YU MARTIAL ARTS CENTER 36 8th Degree Black Belt 36 Years Experience In The Area AEROBIC KICKBOXING KICKIOXING FOR FUN AND FITNESS 994-9595 Colonnade Center 857 W. Eisenhower Parkway Ellerbe's new deal The base salary: $140,000: "The sweetener" $310,000 How he earns it: In addition to his primary duties as head men's basketball coach, Ellerbe will earn the additional income from TV, radio and Internet appearances, as well as from his basketball camp. AN ARMY SCHOLARSHIP COULD HELP YOU THROUGH MEDICAL SCHOOL. The U.S. Army Health Professions Scholarship Program offers a unique opportunity for financial support to medi- cal or osteopathy students. Financial support includes a 9 monthly stipend plus tuition, books and other course related expenses. For information concerning eligibility, pay, service obligation and application procedure, contact your local Army Health Care Recruiter: 734-930-0579 ARMY MEDICINE.BE ALL YOU CAN BE: www.goarmy.com The Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Community Research Clinic is seeking healthy males, ages 18-55, for participation in medication U 100's of Beautiful Girls Coast to Coast Texas Stc~e Couch Dances Executives Lounge Shower Shows .f Amateur Contests fational Competitions Adult Super Star Features Totalty nude Showgirls with this ad