10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 13, 1998

Depth key for Blue runners
Mortimer, Snyder provide lethal combination for Wolverines

By Raphael Goodstein
For the Daily
For the fourth consecutive year, a
Michigan cross country runner won
the individual title at the seventh
annual Murray Keatinge Invitational,
hosted by Maine.
Senior All-America John
Mortimer defended his own title
Saturday in Orono, Maine, running
the 8,000-meter course in 24:01.10.
Mortimer led a 1-2-3-6 Wolverine
finish.
"We're improving every week,"
Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said.
"We're going to have to if we want to
fulfill our goals. Every week from
here on out will get tougher."
Behind Mortimer was fellow
senior All-America Todd Snyder.
Snyder, coming off a Paul Short
Invitational title on Oct. 3, was
named Big Ten athlete of the week.
Snyder finished with a time of
24:09.39.
"Almost every time we run,
Mortimer and Snyder will finish in
the top three," Warhurst said. "From
there it's up to the other guys to go

out there and do their jobs."
Junior Steve Lawrence finished
third at 24:15.14 and senior Don
McLaughlin finished sixth with a
24:45.63 time.
Rounding out the scorers for the
Wolverines was sophomore Mike
Wisniewski, with a 15th-place time
of 25:05.77.
"It was a nasty day," Warhurst
said. "A lot of our runners were slip-
ping around out there and that's why
our times were down."
Michigan won the Il-team tourna-
ment with 27 points, beating second-
place Iowa by 37.
The sixth-ranked Wolverines will
host the sixth annual Wolverine
Interregional on Oct. 18 at the
Michigan Golf Course. The 10-team
.field will also include No. 22 James
Madison.
"We want to win the tournament
and place five runners in the top 15,"
Warhurst said.
The Big Ten Championships are
less than three weeks away, and one
of the team's goals is to win the
crown.

"We haven't accomplished any of
our goals so far," Warhhurst said.
"We want to win the Big Ten and fin-
ish in the top two in the NCAA
Regionals so that we will receive an
automatic bid to the NCAA
Championships."
The rest of the season will get
more difficult for the Wolverines as
they go to the Eastern Michigan
Open on Oct. 23, then continue with
the Big Ten Championships on Nov.
1, the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 14
and the NCAA Championships on
Nov. 23.
"We have practiced hard, now we
just have to go out and run well,
Warhurst said. "It doesn't do any
good to practice a lot and go and run
poorly.
"It is like studying for a long time,
and then failing the test."
Repeating as Big Ten champions
will not be easy, as No. 9 Michigan
State and No. 14 Wisconsin will also
contend for the conference title.
"Being in front of our fans and on
our own home course should help,"
Warhurst said.

John Mortimer
- :.,z continued his
reign in the
Murray Keatinge
' Invitational
Saturday, winning
_ the race for the
second consecu-
tive season.
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
Blue goes on without Philbrook

By Stephanie Offen
Daily Sports Writer
The loss of a key player could have
meant a drop in the rankings for the
Michigan field hockey team, as it faced
two tough opponents last weekend.
But with a victory over No. 8 Ohio
State on Friday and a loss to No. 6 Penn
State on Saturday, the I I th-ranked
Wolverines (3-1 Big Ten, 10-3 overall)
stayed in a three-way tie atop the Big
Ten. They may even rise in the national
rankings. This all took place with the
absence of forward Amy Philbrook.
Philbrook, a senior co-captain, sus-
tained a small fracture in her knee with
eight minutes left in the Northwestern
game on Oct. 4. The incident came
after she scored twice in the second
half, giving the team the game-winning
goal.
"Amy can really attack from the cor-
ner, which we miss," Michigan coach
Marcia Pankratz said. "She is definite-
ly a key player."
Philbrook is second on the team in
scoring, with eight goals. She is also
ranked sixth among Big Ten scorers.
Philbrook is followed in scoring by
sophomore Kelli Gannon, who record-
ed her 10th goal when she scored the
game-winner Friday against Ohio
State.

Along with Gannon's outstanding
play this weekend, there were others
that stepped up and took charge in
Philbrook's absence.
Jessie Veith, a freshman and a candi-
date for Big Ten freshman of the year
honors, was one of the players who
subbed for Philbrook. Veith hadn't
scored in a while, but found a perfect
opportunity to do so, tying the game 1-
1 in the first half of the 4-2 loss to Penn
State. It was Veith's sixth goal, making
her Michigan's freshmen scoring
leader.
"The forwards rotate around a lot, so
I am used to seeing a lot of playing time
this season,"Veith said. "But it will def-
initely be a good thing when Amy gets
back. We really miss her."
Veith also added that it is upperclass-
men like Philbrook who have been
essential in teaching the younger play-
ers how to work with the team and giv-
ing them the support they need.
"They've filtered what they know
down to us,"Veith said.
And there are many freshmen and
sophomores to receive that knowledge.
With 14 underclassmen on the team,
there were many players to step up in
Philbrook's absence. Freshman
Catherine Foreman, for example,
scored her first goal of the season in the

loss to Penn State. But it was sopho-
more Tamra Geryk who took over the
starting position, her first start of the
year.
Philbrook was listed as questionable
for the games last weekend because her
injury did not involve any torn liga-
ments. But instead of risking further
injury, she rested her knee and is sched-
uled to start in the Michigan State game
on Oct. 18. She will use this week to
work hard and prepare for that game.
"I will have to start off this week
slow," said Philbrook. "I'll start off with
stickwork and start running toward the
end of the week. It shouldn't be hard to
fit back into the unit."
Even though other Wolverines have
been able to keep the team atop the
conference, Philbrook will be happily
welcomed back - the next two weeks
are the toughest to come for Michigan.
With the road game in East Lansing
on Sunday and a trip to Penn State and
Ohio State the following weekend, the
Wolverines will need a three-game
winning streak to maintain the top spot
in the Big Ten.
Michigan would only be helped with
Philbrook's leadership back for those
key games.
"As a captain, Amy provides inspira-
tion for the team," Pankratz said.

0

JOSH KLEINBAUM/Daily
The 11th-ranked Michigan field hockey team, even without the services of senior co-captaln Amy Philbrook, finds itself in a
three-team logjam atop the Big Ten standings.


?'§ Josh Langfeld and
S the Michigan
hockey team has
given opposing
y ~goalies plenty of*
chances to pad
their save per-
centages so far
this season.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Despite scores of shots, Blue
offense struggles to score

By Chris Duprey
Daily Sports Writer
Despite employing a suffocating
defense, the Michigan hockey team
has gotten itself into a nasty habit
early in the season: making opposing
goaltenders look---------.-
good. Hockey
Low scoring
isn't a concern Comumeintary
just yet, as the --------
Wolverines have only played one reg-
ular season game. But continuing a
trend of low scoring could catch up
with Michigan against some of the
CCHA's stronger teams - most
notably Michigan State and Ohio

Lakers got acquainted with the visi-
tors' penalty box on 16 occasions.
Yet Lake Superior goaltender Rob
Galatiuk kept the Wolverines at bay,
ending many intense power play
sequences with frustratingly spectac-
ular saves.
And if one had to guess whether
Jayme Platt or Galatiuk will get the
call to face Michigan later in the sea-
son - the two share the Lakers' goal-
tending duties - it's a reasonable
guess. to pick the latter. So the
Wolverines likely will get a second -
and maybe a third - chance to see if
Galatiuk is as solid as he looked
Sunday.

into goals.
To be fair, the Wolverines have
been missing occasional pieces of
their puzzle Senior Dale Rominski
missed the Guelph exhibition while
resolving an academic matter, and
injuries to Mark Kosick and Craig
Murray have given Michigan limited
time to gel.
Still, it's tough to be patient wit9
any young team. Even the most suc-
cessful squads crave instant success
- not always reachable in the revolv-
ing door of hockey dominance.
More than once this season, the
Wolverines' transition game will look
like a car that's trying to change gears

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