2E - The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - September 8, 1998 All-America Haro takes fourth in regional all-around By David DenHerder Daily Sports Writer One All-America honor was not enough for LaLo Haro. It has been 28 years since Michigan has had an All-American in the all-around. This past sea- son, sophomore LaLo Haro broke that skid, placing fourth at the NCAA Championships at Penn State. But after Berkeley claimed the team title one day earlier, the Michigan co-captain returned for the individual finals, where he was again crowned an All-American - this time on vault. "I went into the competition without expect- ing anything," Haro said. "All I was thinking was 'just do your best."' After a season of roller coaster performances, Haro was able to eliminate mistakes down the stretch, turning out strong routines both at the NCAA Regionals and the championships. "He did what any good athlete will do" Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "He was at his best when it was most important." Haro placed fifth on vault with a 9.500, while in the all-around he recorded a 57.100 for the fourth-place finish. All-America status is rewarded to the top six competitors in each event. "He sure pulled it together this weekend," Golder said. "He has certainly done a lot for the Michigan program." However, Haro was not the only one to be rec- ognized for his accomplishments after the ground-breaking season. Golder was named the Collegiate Gymnastics Association Central Coach of the Year, as well as being elected vice president of the association. After only two seasons as an NCAA head coach, Golder said the honor was unexpected, though his team seemed to think otherwise. "We all knew he totally deserved it," Haro said. "It was such a good feeling after a long sea- son. I think he was happy just like us." In his two years at Michigan, Golder has brought the program from the league cellar to the NCAA Regionals. His new recruiting class is considered by many other top coaches to be the most talented in the nation. Aside from Haro, three other Wolverines par- ticipated in the individual prelims during the first night of competition, but failed to advance to the finals. Freshman Kenny Keener scored a 9.650 on rings to finish in 15th place, while classmate Justin Toman was 37th on parallel bars with a 9.100. Senior Tim Lauring concluded his collegiate career by finishing 23rd in the nation on vault with a 9.550. Golder said that Haro's All-America perfor- mances were a big step for the program, but that the championships were just a precursor for '98 season. "This experience will be good for our team," Golder said. "We plan on being here next year, and we plan on winning the thing." Women tankers 1 " + - - .* ..4 ... -' M- w MAKWAKLI MTLK5/L0fl Tom Maichow'. butterfly technique was not enough to keep Michigan afloat at the 1998 men's swimming championships and, consequently, the Wolverines had their lowest finish in 12 years. Men's swunmmg finishes lowest in championships in 1years (/BREWI NG COMPANY [p ANN ARBOR'S BEST MICROBREW 1998 Michigan Daily Readership Poll BEST NEW RESTAURANT 1997 AAA Michigan Living WOOD FIRED PIZZA CREATIVE PUB ENTREES FRESH SOUPS & SALADS SANDWICHES & BURGERS VICTOR'S GOLDEN ALE GRIZZLY PEAK PALE ALE STEELHEAD RED ALE BEAR PAW PORTER COUNTY CORK'S IRISH STOUT 1I By Rick Froeman Daily SportsWriter AUBURN, Ala. -- Alabamas highway commissioner Jimmy Butts makes sure every border has a welcome center rest stop. And Southerners are famous for their hospitality. But the sight of prisoners in coveralls stamped 'Alabama Department of Corrections' landscaping these oases off of Alabama's pine- lined highways is a little jarring. Not quite what you expect. Fitting for the Michigan men's swimming and diving team at the NCAA Championships. Things just didn't go as expected for the seventh-ranked Wolverines at the meet, as they finished "lower than a frog's ass" according to Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek. Michigan' 12th-place finish out of 36 teams was its first time out of the top ten since the Wolverines finished 25th in 1986, Urbanchek's fourth year as coach. All season long, they had said that a top-four finish was their highest goal, reasoning that the Cardinal, defending champion Auburn - the host school - and the No. 3 Texas squad would be too tough to crack. But the list of other teams they found just as hard to break was as long as Mike McWha's face after Michigan's bread- and-butter 800-yard freestyle relay team finished a disap. pointing ninth, snapping Michigan's five-year streak of NCAA titles in the event. The sophomore hung on a lane marker trying to forget how much it hurt. He stared blankly at the block 'M' on the swim cap in his hands. "We're not the same team we were last year," he said. "I gave my best, but it wasn't enough, obviously." McWha could have spoken for most of Michigan's team. After his fifth-place finish in the 200 butterfly, Tom Malchow could only say "it just wasn't there" of his race. The only Wolverines who didn't feel shackled were Owen vonRichter and Chris Thompson. VonRichter turned in the only performance that could have reminded the Wolverines of their glory days, by finishing third to Tom Wilkens and Steven Brown, both from Stanford, in what Michigan assistant coach Eric Namesnik called a "tough race". Junior Brett Wilmot, the only diver who qualified for the meet, struggled his first day, in the one-meter springboard, but was opti- mistic after his 15th place finish in the three-meter event. Despite his bravado, Wilmot followed a great dive with a flop that landed him flat on his back, but remained in con- tention for a scoring position until he hit the tower with his feet on a dive.. The low scores dropped him to 18th. The only Wolverine who seemed unshackled by the myste- rious chains that seemed to slow his teammates, was looking ahead to the '99 season before the meet was even over. As he watched Arizona State and Harvard secure the points to vault them ahead of then tenth-place Michigan, he spoke of Michigan's return to prominence. r i ' 1 finish 7th in NCAA By TJ. Serka Daily Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS -Throughout last season, Michigan women's swimming coach Jim Richardson said that he was not concerned about where his team placed, how hard they worked and how they fought. According to the place- ment and the effort put out by he Wolverines at the NCAA champi- onships, one can assume that Richardson's request has been granted The Wolverines finished with 249. points, good for seventh at the champi- onships, matching their final national ranking. Stanford also lived up to its No. 1 ranking, winning its sixth nation- al championship in seven years. The Cardinals ended up with 422 points, outdistancing runner-up Arizona by 44 points. "People ask from time-to-time 'Ds it ever seem the same?"' said Stanforo coach Richard Quick, who has won twelve national championships as the coach of Texas and Stanford. "Each year the chemistry is different, the ath- letes are different, and it never gets old." While the Wolverines didn't capture any titles, they did receive two second- place finishes. Oddly enough, the two Michigan swimmers who were runners-up - senior Talor Bendel and sophomoW Shannon Shakespeare - finished sec- ond in the same event. They finished behind Southern Methodist's Martina Moracova in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.58. "It's great for Michigan," Shakespeare said. "Its great to have that kind of competitiveness on a team. Its a strange thing that happened, but you know that you are competing wit* the best." The best certainly were on display at the meet, as six NCAA and 12 pool records were set over the three days of competition. "It's fast isn't it?" Richardson said of the speed. "This meet has really taken a huge step forward. Just to say that you are one of the 235 swimmers here is a major, major accomplishment." Along with getting to the meet, Michigan provided a rare feat, as juni4 Jennie Eberwein finished fifth in the 200-free. Grouped with Bendel and Shakespeare, the Wolverines grabbed three of the top five places in the event. Michigan was the only team to have three swimmers in the championship heat of any event. "It's great to have three people from the same team in a final Period Shakespeare said. "I don't know we've ever done it before, but it's a great accomplishment.' Eberwein led the way for the Wolverines, tying for fourth-place in the 50-free and fifth in the 100 and 200-free. r y1 GRIZLYPEAK BREWING CO. 120 WEST WASHINGTON * ANN ARBOR M 741-PEAK - - .~-. :.. ... . - .. . . . ::e - a ''-~- o '-.. 2 - . . 2 - - September 19 - December 21 SINCE 1915 Lifeguards Entrance Monitors Equipment Room More A GREAT ANN ARBOR & P ICHIGAN TRADITION $5.15 - $5.50/hour Contact Lorelel 936-0617 ldm@umich.edu Two central campus locations: .t To 711 N. University 668-6915 Mon.- Sat.9AM - 7PM e Sun.10AM - 5PM Catalog Available 7ll Free 1-800-319-6246 902 S. State f 668-7296 Mon.- Sat.10AM - 6PM e Sun.10AM - 5PM NEW Visit our newest addition: OUTLET Clearance prices on discontinued styles & garments Located next door to 711 N. University store Mon.- Fri.12PM - 5PM Sat. - Sun. 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