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Tracking 'M' teams
Don't miss the Michigan track teams, which venture
indoors to host Indiana, Michigan State and Kansas in
the second indoor track meet of the season for both
squads. Races start at noon tomorrow.
Friday
January 15, 1999
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The M
Boston College transfer
ghty
Penn
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Josh Langfeld and the Michigan hockey team will have their hands full with Ferris
State for the third straight game. Last weekend, the Wolverines squeaked out a
des sweep of the Bulldogs.
F Icers wary of
Ferris. Ul Dog Pound
leads Buckeye turnaround
By Josh Kleinbaum to an 8-22 record, just 1-15 in the P
Daily Sports Editor Ten, good enough for last place.
James "Scoonie" Penn watched help- But stumbling and Buckeyes are
lessly as his Boston College basketball longer synonymous, thanks to Per
team fell apart after the 1997 season. When he leads the Buckeyes into Cris
First, Penn saw his coach, Jim Arena for a noon game tomorrow, th
O'Brien, quit to take over the Ohio State will be 3-1 in the Big Ten, good enou
program. Then, with O'Brien gone, most for second place, and 13-4 overall.
of the Eagles' prize recruits opted to go "We spent a lot of time worryi
elsewhere, too. The outlook was dim for about beating the press last yea
the Eagles. O'Brien said. "With Scoonie, we do:
So Penn, Boston College's star who have to worry about that. He's goodc
averaged 13.1 points and 3.1 assists as a the dribble, has the ability to pull up f
sophomore, had to choose: stay or go? the shot, plays hard-nosed defense and
"His first question was, 'What about an excellent team leader."
me?"' said O'Brien, now in his second Ohio State's turnaround has been not
year coaching the Buckeyes. "He had to ing short of remarkable. The Buckey
think about his future." are playing their best basketball since t
So Penn thought about his future and days of Lawrence Funderburke in t
decided that it wasn't in Boston. early '90s, and have even found then
O'Brien jumped at the opportunity selves in the top 25 for the first time sin
"Once he decided to transfer, I sug- 1993 with a No. 21 ranking.
gested he come to Ohio State," O'Brien Despite all that Penn does for the tea
said. on the court, it's probably what he do
Penn was wary. Born in Salem, Mass., off the court that makes the biggest di
the then-sophomore had lived on the ference, although his 14.6 points and 4
East Coast. Ohio? Isn't that just a big, assists per game couldn't hurt. Penn h
cold, Midwestern state that you have to quickly become a leader on this Bucke3
drive through to get anywhere? team. Even while redshirting last seaso
But Ohio State offered Penn familiar- Penn established himself in that role -
ity in O'Brien. If he transferred there, he he was voted as a team captain befo
didn't have to take a gamble as to ever playing a game for Ohio State.
whether he'd be happy with the visit. O'Brien said that the younger playe
On O'Brien's urging, Penn decided to respond well to Penn, and he has tak
take an official recruiting visit to Ohio several of them under his wing, inclui
State - no commitment, no strings ing last year's Big Ten freshman of th
attached. And on that visit in the spring year, Michael Redd, and current fresl
of '97, he fell in love with Columbus. man Brian Brown.
"He didn't even go home this sum- "He's very positive and very team-or
mer," O'Brien said. ented," O'Brien said. "He looks out fc
For the past year, Penn sat on the side- everyone, especially the younger guy
lines and watched his new team stumble He pushes everyone to do a lot more"
Big
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0 Chris Duprey
Daily Sports Writer
To Josh Blackburn, Mike Comrie
and the rest of the Michigan hockey
freshmen: Welcome to the Dog
Pound.
The Wolverines make the trip to
Ferris State tonight to meet the
Bulldogs for the third time in eight
days, and will be greeted by the rau-
cous canine crowd known as the Dog
und.
Although the name is a copy of
the former Cleveland Browns' den,
the combination of the Pound and
the cramped confines of
Eweigleben Ice Arena should make
quite an unfriendly atmosphere for
the Wolverines - especially the
freshmen, who haven't made the
trip to Big Rapids yet in their
careers.
*It's a lot like the old Ohio State
arena. It's not your typical college
rink," Michigan assistant captain
Bobby Hayes said. "They've got a
good team. We can't judge a team by
what kind of building it plays in."
A lot is at stake for Michigan.
With a win, the Wolverines will
sweep the season series against
Ferris State for the third time in the
past four years.
And Michigan must gather all the
stories it can get to keep pace with
Michigan State, which leads the
CCHA by one point and has played
one more game than the Wolverines.
Michigan might be able to catch
Ferris State a little winded tonight.
The Bulldogs had an unusual
Tuesday night game at home against
Alaska-Fairbanks, scheduled only to
accommodate the Nanooks in the
midst of a lengthy roa4 swing.
While Ferris State was a 4-1 win-
ner Tuesday, it might find itself run-
ning a little tired should it draw the
Wolverines into a high-energy, fast-
paced contest tonight.
The key for the Wolverines in last
weekend's victories was their suc-
cess at neutralizing Ferris State's top
two scorers, winger Geoff Bennetts
and top-line center Kevin Swider.
Neither scored a goal, and the
Bulldogs' secondary scorers weren't
able to produce enough to pick up
the slack.
"The only thing they get is what
we give them," Hayes said. "We just
want to go out and play the same
game we played the previous two
times."
Almost lost in the importance of
Michigan's road trip to Ferris State is
tomorrow night's home contest
against Western Michigan. While
Michigan is fighting for first place
in the CCHA, the Broncos are trying
to hold onto eighth place, which also
represents the final conference play-
off spot.'
The Michigan-Western Michigan
matchup could be one of many this
season.
Michigan travels to Kalamazoo for
two games in two weeks against the
Broncos next month, and the two
have a very realistic chance of being
paired against each other in the first
round of the CCHA playoffs.
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AP PHOTO
Ohio State guard Scoonle Penn, who transferred from Boston College after the
1997 season, has pumped some life Into Ohio State's basketball team.
Guevara, squad look to end three-game skid
By Geoff Gagnon
Daily Sports Writer
One of the most celebrated squads in
the Big Ten one month ago, the
Michigan women's basketball team has
had little to celebrate yet in 1999. Rather
than ringing in the New Year, the team
has found itself stinging in the New Year.
After opening the season with the best
start in team history, coach Sue Guevara
and her squad have found their momen-
tum stalled and will be looking to put an
end to the three-game losing skid they've
found themselves in as they travel
tonight to Madison to face the Badgers
of Wisconsin in an important matchup
for both teams.
Reeling on the heels of a loss to
Indiana Sunday night, the Badgers can
relate to Michigan's struggles - they've
dropped a trio of consecutive conference
contests, posting a 2-4 mark in the Big
Ten en route to a 7-8 record overall.
For Michigan, a team desperately
searching for answers, tonight's game
will provide an opportunity for redemp-
tion after a week of struggle. Guevara
and her squad watched a school-best
nine-game winning streak be replaced
by a losing streak that has baffled critics
and befuddled opponents.
"I think it shows that, more than any-
thing, on any given night anyone in this
conference can win," Minnesota coach
Cheryl Littlejohn said after her Gophers
upended Michigan Sunday night. "You
just have to be prepared."
And prepared, the Wolverines were
not. They faced Littlejohn's team Sunday
only to come up short in their second
game in as many days after falling to
Louisiana Tech in front of a CBS televi-
sion audience the previous afternoon.
Last weekend's poor performance,
coupled with a loss to Illinois the previ-
ous week, marked a Wolverine free-fall
in the conference standings to the sev-
enth spot.
In the loss to Minnesota, the
Wolverines mustered their poorest offen-
sive showing of the year, tallying a mere
44 points. Tonight, Michigan finds itself
looking to claw its way back to the top of
the conference standings, while hoping
to end the team's longest winless streak
since 1996. To do that, however, Guevara
said she may be forced make some per-
sonnel changes.
"Maybe I'm going to have to do
something with the starting lineup. You
know, shake them up," Guevara said. "I
just don't know what else to do. We've
got to get the freshmen playing because
we're not getting any help off the bench."
With each of Michigan's four fresh-
men having started at least once this sea-
son, Guevara is hoping that new combi-
nations of players could help ignite a
resurgent offensive effort while restoring
a Wolverine squad that still has the bulk
of its Big Ten season left to play.
"We don't have instant energy, we
don't have help coming off the bench,"
Guevara said. "These kids have to be
ready to play."
More than simply altering the starting
lineup, Guevara says she knows that in
order to get back on track, the
Wolverines will have to concentrate on
fundamentals.
Not the least of their concerns,
according to Guevara, is her team's pass-
ing. In committing 19 turnovers against
Minnesota, Guevara said ball movement
would be addressed in preparation for
tonight's game.
"Why can't we pass the ball? We had
a couple of times we got a steal on the
other end, we were coming down on the
break and just'hrew it out of bounds,"
Guevara said.
Wherever answers may lie for
Guevara and her team, what is known is
that tonight's matchup with Wisconsin is
sure to be a test. The Badgers, hungry to
avenge four conference losses in five
tries, welcome Michigan to the new
Kohl Center having won nine of the past
10 meetings between these schools.
Guevara realizes a win in Madison
would provide a lift for her team and she
said the players will decide the future of
the season.
"Good teams know how to refocus for
the next day, for the next opponent,
Guevara said. "I'll see how smart these
Michigan kids really are, I'll see if they
respond.
Aloha! 'M' netters
get away from snow
Young blood hits the courts
As the Michigan women's tennis team begins its regular dual
meet season this weekend, one of the underlying themes of this
year's squad will be its youth.
The Wolverines are left with no seniors - Jennifer Boylan is a
senior, but has junior eligibility. Here's the scoop on this year's
squad along with last season's dual-meet record.
WI Kiu.
AVOID THE HASSLES
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By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Writer
Aloha, again.
[ike many other Michigan sports this
t year, the Michigan women's tennis
team heads off to the land of leis,
Hawai'i, to play three meets in three
days. The Wolverines will battle No. 8
Brigham Young tomorrow, followed by
Fresno State on Sunday and then the
Cougars again on Monday.
The Cougars are led in singles by
regionally ranked No. 10 Eline Chiew,
No. 98 Adrien Alder Jenkins and Gee
Garvin.
Earlier this season, Chiew advanced
to the round of 16 at the ITA National
Clay Courts Championship.
Garvin also could stifle the
Wolverines after winning the singles title
at the University of Nevada Las Vegas
tAunament.
Boylan and freshman Jen Vaughn.
Lund finished runner-up at the
International Tennis Association (ITA)
Midwest Regional Championship. She
carries a 5-1 regional record into the
meet against Brigham Young.
Lund also plays doubles with Hart.
The duo is looking to improve upon its
disappointing National Clay Courts
appearance, when the women were upset
in the first round by South Alabama.
Lund and Hart started the year ranked
eighth in the ITA preseason poll. The
two finished last year ranked 25th.
Improvement is also on the minds of
Boylan and Vaughn. The two netters
hope to rebound from the ITA Midwest
Regional Championships, in which they
posted a 1-2 record.
After Hawai'i, the Wolverines will
come back to Ann Arbor to face Western
Michigan at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Juniors (3):
Brooke Hart, Jennifer
Boylan, Danielle Lund,
Erryn Weggenman
Sophomore (1):
Alison Sinclair,
Redshirt Freshmen (2):
Maya Canfield,
Marya Farah
Freshman ():
Jennifer Vaughn
1998 Record: (8-6 Big Ten, 11-13 overall)
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