MEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(2) DUKE 89,
(10) North Carolina 77
(4) MARYLAND 107,
Florida State 87
(7) AUBURN 64,
Mississippi St. 54
MICHIGAN STATE 76,
(15) Ohio State 71
(9) St,John'-s75,
(17) SYRACUSE 70
Northwestern 54,
(14) PURDUE 50
(16) IOWA 84,
Penn State 74
NEBRASKA 84,
(22) Kansas 69
(21) ARKANSAS 86,
Louisiana State 64
(23) MIAMI (Fla.) 77,
Seton Hail 71
;13c)lOak
TS
CheCk out the No. 4 Michigan men's gymnastics team
as it hosts No. 3 Ohio State and No. 6 Illinois at the r
BMG Showdown tomorrow. Free CDs and tapes will be'
given to the first 1,000 fans. Admission IS free.
Thursday
January 28, 1999 ..L A q
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Dread Pirate Vignier?
Not so inconceivable
Spartans
canned
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Writer
Like the Fire Swamp in the movie
"The Princess Bride," the low post in
Big Ten basketball is a place fraught
with peril. Deadly elbows, fiery per-
sonalities and Students Of Unusual
Size threaten all who dare enter.
The meek might inherit the earth,
but the low post is best left to those
brash enough to laugh out loud in the
face of danger.
But if Peter Vignier has laughed in
danger's face this season, nobody
heard it. You could say his success
has come in a vacuum, but black
hole would be more like it. Which is
fitting for tonight's opponent - no
team in the Big Ten has collapsed on
itself more since last season than
Illinois.
"I think there's plenty of post play-
ers that play just fine," Vignier said.
"They're not loud, they're not run-
ning up and down the court ... danc-
ing."
Big Ten regular-season co-cham-
pions last season, the Illini, 8-11
overall, are 0-7 in the conference.
Michigan, of course, was predicted
to fall as far, but the Wolverines (3-
5, 9-11) have held together, and part
of the reason for their surprise has
been Vignier's sorely needed pres-
ence at center.
His game may not have the flash
of Josh Asselin's.
"He's definitely a more reserved
Michigan center
Peter Vignier and
forward Chris
Young battle
under the boards.
Rebounding has
been Vignier's
forte this season,
averaging 7.9 per
game.
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
and quiet type of guy," Vignier's
teammate, senior guard Robbie Reid
said.
He might not make the splash that
Louis Bullock does from behind the
3-point line. But quietly, he's been
cash. He's fifth in the Big Ten with
7.9 rebounds a game; his 3.45 offen-
sive rpg is currently second in the
Big Ten. But more importantly, he's
gone from the end of the bench to the
starting lineup and helped stabilize
what was a shaky frontcourt at the
start of the season.
Asselin show-dunked his way to
three straight career highs last week,
and into the corner of the media
spotlight not taken up by Bullock
and Reid. His three straight career-
highs in scoring led the way for
Michigan's young frontcourt. Even
though Michigan dropped its last
two games to Purdue and Minnesota,
every member of the frontcourt has
been gaining confidence.
"Especially Pete," freshman for-
ward Chris Young said. "His confi-
dence irgincredible now."
Wait a minute. Vignier? And he's
playing well?
Inconceivable!
At least that's what most would
have thought before this season.
His coach, Brian Ellerbe, said that
Vignier "got a raw deal" from the
media last season.
He may not have Traylor's touch
See VIGNIER, Page 14A
DAVID ROCHKIND/ Daily
Michigan's Shannon Shakespeare and her teammates reopened Canham Natatorium with a victory over Big Ten rival
Michigan State, 162-144. Shakespeare won the 50- and 200-yard freestyle races. She also anchored the 200 free relay.
Canham now 'cathedral' of
Women
reopen
pool with
vitor
By Michael Kern
Daily Sports Writer
Last night, the Michigan
women's swimming team capped off
its Big Ten dual-meet season with a
162-144 victory over Michigan
State in the newly renovated
Canham Natatorium. The victory.
was the Wolverines' first since they '
defeated Purdue on Jan. 15.
Michigan did not expect very
much competition from the
unranked Spartans and was sur-
prised when the Spartans took the
lead after a surge in the middle of
the meet.
The Wolverines have suffered
from a lack of depth, all season
because of season-ending injuries
and poorly timed illnesses.
Michigan's woes continued against
Michigan State as freshman
Kerrianne Kalbko and junior Amy
Fritsch were both out with the flu
and senior Jen Eberwein, who has
been out most of the season with
Epstein-Barr syndrome, missed
another meet.
In many events, Michigan only
had two swimmers competing while'
Michigan State had three or four.
The Wolverines named the depth
problem as the main reason that the..u
meet was so close.
"When you don't have a lot of
depth, if the team swims fairly solid-
ly, you've got a couple people who
are a little more tired than they nor-
mally would be and it swings
things:'Richardson said. "But that
is what makes college athletics inter-
esting and exciting."
See SPARTANS, Page 14A
- ,
By Ryan C. Moloney
Daily Sports Writer
There was excitement in the air
last night at the newly restored Don
Canham Natatorium - and not just
because the air was clean.
The Michigan women's swim-
ming and diving team christened
the renovated pool with a victory
over Michigan State, adding to an
already jubilant evening in which
the team returned to the natatorium
after a nine-month layoff from the
building due to repairs.
Nary an expense was spared in
the restoration of the facility -
from the gleaming pool tiles to the
crisp American flag draped from
the highest diving platform. Most
impressive of all was the noticeable
difference in atmosphere condi-
tions.
"The air quality was the huge
thing," Shannon Shakespeare said.
"We have a few asthmatics on the
team and the air in here before was
really thick and didn't circulate
very well. It's a big difference."
Additionally, the water in the
city of Ann Arbor "causes problems
when it is put in swimming pools,"
said natatorium aquatic director
Mark Lambert.
"The safety of the swimmers
and other users was of paramount
importance to the Michigan
Athletic Department," Lambert
said. "This is an illustration of the
Michigan way in that we found a
means to do it better."
Other problems with the build-
ing's structural integrity, ranging
from moving walls to a suspect
roof, prompted the Athletic
Department to proceed with the
renovation in order to guarantee the
quality of the building in the years
to come.
"I think were looking at 30 years
(before scheduled repair)," Lambert
said. "It's one of the top ten colle-
giate facilities in the United States
and I want to say it's one of the top
10 indoor facilities in the world.
I'm just happy as hell about it."
For the past four months, the
team has had to take a nomadic
approach to training - alternating
between both Pioneer and Huron
High School, Eastern Michigan and
even the IM swimming pool.
"It needs to be pointed out that
for four months we were the 'school
with no pool,"' Lambert said. "Our
girl and guy swimmers swam out-
side in September and October
when it was in the 30s."
The construction of the building
began at the conclusion of the sea-
son last year and was hindered con-
siderably by the unusually volatile
See CANHAM, Page 14A
S
SYRACUSE
STUDY ABROAD
Zimbabwe * England " Italy
Mallory lost for year; tankers in hot water
ACL injury benches freshman for season as team prepares for Big Ten Championships
R#°
Hong Kong . Spain.
France
Wide-ranging courses
" Internships & service-learning
* Business programs in 3 countries
* Organized study-travel
* Grants, scholarships, loans
" Placement in foreign universities
Syracuse University 119 Euclid Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244
800-235-3472 suabroad@syr.edu http://sumweb.syr.edu/dipa
By Josh Kleinbaum
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan freshman Jason Mallory,
who is still wet behind the ears when
it comes to collegiate swimming, will
miss the rest of the season with a
knee injury.
"Jason can't be replaced,"
Michigan men's swimming coach Jon
Urbanchek said. "He's our most valu-
able swimmer as far as total points in
the Big Ten championship."
Mallory, who could swim in any
event, specialized in the individual
medley for the Wolverines. He will
have surgery on his knee Monday to
correct three problems, including a
torn anterior cruciate ligament and a
meniscus injury.
"The damage is pretty extensive,"
Urbanchek said. "They'll have to
scope it, and then probably open it
up.
Urbanchek said that team doctors
do not expect any permanent damage.
After rehabilitat-
ing until June and
training during the
summer, Mallory
should be ready to
compete next sea-K
son.
"That's life,"
Urbanchek said.
"It can happen in q
any sport."
Mallory was Mallory
especially valu-
able to the Wolverines because of his
versatility. While Michigan's strength
lies in its distance swimming, led by
Olympic silver medalist Tom
Malchow, Mallory was able to con-
tribute in a handful of events, making
him more valuable in terms of points.
"At Big Tens, we're going to be
scouring for points that he would
have contributed," sophomore dis-
tance swimmer Chris Thompson said.
"We will have to find people to step
up.
Senior freestyler John Reich will
also miss the talented freshman.
"He's a huge loss for us," Reich
said. "We were counting on him to
score a lot of points for us in all the
meets and at Big Tens."
But Urbanchek doesn't think any
one person can step up and fill the
void left by Mallory's absence.
Rather, he thinks it will have to be a
team effort.
"Twenty-two guys are going to
have to pick it up," Urbanchek said.
The Granger, Ind., native joins
freshman and best friend Jon Arndt
on the sidelines. Arndt suffered a
shoulder injury in early action and
will also miss the rest of the season.
- Daily sports writer David
Den Herder contributed to this report.
A huge loss'
Freshman Jason Mallory, who
coach Jon Urbanchek calls his
most versatile swimmer, is out for
the season with nagging knee
injuries. A look at Mallory's stats
in his first season at Michigan:
Jason Mallory
Event Hometown
Individual Medley Granger, Ind.
Mallory recorded team-best per-
formances in the following
events:
- 200 Backstroke 1:50.08
- 200 IM 1:51.69
- 400 IM 3:55.17
-800 Free Relay (1) 6:43.33
Mallory has posted consistent+
top-three finishes in Michigan's
events this season as the
Wolverines cruised to victories in
their first two Big Ten meets.
I.&
The Princeton Review
MCAT students
have an average score
increase of
8 points.