Connecticut, Duke keep one-loss records
February 8, 1999 - SportsMonday - The Michigan Daily -- 3B
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -
Khalid El-Amin had 23 points and
No. 1 Connecticut, rebounding from
its only loss of the season and again
playing without its leading scorer,
never trailed in a 70-59 victory over
No. 4 Stanford on Saturday.
The Huskies forced 16 turnovers
and held the Cardinal to 35 percent
shooting.
Mark Madsen had 13 points for
Stanford, which fell behind by 18,
points early and never caught the
Huskies despite finishing off the first
half with a 12-0 run that included a
five-point play sparked by a techni-
cal foul on the Connecticut bench.
Albert Mouring added 15 points
and Kevin Freeman had 14 points
and 11 rebounds for Connecticut (20-
1), which broke Stanford's 14-game
home winning streak.
Arthur Lee had 12 points for
Stanford (19-4), which had been 24-
0 at home against non-conference
opponents over the past five seasons.
Connecticut, coming off a 59-42
loss at home to No. 16 Syracuse,
*playec for the second straight game
without leading scorer Richard
Hamilton. Hamilton, averaging 22
points per game, is out with a thigh
bruise.
No. 2 DUKE 87, GEORGIA TECH 79
Trajan Langdon scored 23 points,
including four 3-pointers, as the Blue
Devils rallied from a 10-point deficit
in the second 'half for their 18th
straight win.
Georgia Tech (4-7 Atlantic Coast
Conference, 13-10) closed the first
half with a 20-9 run to lead 40-35.
Jason Floyd's layup extended the
Yellow Jackets' lead to 51-41 with
16:32 remaining.
Five minutes later, Tech was still
leading by eight when Langdon
sparked the comeback by scoring on
three straight possessions, including
two 3-pointers, to pull the Blue
Devils (23-1) to 59-57. He put Duke
ahead for good by hitting another 3
off a screen.
Jason Collier scored a career-high
26 points to lead the Yellow Jackets.
DEPAUL 61, No. 3 CINCINNATI 60
Willie Coleman made the second
of two free throws with no time left
in overtime to snap the Bearcats' six-
game winning streak.
Colemai stole the ball from
Cincinnati's Melvin Levett with four
seconds left and, as he frantically
dribbled up the floor with the clock
winding down, put up an awkward
shot.
A disbelieving Levett was called
for a foul on the play, sending
Coleman, a 55 percent free throw
shooter, to the line. His first free
throw went iri and out and his second
made it over the rim.
Ryan Fletcher scored all 11 of the
points in overtime for Cincinnati (21-
2), which had beaten DePaul by 23
points a month ago.
Freshman Quentin Richardson,
who scored 10 of DePaul's 12 points
in overtime, led the Blue Demons (6-
5, 12-9) with 25 points.
ALABAMA 62, No. 5 KENTUCKY 58
Freshman Sam Haginas scored the
game's final five points over the last
19 seconds to lift short-handed
Alabama to its first win over the
Wildcats in eight years.
With leading scorer Brian
Williams sidelined by an ankle
injury, the Crimson Tide (13-11
Southeastern Conference) were led
by Haginas and Doc Martin, who
scored a career-high 20 points in his
first start.
Michael Bradley and Scott Padgett
each had 14 points for Kentucky (19-
6), which dropped its second game in
three days.
Alabama trailed 58-57 when
Haginas was a scramble for a loose
ball and dunked with 19 seconds left.
Haginas, who finished with nine
points, converted a three-point play
with nine seconds left.
No. 7 MARYLAND 88, VIRGINIA 72
Lonny Baxter, making his first col-
lege start, scored nine of his 14
points in the opening five minutes of
the second half as the Terrapins
*Flu can't so
high-jumper
By David Mosse
Daily Sports Writer
NORTE DAME - This weekend, Michigan freshman
Robert Arnold experienced firsthand just how devastating
the flu can be to an athlete. Arnold, the Wolverines best
r high jumper, competed in the Meyo Invitational inspite of
a serious case of the flu.
For one remarkable moment, Arnold was worthy of
comparisons to a certain recently-retired basketball player
who once pumped home 38 points and led his team to vic-
tory. Arnold heroically shrugged off his illness to capture
individual glory.
The story began on Wednesday when Robert Arnold
woke up feeling very week. With a trip to Notre Dame
looming, Arnold took every measure to speed up his
recovery.
Three days in bed and a plethora of pills did little good
as Arnold continued to struggle with his health. Suddenly,
Arnold's presence in Notre Dame for his specialty, the
high jump, was in serious jeopardy.
I didn't get a lot of sleep the last few days," Arnold said.
"I didn't think I was going to make it to South Bend."
On the morning of the meet, the team arrived at Loftus
Field house with Arnold's status still up in the air. As the
long jump drew near, Arnold finally put an end to the
saga.
"He said he was ready to go," said Michigan assistant
*Ron Warhurst. "The kid was on his deathbed, but he want-
ed to compete for the Blue."
While Arnold's presence was remarkable, it seemed
only to serve as inspiration to other Wolverines. The
chances of Arnold having an impact in the competition
were bleak.
But on this day, Arnold brushed aside the doubters, dig-
ging deep into his soul for something special. Arnold's
snapped a two-game losing streak.
Maryland (8-3 ACC, 20-4) made
seven 3-pointers in taking a 44-32
halftime lead.
Chris Williams scored 24 points
and Donald Hand 16 for the
Cavaliers (3-8,s13-11), whose three-
game winning streak ended.
VANDERBILT 73, No. 23 ARKANSAS
69
Dan Langhi scored 22 points and
James Strong grabbed a key rebound
and made two free throws as
Vanderbilt won despite blowing a 23-
point lead.
With Vanderbilt clinging to a 70-
69 lead, Commodores center Greg
LaPointe rebounded a missed turn-
around jumper by Derek Hood and
was fouled. He made one free throw
with 6.4 seconds left, and Strong
grabbed the rebound of the missed
second shot and was fouled, then
made his free throws.
The victory snapped a four-game
losing streak for Vanderbilt (12-10).
The Commodores made seven of
their first eight 3-point attempts and
sprinted to a 23-point lead midway
through the first half. Arkansas (5-5
SEC, 16-7) cut the lead to 18 at half-
time, then used pressure defense to
force turnovers and whittle the lead.
Sergerio Gipson had 15 of his 16
points in the second half for
Arkansas.
TALE
Continued from Page 18
- Iowa's Eric Jeurgens, but Jeurgens
quickly erased that deficit with an
escape and a takedown midway through
the third. Warren tied the match with a
late reversal and missed a point for rid-
ing time by one second, a call which
Bahr disputed, and the match went into
overtime. The two battled without a
score in the extra period until Warren
scored a takedown with just 5 seconds
remaining to win the match.
The final match of the afternoon was
yet another battle between two top 10
wrestlers. Michigan's fifth-ranked Otto
Olson kept his dual-meet record untar-
nished as he decisioned No. 6 Gabe
McMahan of Iowa 13-9.
Other Michigan winners were No. 14
Andy Hrovat at 184 pounds and heavy-
weight Matt Brink's decision over Lee
Weber.
"We were an underdog coming in,"
Bahr said. "Our kids now know that we
have to pick our intensity in both our
practices and meets."
Friday's meet against the Spartans
was the second encounter of the season
between these two bitter rivals Although
Bahr said that the rivalry has been
played up.
"The guys that won last time and lost
this time feel bad now," Bahr said. "I
know that they do it because it generates
a crowd, but I'm not sure its necessary."
The meet started at 149 pounds and
pitted Michigan's newly ranked Corey
Grant against Mike Castillo of the
Spartans. Grant's dominance in the first
two periods was the deciding factor as
he held on to win 4-3.
Michigan's Otto Olson once again
climbed all over Michigan State's Will
Hill for a 5-2 decision in the 174-pound
weight class, and at 184, Michigan's No.
14 wrestler, Andy Hrovat, edged the
Spartans' Nick Fekete, 12-10. Fekete
nearly scored a takedown late in the
third, but time expired before any points
were awarded.
The matchup between Michigan's
heavyweight Matt Brink and the
Spartans No. 17 Matt Lamb was any-
thing but gentle, or pretty for that matter.
Lamb held a 2-1 lead over Brink with
just seconds remaining in regulation, but
the referee awarded Brink one point for
stalling and the match went to overtime,
where Brink won on an escape.
"Matt's match changed turned things
in our favor a little bit," Bahr said.
The Wolverines' Chris "Pitbull" Viola
took care of Michigan State's 16th-
ranked Chris Williams, winning a major
decision 17-4. The highlight of the
evening for the Spartans was No. 3 Pat
McNamara's 7-2 victory over
Michigan's No. 6 Joe Warren.
Sort or no, Dance Marathon
was more thanjust 30 hours
hortly after 2:00 a.m. on Sunday
morning -hours after the
Michigan hockey game has
ended and the Yost Ice Arena parking lot
has emptied - it looks like any other
night. Saturday night's bar-hoppers are
shuffling homeward, and for the most
part, the city is quiet and dark. But
tucked away in the back corner of an
athletic department parking lot, a tiny
but determined generator is humming
with just enough power to keep a couple
of portable spotlights ablaze.
The lighted parking lot is full, and
it's next to the Indoor Track Building -
site, this evening, of the 1999 Dance
Marathon. Inside, dancers and
"moralers" - volunteers whose purpos-
es are, specifically, morale-related -
are hula-hooping, Valentine-making,
soccer-playing, volleyball-peppering,
mitten-knitting and, when
all else fails, dancing the Thirty
night (and the previous day, of an
and the day to come) away. is dry
They've been at it since 10 Ttilty
a.m. Saturday. The rules of dar
are pretty simple: Don't sit
down until 4 p.m. Sunday. inS
3:15p.m. Saturday: All -
dancers sprint directly offdance floor
and out into parking lot. Dancers return
shortly and wait in line for brief
moraler-provided shoulder and ankle
massages. Dancer #176 busted for trv-
ing to go through massage line twice.
The scene inside is one of near-
chaos. Overworked, underslept program
coordinators dash from place to place
with walkie-talkies crackling. Spectators
line the outside edges of the building.
Some participants make mittens to be
donated to charity; others write notes to
be distributed to children; others still
mingle in the food area. And then, there
are the dancers.
Dancing may not be a sport, exactly,
but there's no doubt that this event is a
test of physical endurance. Thirty hours
of anything is draining. Thirty hours of
dancing is insane.
5:15 p.m. Saturday: Hyped-up
moraler crushes plastic fence between
dance floor and Valentine area while
diving for overthrown football. Nearby
sports writer rules pass incomplete.
Near the halfway point of the event,
the adrenaline seems on par with its
Saturday-afternoon level - and for all
the dancers know, it may well be the
middle of the afternoon. A large sign
warns all entering visitors: "Please DO
NOT tell the dancers what time it is!"
People are dancing in groups, in
pairs, in circles, in lines, while eating,
while shooting baskets and while scrib-
bling Valentine messages for other
dancers. My favorites, though, are the
unattached ones, who don't somuch
dance, but seem to run aimlesly in all
directions with their hands waving in
the air, occasionally in sync with the
music, and stopping only when they
crash inadvertently into one of their own
kind. By 4 a.m., there are more of these
awkward crashes than you'd think. But
the scene is chaotic throughout.
All of this is great fun for the
dancers, but the real story here is the
purpose of the whole event. Dance
Marathon, in its second year on this
campus, raises money for families
assisted by the Children's Miracle
Network and William Beaumont
Hospital. The fact that the process is fun
is an added bonus.
2:45 a.m. Sunday: Errant frisbee
toss sails into note-making area, bonk-
ing unsuspecting writer/dancer on head.
DPS officer saunters over, monitors sit-
uation, and decides further action won 't
be necessary. Frisbee-throwing, note-
making and dancing resume.
Families and children with connec-
tions to one of the two beneficiary orga-
nizations are in attendance throughout,
hours
ything
aiing.
V hours
Hiing is
ane.
and every few hours, a
family takes the stage and
the microphone, and tells
the assembled crowd its
story. Little Allison
Lawrence's mom, for
example, tells the crowd
about the time when her
daughter's heart stopped
JiM
ROSE
Rose Beef
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
Michigan's Charles DeWildt didn't suffer from the flu as
badly as Robert Arnold.
jump of 6 feet and 8 inches was enough to win the com-
petition.
"I was surprised I was even able to jump," said Arnold.
I just gave it all I had."
Arnold's performance earned praise from everyone,
including head coach Jack Harvey.
"Robert's performance had to be the highlight of the
day," said Harvey. "Other guys did great things, but not in
his physical state."
Ironically, Arnold's jump was nowhere near his person-
al best, and on any other day would not be met with such
jubilation. But on this day, it was more than enough.
For the remainder of the meet, Arnold sat quietly on the
bench, too exhausted to celebrate. While others raved
about his performance, Arnold simply wondered how he
would make it through that day.
beating for 41 minutes. Several other
families take the stage, and the stories
vary, but the general theme is always the
same: At the end of every speech is a
Thank You. As much fun as this event is
for the 200-or-so dancers, it's all the
more rewarding for the families who
can see the benefits first-hand.
By 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the
energy level has dwindled noticeably -
and why not? It's been 28 hours, after
all. An ultra-complicated country line-
dance routine is threatening to sap what
little energy remains, but mercifully, a
surge of enthusiasm carries the group
into the final hour after a well-timed
conga line.
As the Dance Marathon's official
event program so cleverly points out,
you can do a lot of things in 30 hours
- take 15 blue book exams. for exam-
ple, or fly to Europe four times. Thirty
hours can seem like an awfully long
time. But 30 hours - and one small
column that barely scratches the surface
of what went on during those 30 hours
- can't possibly do justice to the
amount of time and effort that went into
this event. Thirty hours, I'd imagine, go
by pretty quickly when you've spent an
entire year getting ready.
So to this year's dancers and orga-
nizers: Congratulations on a terrific
weekend. All fun events should be so
admirable. You've earned a nap, but
don't get lazy on us - Dance Marathon
2000 is only a year away.
--Jim Rose can be reached via
e-mail atjwrose@umich.edu.
To get involved or learn about next
year's Dance Marathon, call the
Dance Marathon Office
at 615-1525; e-mail
umdm.info@umich.edu; or go to
http://www.umich.edu/~umdm.
,Men' s track gets held at Meyo
By Ron Garber
For the Daily
NOTRE DAME - Saturday, the
Michigan men's track and field team
traveled to Notre Dame to compete in the
Meyo Classic, one of its final opportuni-
ties to tune up for the Big Ten
Championships.
Already without all-American John
Mortimer, Michigan lost another casual-
ty to injury. Freshman sensation Ike
Okenwa was held out of the unscored
meet with a hamstring injury.
The Wolverines still managed to turn
in a strong performance despite the
absence of two of their brightest stars.
Several unheralded Wolverines stepped
up and took advantage of the opportuni-
ty to lead the team.
Michigan also continued to receive
strong performances from its strong
freshman class.
Freshman Jeremy Schneider won the
500-meter and set a meet record in the
process. Head coach Jack Harvey called
the performance a "big breakthrough"
for Schneider.
"This race was huge for my self-
esteem;' Schneider said. "It shows me
that I am ready to compete and run well
inthe Big Tens."
The gutsiest performance of the day
came from another freshman - high
jumper Robert Arnold. Suffering from
the flu and competing on virtually no
sleep, Arnold won the high jump with a
personal best of 6-foot-8.
Arnold's performance shocked even
himself.
"I'm surprised I was even able to jump
today," Arnold said. "This win gives me
some confidence and shows me I'm
finally back."
Freshmen weren't the only ones to
come up big at Notre Dame. Junior Todd
Snyder used an unbelievable finish to
notch a come-from-behind victory in the
800 meters.
Seemingly stuck in third place, Snyder
turned on the burners with a half lap to
go and sped past the two leaders. He
opened his lead to ten meters and won the
race convincingly.
"I just felt good coming off that last
curve;' Snyder said. "If you're going to
make a move like that, you've got to
make a big one."
Although Snyder has been impressed
with the recent freshman performances,
he believes that it is time for him and the
rest of the upperclassmen to perform.
"We (upperclassmen) really need to
step it up and be leaders, Snyder said.
"The Big Tens are coming up. We've
been there, we've done that. Now we've
got to use our experience to help the
team."
Other strong showings came from Jay
Cantin in the mile, Patrick Johansson in
the weight throw, and Steve Molnar and
Kevin Bowman in the 200.
The flu wasn't as kind to all
Wolverines as it was to Arnold. Just ask
freshman Oded Padan, who also entered
the meet weakened by illness.
Coming off victories in the long and
triple jump, Padan flopped in the long
jump. He jumped two full feet shorter
than he did a week ago.
"I was totally out of this meet" Padan
said. "My body was so weak. I'm
drained."
Despite Padan's slump and the
absence of John Mortimer and Ike
Okenwa, the Meyo Invitational was a
success for the Wolverines.
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