MEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(2) CONNECTICUT 66,
Boston College 50
MARQUETTE 62
(4) Cincinnati 58,
(7) MARYLAND 63,
North Carolina State 50
Arizona State at
(2.0) ARIZONA, inc.
(15) WISCONSIN 57,
Northwestern 45
(18) IOWA 76,
(22) Minnesota 73
Tennessee 91,
(23) FLORIDA 56
Nebraska at
(24) KANSAS, inc.
WOMEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(6) Notre Dame 74,
VILLANOVA 52
(13) TEXAS TECH 74,
Texas A&M 52
(9) Rutgers 66,
MIAMI (FLA.) 57
KANSAS STATE 70,
(16) Iowa State 63
ORTS
The Michigan women's basketball team will try to
continue its recent hot streak tomorrow against
Illinois. Win a 1999 Mercury Cougar at halftime.
Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Crisler Arena.
Thursday
February 11, 1999 t A
February 11, 19998A
One-meet
weekend
rests Blue
By Chris Grandstaff
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 9 Michigan wrestling team
will get a break of sorts this weekend
as it plays host to No. 14 Purdue on
Sunday at Cliff Keen Arena.
-For the first time since mid-
January, the Wolverines will only
have to face one opponent this week-
end.
I gave the kids Monday and
Tuesday off," Michigan coach Dale
Bahr said. "They really needed it after
the last couple of weeks."
In the last three weeks, Michigan
has faced four top-10 teams - No. 2
Minnesota, No. 3 Iowa, No. 7 Illinois
and No. 8 Central Michigan. The
Wolverines were 1-3 in those meets,
with the only victory coming against
Illinois.
This weekend's meet against
Purdue should be somewhat less tax-
ig, considering the competition
Michigan has been wrestling against
lately.
:But this is the Big Ten, and there
are no easy meets.
mThe Boilermakers steamroll into
town, boasting an impressive 14-3-1
record, and have one of the best
wrestlers in the country in 149-
pounder Willie Wineberg.
DAVID ROCHKINDDaily
The Michigan wrestling team faces just one opponent this weekend - Purdue.
Five gymnasts
face Challenge
By Dan Dingerson
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's gymnastics team will take this
week off, and return to action Feb. 20 against
Massachusetts. Not all of the members will have the week
to relax, though.
Five Michigan gymnasts will compete in the Winter Cup
Challenge this weekend in Las Vegas, Nev. The meet
serves a couple of purposes.
The Challenge will determine the final three spots for
the U.S. gymnastics team, and the five remaining spots on
the World University Games team.
The U.S. national team-competes in international meets
throughout the year, including the Pan-American Games.
The World University Games is a competition involving
nearly every country in the world.
For those gymnasts who are already on the national
team, it offers them a chance to move up on the team, and
improve their position.
Michigan will be sending co-captain Justin Toman,
Ethan Johnson and a trio of freshmen - Daniel Diaz-
Luong, Scott Vetere and Josh Levin. Michigan's contingent
of five is one of the largest groups from any university.
Toman has already been selected to the national team, so
he will use the competition to try to qualify for the World
University Games team, and to improve his position on the
national team. An arm injury will keep him off of the still
rings, his best event. But Toman will compete in the other
five events.
"I won't have time to prepare for that (the still rings),
and I can't afford to have a bad performance in front of the
national committee," Toman said.
The other four gymnasts will be fighting to gain a spot
on a team. The three freshmen will be competing in the all-
around, while Johnson will be specializing in the still
rings.
The all-around meet will begin with 77 gymnasts, and
then be reduced to the top 36 after a day of competition.
The Wolverines feel confident that they will put together a
strong showing; Diaz-Luong and Vetere have been rated
highly in the all-around throughout the year.
"It comes down to their consistency. They are going to
have to go six for six in qualifying, and then go six for six
again," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "Diaz-Luong
and Vetere have very good chances if they hit consistent-
ly."
r
A:;
Y~
"We've had a string of matches
against top-10 teams," Bahr said.
"We've got to make sure we don't
have any kind of letdown this week-
end."
Bahr will look to 174-pounder Otto
Olson to keep the team's intensity
level up.
Olson will try to remain perfect in
dual-meet action as he faces No. 20
James Ornich of Purdue. So far this
season, Olson has compiled a stellar
27-3 overall record, including a 13-0
dual-meet record.
The best matchup of the afternoon
pits the Wolverines' No. 7 Chris
"Pitbull" Viola against No. 12 Jason
Silverstein of Purdue in the 125-
pound weight class. The match will
be the first-ever meeting between
these two wrestlers.
Michigan's 14th-ranked Corey
Grant will try to continue his hot
streak as he takes on the
Boilermakers' sixth-ranked Wineberg
at 149 pounds.
Wineberg is undefeated in dual-
meet competition this season, while
Grant, despite last week's loss to No.
1 T. J. Williams of Iowa, is competing
at the highest level of his Michigan
career.
Five Michigan gymnasts will forgo an off week and head out
west to compete in the Winter Cup Challenge.
"They have improved on that (consistency) a lot, but nei-
ther of them has gone six for six to this day."
Golder has been reminding his team all year how impor-
tant consistency is to the sport, and its special importance
in national meets.
The meet is a departure from the usual type of competi-
tion that a college athlete faces. But the Wolverines should
be ready.
Toman has already competed for the national team, and:
Diaz-Luong, Vetere and Levin all competed in the junio
national competitions last year. Their experience from
those competitions should help them this weekend.
Michigan has stressed the importance of the team,
throughout the season. The gymnasts have disregarded
their own personal performances all year long - now is -
their chance to focus on their own acheivements.
The Winter Cup Challenge should be an event where theZ,
Michigan gymnasts can show their skills individually, and
in doing so, gain a better national reputation for the team.
-mmm"
M' track splits squad,,
heads to. high altitude
k II I'i'i lll hi li
By Ron Garer
For the Daily
This weekend marks the last chance
the Michigan men's track and field team
has to prepare for the Big Ten
Championships.
Michigan coach Jack Harvey is split-
ting the squad, keeping most of the team
in town for the Wolverine Open.
The Open will be held on Saturday in
the Michigan Indoor Track Building.
Field events start at 9:30 a.m. Running
events beginning at noon.
The rest of the team will travel to
Colorado Springs on Friday for a chance
to compete in the thin Rocky Mountain
air. The team expects the altitude to
make a big difference in its perfor-
mance.
"Everybody runs faster at altitude,"
freshman Ike Okenwa said.
Okenwa and the other six Wolverines
making the trip have bigger things in
mind than simply tuning up for Big
Tens. Several are looking to qualify for
the NCAA championships.
Freshman jumper Oded Padan has
already made an NCAA provisional
standard for the triple jump and is
ranked seventh in the country.
Friday, though, will be the first time
Padan faces serious competition.
Harvey said he expects the strong
competition to push Padan to jump far-
ther, which would automatically qualify,
him for NCAAs.
While Padan appears set to compete
at nationals, Okenwa plansto use the
altitude to drop enough time to qualify
for the event.
Although he is coming off a leg injury
that kept him out of last weekend's meet,
Okenwa is confident in his health.
"I'm right where I want to be. I've
shown a lot of improvement. The last
week off helped me rest up and I should
be able to get the provisional this week-
end," Okenwa said.
The other Wolverines making the trip
are hurdlers Derek Applewhite and
Jonathen Cohen, sprinter Steve Jenkins,
thrower Patrick Johansson and pole
vaulter Charles DeWildt, who Harvey
also believes has a good shot of making
an NCAA provisional standard.
Robert Arnold, coming off a heroic
victory in the high jump, is still suffering
from the flu and will not make the trip.
The Wolverines staying in Ann Arbor
will look to use the weekend to slingshot
them toward the Big Ten
Championships. "This is our last race to
get our confidence up for Big Tens;,
Jeremy Schneider said.
Women's gymnastics on the road
to face pair of SEC opponents
By Stephen A. Rom
Daily Sports Writer
Over the past few weeks, the
Michigan women's gymnastics team
has enjoyed a luxury. The boisterous
crowd that has packed Cliff Keen
arena has proved to be quite an asset.
Regardless of the tough loss suf-
fered last weekend, when the
Wolverines dropped the State of
Michigan Classic to Central
Michigan by 0.025 points, the
Michigan faithful still proved to be
just that - faithful.
But those fans won't be on the
road trips that Michigan is set to
embark upon over the next two
weeks.
In successive dual meets, the
Wolverines will travel to two top-25
ranked Southeastern schools,
Kentucky and Georgia.
Although Michigan posts a 5-0
lifetime record against the Wildcats,
Kentucky is currently ranked No. 25
in the nation and hopes to scratch
away at that impressive Michigan
advantage.
The following week the
Wolverines will travel to Athens,
Ga., to square off against the
defending national champion and
current No. 2 Georgia.
But first things first.
The Wolverines won't even have a
chance to tame the Bulldogs until
they tend to business in Kentucky.
"They are a very solid gymnastics
team," Michigan coach Bev Plocki
said. We aren't going to be able to go
in there and have the breaks we had
at home and expect to beat them."
Although Plocki doesn't consider
Kentucky to be a "national power-
house," they still have a lot to hang
their warmup jackets on.
The Wildcats have more gymnas-
tics tradition than any other program
Michigan will face this season.
Kentucky has been featuring
women's gymnastics in Lexington
for over 23 years - a stark contrast
to the two-year history of last week's
opponent, Western Michigan.
"We have to get
our confidence
back up right now.
- Lisa Simes
Michigan gymnast
This stretch of meets should show
the Wolverines whether or not they
can match up against the nation's
best this season.
And where normally Michig4
would be making an effort to match
up with their specific opponent,
recent problems with a lack of con-
sistency have forced them to keep
their preparation simple.
Plocki "hasn't talked too much
about Kentucky. We have to get our
confidence back up right now,"
senior Lisa Simes said.
"We have to concentrate on ou
own performance. That's what
can control."
: WiTREMNJT
w1-800-999-SKI-9
www.skitrovel.com
http://www.michigandaiy.cor/sports
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