Thursday, April 8, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 13A

San Diego may provide
fresh start for 'M' track

TRACK the Castillo Invitationa
placed second to Lawi
Xcontinued from Page 11 1,500, while Derr captur
continue to work primarily with the in the Javelin throw.
distance runners such as Steve The Wolverines will e
W awrence. treat on Saturday as th
"Lawrence is one Wolverine who will take place in the
dopes recent trends will continue. training facilities. The s
After redshirting during indoor season, arena is a far cry from t
Lawrence burst onto the scene by win- Wolverines see most of t
ning the 1,500 two weeks ago in. The San Diego quad
;Tempe, Ariz. His victory drew rave first high-profile meet o
reviews and created lofty expectations tive outdoor season. Whi
:from the coaches. is pegged as the favor
"Steve has a real shot at qualifying heads into the competit
the NCAA double meets," Harvey hopes.
td. "It may even happen this week." "We are looking to wi
W'~reshman Mike Wisniewski and LaPlante said. "Washin
sophomore Andy Derr are others hop- good, but we have a stro
Ong to build on momentum generated at selves."
Rothstei crew

SHARAT
RAJu
Sharat in the Dark

l. Wisniewski
vrence in the
red third place
njoy a special
e competition
U.S. Olympic
state-of-the-art
he venues the
he time.
represents the
f the competi-
ile Washington
ite, Michigan
ion with high
win the meet,"
ngton is very
ng squad our-

Regrets, Eve had a

Michigan is hop-
Ing the balmy
San Diego weath-
er will help pro-
duce fast times
this weekend.
DANA UNNANE/Daily

seek top combination

By Emily Achenbaum
Daily Sports Writer
Spring is a time of change - flow-
ers bloom, the weather warms and the
Diag is populated once again.,
For the women's rowing team,
there's another set of changes -
though not as enjoyable - popping
up.
-For the past week, Michigan coach
Mark Rothstein has been playing
with his team's lineup, changing it
every practice.
It's not exactly fun and games for
e rowers, who have to deal with the
added pressure and intra-team com-
petition.
But Rothstein has a specific goal to
create the fastest boats possible.
In order to maximize Michigan's

potential in this weekend's meet
against Iowa and Wisconsin,
Rothstein has been experimenting
with several different combinations
of rowers in each boat.
The Wolverines face the Badgers
and the Hawkeyes this weekend in
Iowa City. Michigan is facing
Wisconsin for the second time this
season, beating the Badgers two
weekends ago at the San Diego
Classic.
While Wisconsin didn't row its
best race in San Diego, neither did
the Wolverines, whose faulty starts
cost them precious seconds.
But the Wolverines were ultimately
victorious over the Badgers, and
expect another good race.
"We're expecting them to really

come after us, especially at the first
part of the race," senior Michelle
Wolbit said.
And the team will be ready.
While rowing practices are never
fodder for the wimpy, this week's
practices have been . especially
intense.
The Wolverines have been posting
times faster than ever before this sea-
son.
There's no question that they're
already one of the most competitive
teams in the nation.
But with several seats up for grabs,
team members are pushing them-
selves harder than ever. The pressure
to win a spot in the first varsity boat
is intense.
"It drives people more," Wolbit

said. "You really see who's hungry -
who wants it."
Rothstein said the decision on a
rower's boat placement is mostly sub-
jective.
"There's no quantitative way to
select a boat." Rothstein said. "We've
been watching them row, looking at
times and breaking eight person
boats down into four person boats."
While whatever makes boats faster
is best, Wolbit said it will be much
less stressful for the team once they
know what boat they're in.
Until then, the Wolverines just
keep on pushing themselves harder.
"It's a sport that hurts - but it's
definitely worth it. It's addictive,"
junior Nora Obringer said. "It's a
drug."

fezv
n truth, I almost didn't go
Michigan. I almost neverj
the Daily and almost neve
became a sportswriter.
In truth, I should have enre
small, East Coast, Ivy-Leagu
school and played football an
ball.
Instead of writing about sp
the past four years of my life
would have been playing the
wouldn't rather play sports th
about them?
It's easy to yearn for those
ings, those sensations that co
fields and courts and diamon
feeling of meeting an insidef
with the heart of the bat befo
ball crosses the plate and dri
deep into the corner of the ba
That indescribable sensationI
shoots up the forearms for ar
the feeling only solid contact
round bat with a round ball c
duce.
Then, running, you peek u
the leftfielder struggle to pic
ball as you race around secon
dive into third with a head-fi
and push yourself up to see t
umpire as he waves his arms
wide. But the sensation that f
the mouth - only when play
baseball is it possible.
The chewing gum becomes
crunchy, covered with sand.S
head first brings sand into th
and it sticks onto the gum an
pers it. It tastes ... well, it ta-
baseball.
It's that type of feeling tha
have had over the last four ye
type of feeling one gets on as
October evening watching th
carrier getting larger and larg
between the bars of the facem
Then that moment of impa
moment when everything bec
silent. Completely silent for j
second and all movements ap
be in slow motion. Then thef
sounds and sights that seem I
upon you as you rest above y
opponent, victorious for the t
being.
But then the taste - the w

OK, not a one.
to taste that remains afterwards. The
joined mucus that, just moments ago, was in
,r your nose but was jarred loose onto
your face and mouth. That's the taste.
olled at a Neither that nor the sand-covered
ie type gum sound pleasant, but that's what I
nd base- thought was great about playing
sports - those feelings. There's a
ports for popular belief that sportswriters are
, I merely athletes whose glory days are
m. Who behind them. Well, that belief holds
han write true with me, I guess.
And is there enough magic in the
feel- moonlight to make those days come
)me on back, Ray Kinsella? Even if there is,
ids. The I wouldn't have traded my experi-
fastball ences here at the Daily for anything.
ire the When I'm an old and irritating
ving it alum of this school, I won't fondly
all park. recall with vivid detail the classes I
that took. I won't remember all of my
moment, professors or even some of my
of a chums. I might not even remember
an pro- the outcomes of some of the games I
saw and covered.
p to see But I will remember, with excep-
k up the tional clarity, my days sitting in this
nd base, old building in front of a slow, out-
rst slide dated computer, eyes straining with
he exhaustion to focus on the screen. I
out will recall staying up until 3 a.m. on
forms in any given night, subject to the whims
'ing of the all-important server, giddy in
the late-night stale air of the Daily's
s basement. And then waking up hours
Sliding later to do it again.
e mouth, I will never forget the extensive
d pep- travel schedule, ranging from Boston
stes like to Honolulu to Orlando to
Kalamazoo. I will remember sitting
t I would in various press boxes with people
ears. The who became some of my closest
cold, friends, eating free media food.
e ball The friendships developed and cul-
er tivated here - that's what I'll
nask. remember about Ann Arbor and this
et, the university.
comes For that, for those sensations and.
ust a feelings, I feel no regrets about miss-
pear to ing a chance to prolong my sports
flood of career at another school. Good thing
pour I went to Michigan. Good thing for
our me, indeed.
ime - This is Sharat Raju sfinal column
for the Daily. He can be reached via
et, salty e-mail at sraju@umich.edu.

Women's track soaks
up the rays out west

By Dena Krischer
Forthe Daily
Southern California is where it's at.
The sun shines year-round, there's
totally awesome surfing in the Pacific
Ocean, the sun sets, not rises, over the
ocean ... and it's hosting the Michigan
*omen's track team for this week-
end's track meet in San Diego.
The Wolverines have had the luxu-
ry of competing in constant sunshine
for the past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, they hit the
Florida State Relays, and the follow-
ing week, they went out to the
Castillo Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.
And now, after a relaxing week off for
h e~Easter holiday, they get to com-
te in sunny California.
"I think we'll be competitive,"
Michigan coach James Henry said.
"The past week off could give us a
chance to rest and heal up, but on the
negative side, it could also get the
team out of sync."
Some of the best, though, will be
given this week off in order to rest up
for the National Collegiate/National
Invitational Mt. SAC Relays in
Walnut, Calif., the following week-
*d.
This competition will single out the
best runners and fielders in the early
season.
With hundreds of competitors,

Michigan will have to send out its
elite, and the coaches feel that the
extra week off will be very beneficial
for some.
"If you train hard, you have to take
a week or two off," Michigan assis-
tant coach Anne Marie Takacs said.
"Otherwise, your performance will
suffer."
This Saturday's meet, then, will not
be considered routine. The team is not
sending its regular travel crew due to
a few minor injuries and the much
larger meet next weekend.
Instead of using their regular com-
petitors, the Wolverines will be send-
ing a much younger team to San
Diego to compete against San Diego
State, Washington, and New Mexico.
Other events that the Wolverines
should dominate include the pole
vault and the 4x100-meter relay.
"The team should stand out,"
Henry said. "We have over two dozen
people, and our strength is being a
very balanced team. It should be a
close meet. We'll see what happens."
This meet will give the younger
atheletes, who don't compete as-fre-
quently as others, a chance to show
off what they've got.
"The younger girls are showing a
lot of improvement," Takacs said.
"It's going to be really exciting to
see."

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LOUIS BROWN/Daily
Tiffany Hodge and the Michigan women's track team will join the men's squad In
sunny California this weekend.

Woog leaves coach job

(U-WIRE) MINNEAPOLIS - With
e spotlights glaring and tape recorders
rolling, Doug Woog hesitated for a
moment before joininghmen'sathletics
director Mark Dienhart at the table
where he would announce his retirement
as Gophers men's hockey coach.
Perhaps Woog was savoring the last
few, seconds of his 14-year Minnesota
career, or perhaps he was unsettled by
the 100 or so people who showed up to
witness the end of an era.
" 'lltry not to have much emotion,"
oog said.
But Woog's emotional attachment to
the Gophers program was undeniable.
1His comments ranged from sarcastic to

bittersweet, as he let loose with a laugh
one moment and suppressed tears the
next.
Dienhart detailed the specifics of the
assistant athletics director position Woog
will assume with the University. Woog
will work as a fund-raiser for improve-
ments to Mariucci Arena and compli-
ance with Title IX gender equity stan-
dards.
"For 14 years, (Woog) fit in perfectly
for us as our head hockey coach,"
Dienhart said. "Today, he has decided
there is a better fit for him, and I'm
excited about that because it means I get
to work with him for a long period of
time in this capacity."

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