14 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 13, 1999 DREAMS OF A CHAMPIONSHIP BY STEPHANIE OFFEN - DAILY SPORTS WRITER The f"our ffrosh Sri es: The 1998-99 season is a time of transition for the Michigan women's basketball team. An experienced backcourt will try and guide an inex- perienced frontcourt back to the NCAA tournament. This year's fresh- man class will make a significant impact on the team. Every player on this team has an interesting story to tell. The Michigan Daily's women's basketball writers will feature each freshman once during the season. Her dream is to make it to claim a title. Freshman Raina Goodlow came to Michigan looking to help build a program that was on the upswing, and with hopes of that dream coming true. And if anYone knows how to turn a program around it would be Goodlow. She spent her high school career at Dominican High School in Detroit, an all-girls Catholic school. It was the1 type of school where everyone had to wear uniforms, and basketball was not really a big deal - until Goodlow got there, As a senior, she led her high school team with 17.2 points and 9.1 rebounds a game. She was also named the No. I women's basketball player in Michigan by the Detroit Free Press, and she finished fourth in the Miss Michigan Basketball balloting. She was able to build her high school program into a winning one, and women's basketball coach Sue Guevara wanted her to do the same for the Wolverines. "I could tell they really wanted me to come here, because they kept calling," Goodlow said. "And I liked the idea of helping to rebuild a program. I also just got sick of all the recruiting." Goodlow was recruited by Connecticut, as well as Michigan State and other Big Ten teams, but she wanted to stay close to home. And her choice to go to Michigan made her mother incredibly happy, even though Goodlow says that her parents did not push her to make a decision. But it does give her entire family a chance to see her, which they do by coming to every home game. "It's nice to see them up in the stands," Goodlow said. And at first her family was able to see Raina get ample playing time. Goodlow started the first three home games at Michigan. Her games on the road were successful as well. She scored a career- and game-high 18 points against Coppin State in the Torneo Cancun de Basquetbol. But a dislocated patella would keep her out for four games after the team returned to Cancun. "My injury was really disappointing," Goodlow said. "Sitting out four games was really hard for me. I kind of felt like I wasn't part of the team and just a spectator." Goodlow was able to return to action in Michigan's Big Ten opener at Indiana, where she contributed five points and * two rebounds. "It's been a slow return," Goodlow said. "My role on the team has really changed since the injury." But her return was greatly needed. Michigan lacks play- ers in the post, and that has become Goodlow's role on the team. Even though she is coming off the bench instead of start- ing, Goodlow. is still contributing to the rebuilding of the team. She recorded 10 points and five rebounds off the bench in the loss to Louisiana Tech last weekend. When asked about her favorite part of the season, Goodlow didn't mention the trip to Cancun, or being on national television. Without hesitation, she said what any competitive athlete would have said. "It was the nine-game winning streak," Goodlow said. Now that the team is in kind of a slump with this past weekend's losses to Louisiana Tech and Minnesota, she is looking to once again change a team around. "We had a lot to think about after the losses," Goodlow said. "We really need to refocus for the Big Ten," And Goodlow has not lost confidence in the team. She ise still looking forward to games against Penn State and Purdue, the premier teams in the league. And she is confi- dent that this is a team that can win. Who knows? The final four may be closer then she thinks. DANA LINNANE/Daily Freshman Raina Goodlow has rebounded from an early sea- son injury and is now ready to lead Michigan to the NCAAs. The Michigan wrestling team finished 2nd at the Virginia Duals this past week- end. The Wolverines are ranked 11th in * the nation. DAVID ROCHKIND/Dadiy Wrestlers out to silence critics By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Writer With the Big Ten season starting in less than two weeks, the no- frills Michigan wrestling team is trying to prove that it is a team that can - and will - compete for the Big Ten Championship. With three of the of the top four teams in the country, including defend- ing champion Iowa, coming from the Big Ten and Illinois ranked eighth, the No. 11 Wolverines will need to wrestle their best all year to even be considered contenders. "This is the premier conference in the country," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "But we feel good about ourselves in the toughest part of the year, at least psychologically. We feel that we have four guys that will win every time out, and will be our cata- lysts all year." Before anyone starts thinking about winning the conference crown, Bahr was quick to point out that after losing four All-Americans, it will take a lot to contend. "Everyone is really stepping up, and the Big Ten Championships are in Ann Arbor, but the Big Ten has always been an upperclassman conference - so we will see what happens," Bahr said. "We started the year not even ranked in the top 25, so I think that winning is really starting to have a pos- itive effect. The more they win, the more they want to win. Next week I expect us to crack the Top 10." Michigan's four "catalysts" contin- ued their success this past weekend, finishing undefeated at the Virginia Duals. Chris Viola, Erick "Otto" Olson, Damion Logan and most out- standing wrestler Joe Warren all helped the Wolverines succeed in meeting the coaching staff's expectations. "Our main goal right now is just to win the matches that we should win," Michigan assistant coach Kirk Trost said. "We want to keep working at* improving until the Big Ten Championships and we will see what happens." Povorites re off to slow starts