The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 31, 2000 - 13
Crew faces tough test in California
By Albert Kim
Daily Sports Writer
The eyes of the women's rowing
world will be on San Diego this week-
end as eight of the nation's top 10 teams
compete in the San Diego Crew Classic.
The sixth-ranked Wolverines hope to
continue their winning ways after last
weekend's upset over No. 2 Virginia.
The rowers are confident, but are not
relaxing after the upset. Practices have
been the same, if not harder this week.
"We've trained this week as though
we lost, not as though we won,' co-cap-
tain Kate Johnson said.
The Classic presents a golden oppor-
tunity for the Wolverines. By doing well,
the rowers can gain national respect and
momentum going into the dual-race sea-
Wson. In addition, the rowers can compete
against some teams that they won't see
again until the national championships.
"It's another good measuring point to
see how far we have to go," Johnson
said.
San Diego is notorious for its rough
water and unfair lane advantages,
Johnson said. This will pose problems
for many teams, but the Huron River-
hardened Wolverines feel they are ready.
"We had some rough water yesterday
morning, so we were able to gain some
experience," freshman Kate Maxim
said.
The team has had no major injuries,
except fbr senior Jaime Stilson's torn
anterior cruciate ligament. As strange as
it may sound, the injury is not season-
threatening, because the knees are not as
vital in rowing as in most other sports.
Stilson is still rowing on the varsity
boat, even though she has some pain.
The coaches have taken care to not over-
work her and she is expected to last
through the season.
Even if someone does go down with
an in ury, the team would be much less
affected than in past years - depth is
the strength of the Wolverines.
The intra-team competition between
the first and second boats has been
intense. Many times, the second boat
has beaten out the first boat.
"Everyone is pushing each other, and
doing it to win, and that has pulled us
together as a team," Maxim said.
The team knows a long season lies
ahead. The key, Maxin said, is to keep it
all in perspective, win or lose.
"No matter what happens this week-
end, we can come back and build on it,
and improve as a team," she said.
Gymnasts roll into NCAA Finals
By Dan Dingerson
Daily Sports Writer
Last night in Iowa City, the
olverines took their final preparatory
tep in defending their national champi-
onship by breezing through the prelimi-
nary round with a 231.925.
The score was the team's third-highest
of the year. Because of Michigan's depth
and because of the format of the cham-
pionship, the Wolverines decided to
make some changes in their lineup.
Sophomore Scott Vetere was left off of
his best event, the still rings, to rest for
the team and individual finals tonight
d tomorrow, respectively.
Taking his place was co-captain Justin
Toman, who competed despite a knee
injury that sidelined him for Big Ten
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championships.
"We're replacing a 9.9 in Vetere with a
9.8 in Toman, assistant coach Mike
Burns said. "We're the only team in the
country who can do that"
Although the Wolverines didn't take a
spot in the finals for granted, they were
supremely confident that they would
blow through preliminaries.
Ohio State and Penn State were the
two top-rated teams behind the
Wolverines, but Illinois, Nebraska and
Massachusetts were not Ifr behind.
The top Big Ten talent held out
though, both the Buckeyes and Nittany
Lions advanced to the finals.
THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN
CHICAGO/JEWISH UNITED FUND
is seeking high-caliber, professional-minded candidates
with a commitment to improving the community.
FULL-TIME POSITIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN:
Accounting Government Affairs
Communications Hillels of Illinois
Endowments Human Resources
Facilities Management Information Systems
Fundraising Planning and Allocations
When: Monday April 10, 2000
11:00 am
Where: Mandell L. Berman Center for
University of Michigan Hillel-
1429 Hill Street
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