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 ® I. OE T-SHIRT . PRINTING . LOWEST PRICES! HIGHEST QUALITY! ® FASTEST SER VICE! U 1002 PONTIAC TR. * 994-367 OaNE 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 A.. A.AL.m.. an:..L..... Afl4 flA