...,..-... _... _ _ ._ .. ... ....... .. .w ,. ........ - ...,. .. , 5oftball poll 14 Michigan slipped one notch to No. 12 ithe USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 5 poll released yesterday. Go online to s the rest of the standings. ,ichigandaily.com/sports je3~aun3al SPOIRTS THURSDAY APRIL 13, 2000 1A 0. into Sarah Ensor y Sports Writer 1 women vault championships The smell of spring football hits Saturday It's all come down to this for the No.1 Michigan women's gymnastics team. After months of competition and .fining, after experiencing the highs and vs of triumphant victories and disap- dinting defeats, and after sweeping girough two postseason meets, there is Qtly one hurdle left for the Wolverines. Tonight, Michigan will take the floor of The Pavilion in Boise in pursuit of the son's ultimate prize - the NCAA hampionship. "I'm really excited," Michigan coach flev Plocki said. "I think the kids have worked so hard this year - everybody has - and they're so much a team unit tiat it would just thrill.me to see this be tbeir year." : ;For this to be their year, the WIolverines will have to overcome formi- dable competition, most of which have 4ie talent to win it all. *Michigan has seen four of its oppo- 'ents before, having met Alabama in the season-opening Super Six Challenge, QCLA in March's Bruin Classic in Los Andgeles, Penn State in both the Big Ten d NCAA Region V Championships Baseeba le , Dan Williams Daily Sports Writer and Georgia on three occasions. While the Wolverines are 0-1 against both Alabama and UCLA and 0-3 against Georgia, they believe that their experiences will work to their advantage. "Had we not met any of those teams, in going to Boise, we'd have a fear of the unknown'" Plocki said. "Everybody builds up these reputations about how good Georgia is, how good UCLA is, and there are people out there talking about how good Michigan is." The meet will begin with tonight's preliminaries, from which the top three teams in each of two groups advance. Michigan will participate in the ses- sion II rotation, facing UCLA, Nebraska, Iowa State, West Virginia, and Penn State for the chance to pro- ceed. Then comes tomorrow's Super Six Championship, which will deter- mine the champion. Michigan is no stranger to good per- formances at NCAAs. Last season, the fourth-ranked Wolverines came within 0.3 points of the ultimate goal, pushing then-No. I Georgia to its limit before falling just short. In 1995, Michigan also garnered runner-up honors, estab- lishing itself as a bona-fide gymnastics powerhouse. Nothing could do more to SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily Tonight the No.1 Wolverines return to the NCAA gymnastics championships, from where they could to bring home Michigan's first women's national championship. solidify that well-deserved reputation than for this year's team to return to Ann Arbor with the national champi- onship in hand. "I keep saying that, one of these years it's going to be our turn,'" Plocki said. "I hope this is it." The Wolverines arp looking to make history not only for themselves, but for the entire Michigan Athletic Department. In over 25 years of varsi- ty participation, no Michigan women's team has ever won a national champi- individual championship decorations adorn the University's trophy case, but no group of female athletes has ever managed to take the all-important step to the top of its sport. "That would be incredible," Plocki said. "That has been- my goal since I stepped foot on campus in Ann Arbor. We have so many women's programs that are right on the verge of being able to do it that it would be incredible to be the first ones. "No matter how many everybody else wins, there's only one team that can See CHAMPIONSHIPS, Page 13A By Stephanie Often Daily Sports Editor Emotions surrounding the football season are usually excitement, anticipa- tion and sometimes disappointment. But this Saturday's Michigan football spring practice will send another emotion through Michigan football fans - con- fusion. Those entering the stadium at I p.m. - the official starting time for the game - will see a score of 17-0 on the score- board. But fans, don't worry, you didn't miss anything. This year's spring practice will take the form of half-scrimmage and half-practice. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said that the Wolverines will indeed scrimmage, but only for two quarters of play. The scrimmage will start in the third quarter with a 17-0 score. Each squad will feature players with both blue and white jerseys - white for the offense, and blue for the defense. And along with the number of unknown players that will take the field for the first time on Saturday, fans may wonder why a few of the bigger named stars aren't dressed in white or blue. Running back Justin Fargas, who sat out all last season with a broken leg, will skip this Saturday. Fargas has not prac- ticed yet this season, but Carr said he will be ready for the season opener on Sept. 2 against Bowling Green. Fellow back Anthony Thomas will also see limited time in Saturday's prac- tice, but Carr assured that this is not due to injury. Wide receiver David Terrell, running back Walter Cross and quarterback Drew Henson will key the team coming 17 points from behind. They will face possible backup quarterbacks, redshirt freshmen John Navarre and Andy Mignery and sophomore running back B.J. Askew. The reason for a practice, as opposed to a full exhibition, is because of a lack of players available. "We don't have enough players if we would play all four quarters," Carr said. "Some players would end up having to play every down. But I still want to give Spring is in the air A football scrimmage isn't the only thing going on during Saturday's Springfest. Here are a couple of activities to fill your first day of spring: 9 a.m. l Hockey garage sale at Yost Ice Arena. Equipment manager lanHume will have all the used hockey equipment on sale. Michigan coach Red Berenson said to get there early because the gear goes quickly. 5K Fun Run/Walk starting at the Michigan Stadium. There is no registration fee, but tee-shirts are $10. All proceeds benefit the Jeff Reese Scholarship fund. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Annual Athletic Department Garage Sale at Cliff Keen Arena. Admission is free. There will be Michigan Athletic , Department equipment/apparel from Michigan teams on sale. Items include jer- seys, shoes, wannups and more. the players game experience. "Having the practice still enables us to give the players that opportunity." Along with Fargas, Carr specifically named tight end Shawn Thompson, defensive lineman Grant Bowman and tight end Bill Seymour as players who will be absent because of injury. But Carr said they will all be ready for the season opener. Currently, there are no injuries to roster players that will inter- fere with the season. Many other questions surround the Wolverines with the culmination of the spring season, which Carr addressed yesterday. THE QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY (AGAIN): This year there is no question who the starting quarterback for the Wolverines will be. Sophomore Drew Henson, who played substantially in 10 games last season, will start. But questions about his status with the New York Yankees organization have surrounded him since his arrival at Michigan and continue to surround him this season. See SPRING, Page 15A onship. Numerous runner-up awards and I , thargic'.in 8-5 road loss to Toledo .> Ss TOLEDO - Coach Geoff Zahn had an abnorial- l long talk with his Michigan baseball team in the rightfield grass of Toledo's Scott Park Baseball TOLEDO 8 Cdmplex after his team fell 94 to the Rockets yesterday. BeMICHIGAN 5 t has become increasing- 1'evident that this season, the Wolverines will never , e the ability to overcome opponents on tauent )6ne. Therefore, Zahn knows his. team: has to play intelligent baseball and rise tothe ccasion when the amortunities present themselves. We have to play better than we played today,"Zahn sgd. "We played pretty lethargic." ichigan had many chances against Toledo, but they slipped away, just as Michigan's hopes for sal- vaging the season seem to be. There was Toledo's fly to right field in the first inning, which senior Jay Dines initially misjudged, and then, in an attempt to make an over-the-shoulder catch in recovery, the ball rolled out of his glove, allowing a run to score. There were the two Toledo baserunners who decided to test freshman centerfielder Blake Rutkowski's arm on throws to the plate off of singles. Both men scored - and neither Rutkowski throw ever got to4he catcher. Then there was first baseman Jeff Trzos' inability to knock down a bounding ball that found the outfield grass for a two-run single. If anyone of those plays had been made, perhaps Michigan could have prevented its losing streak - a losing streak that comes only two weeks after the team ended a five-game skid - from reaching three games. "We made some key errors, and you can't do that," Zahn said. "Part of it's youth, but we're getting into the part of the season now where we're going to have to start growing up." Or perhaps if the hitting had been more opportune, the Wolverines wouldn't have exited the field with heads hanging. Senior Rob Bobeda, who represented the winning run with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, struck out for the seventh time in two games. At present he is providing little protection for junior David Parrish, who is walking and being hit by pitches more and more frequently. "Rob is in a little bit of a slump right now," Zahn said. "He's going to have to just battle through it." Even the one time Bobeda reached base, via a bunt See ROCKETS, Page 14A >n .4 R.4 of Y oK c'4 1* r Aj 1s *y I. 3I, Be our guest! I"1 il L a Taking a break from the books this spring and summer? Be our guest at Oakland University and get ahead of the game next fall. Take a couple of courses (you can choose from more than 1,000 spring or summer classes) that will directly transfer to your home university, and be one step closer to graduation. Oakland University welcomes students from other universities by offering transferable classes to guest students during spring and summer term. Think Ahead Call: (800) OAK - UNIV Fax: (248) 370 - 4462 Web: www.oakland.edu Email: ouinfo@oakland.edu 2000 Spring session: May 1 -June 23 m m m m m m m mm m m m ~im m 2000 Summer session: June 26 - Aug. 21 Yes! I am interested in finding out more about Oakland University's spring and summer classes. Please send information on: 0 College of Arts and Sciences D School of Business Administration 0 School of Education and Name Cnoe e Address I I 1I