USCHO top 10
Michigan is seventh in the newly
released USCHO top 10. The poll is
posted on the Daily Sports Website.

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michigandaily.com /sports

TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 21, 2000

8


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Mickey says:
Arrr! No scurvy
for Michigan
For the third-straight year, the Michigan
football team will have plenty of Vitamin C
for the holidays. A look at the Wolverines'
recent citric appearances:
2001: Citrus Bowl - No. 16 Michigan vs. ???
2000: Orange Bowl - No. 8 Michigan 35, No. 5 Alabama 34 (OT)
1999: Citrus Bowl - No. 15 Michigan 45, No. 11 Arkansas 31

Against

the

wnd

40


Pilja finishes 17th at
cross country nationals

Possible opponents ...

Tennessee
Despite a slow
start, the 8-3
Volunteers appear
to be the favorite. A
win over Vanderbilt
will likely place the
Vols in Orlando.

The Orlando area.
Orlando may be the theme park capital of
the world, but there are plenty of tastes for
the collegiate pallet as well.
It's not Wally World

-Magic Kingdom
M-EMcot
-MGM Studios

-Universal Studios
-Kennedy Space Center
-Possible wax museum

Auburn
Would likely require a
loss to Florida and a
Tennessee loss for the
9-2 Tigers to go to
Disney World.

Tiger Woods' back yard
Woods has a Par 3
behind his house -
its private. But
Orlando is a hotbed of
solid courses:

Florida
A loss to Auburn
could land the 9-2
Gators back in
Orlando, where
they've been two of
the last three years.

-Metro West Country Club
-Deer Island Golf Club
-Southern Dunes
-Celebration Golf Club
Bars, swimsuits
-Chillers
-Cricketer Arms
-Pleasure Island
-Atlantic Dance ~^

By Shawn Kemp
Daily Spots Witer
AMES, Iowa -- In snow-blown, -20
degree wind-chilled weather, the majori-
tv of Ames staved inside the shelter of
their homes yesterday, oblivious to the
NCAA cross country championships
occurring at the neighboring Iowa State
Golf Course.
But for the 255 runners and more than
500 spectators, the men's championship
was a sight worth seeing. Among the
colorful array of half-naked Notre Dame
fans and rowdy Colorado students in
horned hats was junior Mark Pilja,
Michigan's lone representative in the
race.
In a race where the two-mile split was
10:12, close to the pace of a high school
meet, a huge surge by the top runners in
the leading pack with three kilometers to
go left Pilja straining to finish in the top
15, a goal of his since the beginning of
the season.
Pilja just missed reaching his goal,
running 30:48.5 to finish 17th. His fin-
ish did secure All-America honors.
Coach Ron Warhurst was ecstatic
with the way Pilja stayed in the ever-
changing race.
"He just kept coming and coming,
and going and going," Warhurst said.
"He was always in it. He ran excellent."
From the start of the race, Pilja was
right in the close-knit pack of 25 run-
ners, a strategy that aided him from the
blistering wind. The pace stayed almost
stagnant until the five-kilometer mark.
where the front runners took charge and
quickened the race.
"Nobody wanted to lead," Pilja said
about the first half of the race. "We were
jogging until about the three-mile mark,

and I wasn't going to lead'"
It wasn't until seven kilometers into
the race that Providence's Keith Kelly
and Fairleigh-Dickinson's Stephen
Ondieki, the eventual champion and run-
ner-up respectively, broke away from the
front group of runners, leaving the rest
of the harriers racing in smaller groups
as the large pack bioke up.
Pilja tucked in with Arkansas's
Murrav Link and Daniel Lincoln gradu-
ally moved up in the sea of runners as the
finish line approached. His companions
split the finish with Pilja, as Pilja out-
kicked Lincoln, but in return was kicked
down by Link.
"I was hoping he would stay up there
when everybody started to break,"
Warhurst said. "He got a couple of peo-
ple at the end."
Pilja's finish is the highest lie has had
in his three cross country championships
throughout his college career. Although
he improved upon his 151st and 57th
finishes as a freshman and sophomore
respectively, he wasn't entirely pleased,
as he his goal was to place in the top 15.
"It was a decent finish," Pilja said. "I
could have had a little more toughness at
the beginning, but I'm satisfied."
While Pilja might not have been com-
pletely content with his place, assistant
coach Kevin Sullivan and Warhurst
thought his All-American race was a.
great end to the his season.
"He put himself where he needed to
be," Sullivan said. "I think it's good.
Warhurst was excited about the possi-
bilities Pilja's success foreshadowed for
the next cross country season.
"It was tremendous," Warhurst said
about Pilja's improvement throughout
the years. He then added, "Just wait untO
next year."

a

Huntzicker out 6 weeks

By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan hockey team's suspi-
cions were confirmed yesterday when
an MRI on defenseman Dave
Huntzicker's leg revealed a torn MCL.
He will most likely miss six weeks,
whether or not he decides to have
arthroscopic surgery to repair it.
Along with Huntzicker, defenseman
Brad Fraser went down in practice yes-
terday. Coach Red Berenson said that it
looks very similar to Huntzicker's
injury and that he will probably miss
six weeks as well.
Two weeks ago, captain Geoff Koch
returned to the Michigan lineup and it
seemed as though the team was, for all
intents and purposes, healthy. But now
Berenson finds his squad hurting.
"We're pretty thin on defense all of a
sudden," he said. "We lost Huntzicker
and now Fraser, so we're down to six
defensemen."
Last year, Michigan was infamous
for how thin it was on defense.
But this year, it was looking like the
Wolverines had one of their most solid
defensive classes in years.
Bob Gassoff will probably be the
player to step into the lineup to fill the
void left by Fraser, who was filling in

for Huntzicker.
"His role will depend on whether or
not he's ready to play. Up until now he's
been really inconsistent," Berenson said.
CA LMING DOWN: Senior Josh
Langfeld started the season on a goal-
scoring binge. After scoring only nine
goals last year, Langfeld had four goals
in his first four games.
But after reaching seven on Oct. 28
against Miami, Langfeld has gone
without a tally for five games.
"I haven't really changed anything,"
he said. "Maybe I'm pressing a little
bit. But I'm definitely shooting the
puck the same way. It's just a matter of
getting that first one in and getting
going again.
"It's not like pro hockey where you
play every other night and you can get
out of that funk right away. I've got to
wait all week and think about it and it
kind of builds on you more."
WHERE'S THE TURKEY: Michigan
will play against Wisconsin on
Thursday night, Thanksgiving, in the
College Hockey Showcase.
With only three Canadian players on
the team, most of the Wolverines will
be forced to miss out on one of
America's favorite holiday meals.
Berenson has arranged for a turkey
dinner for the team tomorrow night.

BRENDANO 'ONNELL/Dlly
Junior Mark Pilja set his sights on finishing in the top 15 at the NCAA
championships in Ames, Iowa, but finished 17th.

women brave elements, wind up 14th



By Rhonda Gilmer
Daily Sports Writer
AMES, Iowa -- Freezing cold.
Windy. Downright numbing.
The weather conditions for this
race were anything but ideal.
Battling the elements, the
Michigan cross country team ended
its season yesterday vith a 14th-
place finish in the NCAA champi-
onships on the campus of Iowa State.
"We did really well," junior Katie
Ryan said. "We came together as a
team and through a lot of adversity,
we did well."
Colorado - which entered the
meet as one of the favorites - won
the team championship. The
Buffaloes' Kara Grgas-Wheeler won
the individual title, upsetting
Wisconsin's Erica Palmer, who was
the defending champion.
1999 NCAA champion Brigham
Food for Thought
Women in Vietnam
Eight nurses died in
Vietnam, one as the result
of a rocket attack as she
shielded a wounded
Vietnamese civilian with her
own body. Read Visions
of War. Dreams of Peace
(edited by Lynda Van
Devanter and Joan A.
Furey) for poetry and writ-
ings by Women in the
Vietnam War.
Gary Lillie & Assoc., Realtors
www.garylillie.com

Young placed second, while Stanford
finished third.
Senior Katie Jazwinski paced the
Wolverines, finishing 16th in a time
of 21:11 to once again earn All-
American honors. Senior Lisa
Ouellet finished 77th, and sopho-
more Jane Martineau placed 83rd.
"I'm really happy," Jazwinski said.
"I reached my goal - which was the
top 20-25 - and I ended my last race
on a high note.
"Personally, I've never run in these
types of weather conditions. But,
every other team is dueling the same
conditions and our team pulled
through it."
While they didn't win, the
Wolverines have nothing to hang
their heads about.
For a young Michigan squad,
merely earning the right to compete
at the NCAA championships was an
accomplishment.
"Nationals is really just a mindset
where you've really got to go out
there and keep your composure
because you're really running in a
throng of people," Michigan coach
Mike McGuire said.

0
0

BRENDANO'DONNELL/Daily
Michigan's Lisa Ouellet winces while inhaling the freezing temperatures in Ames,
Iowa, yesterday. Michigan finished 14th.

Men's hoops looks to bust Broncos

Readers Wanted. e
michigandaily.com

By Dan Williams
D~aly Sports Writer
After a demoralizing road defeat at
the hands of Oakland, the youthful
Michigan men's basketball team will
fortuitously return to Crisler today to
play an even younger and more inexpe-
rienced Western Michigan squad.
The Broncos do not have a player on
their roster that has spent more than
one year in the program. With just one
returning starter, the team fell 87-81 to
Hampton in overtime in their season
opener.
"I don't know if we have the same
caliber of player as Oakland had to be
able to do what Oakland did," first-year
Western Michigan coach Robert
McCullum said.
Western Michiran does have the

Laying the sMAC down
In recent history, MAC teams have enjoyed considerable success in Crisier. The 0
conference has gone 3-2 the last three years playi1g at Michigan.

1997 Westem Michigan 68,
Michigan 63
1997 Eastern Michigan 89,
Michigan 83 (OT)
1998 Ball State 75,
Michigan 64

1999
1999
2000

Michigan99,
Western Michigan 78
Michigan75,
Kent 73
Michigan vs.
Western Michigan

r._.. --

15-29 3-point shooting. To avoid a sim-
ilar fate, Michigan will have to crack
down on the outside shot against
Western Michigan, who made nine
treys in their loss to Hampton.
Another concern for Michigan is
avoiding foolish fouls, a major problem
against Oakland. The team committed

our screens" junior Chris Young said. W
"We can't try and move and bump guys
off."
While Michigan needs a win to right
the ship if they want any chance to
meet the goal of an NCAA tournament
appearance., Western Michigan will,
like Oakland, look to garner national

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