8A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 1, 2001 Swimmers not affected by rivalry By Courtney Lewis For The Daily The Michigan men's swimming team heads to East Lansing this weekend to take on Michigan State. But it's not a red- letter date for the Wolverines, and it won't be an intense, hate-filled battle. Because swimming is a passive sport, and competitors race against the clock more than their opponents, the sport doesn't create a lot of rivalry In fact, Michigan doesn't have any rivals in the Big Ten, not even the traditional intra- state nemesis Michigan State. Coach Jon Urbanchek also credits recruiting for the dilution of the Michigan- Michigan State rivalry. All but eight Michigan swimmers are from outside of the state, so very few competed in high school against swimmers now in East Lansing. Add to that Michigan's continual dom- inance of Michigan State, and the usual- ly intriguing matchup becomes just another meet. But that doesn't mean it's entirely insignificant. For the Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten, 4-4 overall), a winning season is on the line. Although it's just one meet, the differ- ence between finishing 5-4 and 4-5 is a big one. "We haven't had a losing dual-meet record since I've been here and this can- not be the one - not this team," Urbanchek said. In addition to surpassing the .500 mark, a win on Saturday would end the Wolverines' Big Ten season without a loss for the second consecutive year. But Michigan knows there are no guarantees, and it expects a challenge from Michigan State. "Michigan State is a very good team. They have a new coach and new pride," Urbanchek said. "They've shown signs Search for redemptio Playtime r ends with EAST LANSING Who: Michigan (30 Big Ten, 44 overall) vs. Michigan State (0&2, 33) When: 1 p.m. Latest: Michigan captain Scott Werner was named Big TenicoSwimmer of the week. of tremendous improvement, not neces- sarily in results but in attitude. They're definitely a different team." The teams are well matched in the sprints and freestyle events, but the Wolverines are stronger in the back- stroke, butterfly and individual medley. Saturday is Michigan's final confer-' ence meet of the season, and the last chance to prepare for the Big Ten Championships, to be held February 22- 24 in Minneapolis. But their first priority will be finishing the dual meet season with a winning record. Purdue; women __V v THIS WEEKEND IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS I1 I Presented by: .:.(0 . Sat. Feb. 3 12:17pm vs. Wisconsin Crisler Arena BRAD QUINN/Daily The women's track team competes in'the Central Michigan Invitational this weekend. Challengredb the south Fri. Feb. 2 7pm vs. #3 Iowa *Free t-shirts to first 300 Fans Sat. Feb. 3 7pm vs. #21 Wisconsin Cliff Keen Arena t 11 Sun. Feb. 4 10:30am vs. Louisiana-Lafayette Varsity Tennis Center Sun. Feb. 4 2pm vs. DePaul Varsity Tennis Center Thur. Feb. 1 7pm vs. Minnesota *Free 3 point cards to first 1,000 Fans LA'RIS kJkf I By J. Brady McCollough For The Daily This Friday and Saturday, the Michigan men's track and field team will travel to South Bend for the Meyo Invitational hosted by Notre Dame. The field of competition should be the best the Wolverines have seen this year with top programs like Tennessee and Miami making the trip north. Michigan will know a lot more about its chances to suc- ceed in the postseason after this non-scoring meet. "I think this is the meet that is going to set the precedent for the rest of the season - we're going to see the most competition we've seen all year," junior sprinter Ike Okenwa said. "We're going to judge ourselves for the rest of the season by what we do this weekend." Junior sprinter Kevin Lamb, who won the 400-meter dash at the Red Simmons Invitational two weeks ago, looks forward to the competi- tion the southern schools will bring. "You run on your opponents' level most of the time, so you need the competition to push you," Lamb said. "You need them to be a little out in front of you or on your back. They (the southern schools) will bring out the best in us." The Wolverines had a bye week last weekend, giving them time to focus on their workouts rather than beating their next opponent. "We've had our best two weeks of practice - the week off last week was really good for us," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "I'm looking for everybody to get their season's best performance." The over-sized track at Notre Dame should help the runners in their personal events and in the relays. Okenwa is looking to run a NCAA qualifying time in the 200- meter dash. Last year at the Meyo Invitational, he missed the time needed by only .05 of a second. "I'm looking for a little redemp- tion," Okenwa said. "I feel like I'm running pretty well, and this is the meet to (qualify)." Michigan's 1600-meter relay team is undefeated so far this year, but in order to preserve that record, they must run their season record. "We haven't lost yet this dear, and we don't plan on it being this weekend," Lamb said. "Our main goal is to try and make it to nation- als. We know this is a great place to do it, because of the size of the track and the competition." The Wolverines will be full strength, as pole vaulters Charles DeWildt and Brent Sheffer return to action after participating in a vault- ing seminar in Reno, Nev. DeWildt, the 2000 Big Ten cham- pion in the pole vault, feels he and Sheffer are due for an impressive performance. "We're jumping way better than we did last year - we just haven't put it together in a meet yet," DeWildt said. "It better happen soon." first test By Rhonda Gilmer Daily Sports Writer Nabbing its first road win might have appeared easy for the Michigan women's track team last weekend considering the huge point spread between.the Wolverines and the remaining teams. But this week, that might not be the case. This Saturday at the Central Michigan Invitational in Mount Pleasant, the Wolverines will com- pete for the first time this season against a Big Ten team. The competition will consist of Purdue, Central Michigan and Bowling Green. During the Michigan Intercollegiate last week, Central Michigan came in second behind the Wolverines. Purdue might stand in the way of Michigan winning this weekend. "We are all similar" Michigan coach James Henry said. "All three (of the other competing schools) are balanced teams. We each have two or three good runners in each event." Expecting tight competition from Purdue, the Wolverines are trying to sharpen their techniques from last week. If Michigan continues to have members achieve personal bests as they did last week in the 60-meter low hurdles, 400-meter, 1600-meter relay, 5,000-meter run and triple jump, the team could have a viable chance at scooping up a win over Purdue. Whatever the outcome, the Wolverines hope to stay in close range with the other contenders. "Last week we had seasonal bests across the board," Henry said. "I think this week it is going to be a close meet and it should go down to the 1600-meter relay." Field events start at noon, and run ning begins at 2 p.m. MOUNT PLEASANT Who: Michigan, Purdue, Central Michigan, and Bowling Green When: Field event's at noon and races at 2 p.m. Latest: Michigan needs personal bests to win against its toughest competi- tion of the season. 7 '1 - II.1..mI1 _ tI MR-0-mm" f - Elk It w -i I n- lI ' s .i3 I Join theM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Firefighting Team for CAREER ADVENTURES In the most Beautiful and Unique Places in America I Permanent Seasonal Forestry Techs GIS Specialists Firefighters Ecologists (Fire) Engine Crews Wildland Specialists Prevention Education Specialists www.nps.gov/fire/jobs 1-866-NPS-FIRE Naionali Park Scrvice is an Equal Oppriuni Emnplkyer Nebraska coach breaks promise The Michigan women's swimm team will not be attending its sch uled meet at Nebraska this weekend. Michigan was expecting for the University of Nebraska to pay for all of its travelingexpenses. However, Nebraska coach Keith Moore made these promises "to Michigan coach Jim Richardson before breaking his affiliation with the Cornhusker program. Michigan was asked by* Nebraska athletic department to rec- iprocate by paying for the Huskers to visit Ann Arbor next year. "That wasn't part of the deal," Richardson said. "I told them we wouldn't. Michigan has never paid anyone to visit here." - Steve Jackson Ingerson eligible after second suspension * Santa Barbara high school basket- ball coach Jeff Lavender has declared Michigan signee Dommanic Ingerson eligible to play the rest of the season. Ingerson was suspended for a second time this season after he wiped the ball on his forehead after he was called for a foul. He was suspended earlier in the season when he flashed a sign to crowd after he drew a personal foul Ingerson was the first player to commit to Michigan's 2001 recruit- ing class. He is generally considered a top-40 player nationally. - Staff reports Internihip rair Wednesday, February 7, 2001 12noon - 4:00pm Michigan Union c - rqs4 -eG, _____ sl U