The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 16, 2001--41 "Women lead after first day of Big Ten finals The No. 16 Michigan women's swim- ming team opened the Big Ten Championships with a bang yesterday in Bloomington. The Wolverines amassed 203 points to lead the meet by 28 after the first five events. Host team Indiana has been a surprise and stands second, while Penn State is currently third. "Indiana swam out of their suits tonight," Michigan coach Jim Richardson. Michigan punctuated the evening wvith a first-place showing in the 400- yard medley relay. Jen Crisman, Traci Valasco, Anne Weilbacher and Samantha Arsenault combined to break the Big Ten hampionship record (3:38.78), previ- ously held by Michigan's 2000 squad. "It was a very good evening," Richardson said. "And we ended with a great final race." The freestyle sprints were also a strong point for the Wolverines. Michigan earned 62 points in the 50- yard freestyle, behind a 2-3-4 finish from Crisman, Arsenault, and Laura (aznecki. The same four also combined o finish second in the 200 freestyle relay. "There is a lot of swimming yet," Richardson said. "But I'm happy with where we are now." --Steve Jackson GOPHERS Continued from Page 10 with 10 on the roster but season ending injuries to Mike Bauer and John-Blair Bickerstaff have crippled the team. Minnesota has lost two straight since Bickerstaff broke his leg against Northwestern on Feb. 7. But the Wolverines aren't taking the Gophers lightly. Currently tied for ninth in the Big Ten, winning this game could mean the difference between playing a team like eighth-place Purdue or sixth-place No. 19 Wisconsin in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. To make matters more difficult, tomorrow night's contest is the only meeting between these two teams in the regular season - meaning neither knows very much about the other. "We're a little worried that we haven't seen them up close," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "We're going to have to cram and watch an awful lot of tape on these guys." The other question for the Showdown: Blue hosts top-ranked Oklahoma By Swgmll Patel Daily Sports Writer Having lost more gymnasts to injuries than meets this season, the No. 3 Michigan men's gymnastics team will host top-ranked Oklahoma and No. 10 Massachusetts this Sunday afternoon at Cliff Keen Arena. As the Wolverines prepare to face off against the Sooners - perhaps their most talented opponent this season - and the Minutemen, they will undoubt- edly have the status of senior tri-captain Kevin Roulston on their mind. Roulston, who injured his knee in the warmups prior to the meet against Penn State two weeks ago, had an MRi taken yesterday. Results will most likely con- firm a suspected torn ACL. "We're pretty certain that it's a com-. plete ACL tear," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "We were hoping that everyone gets healthier." But thus far, while some gymnasts have recovered from injuries, others have fallen victim. Juniors Scott Vetere, Daniel Diaz- Luong and Brad Kenna-who have all competed injured for the past few weeks - are now starting to return to form. To compete with the Sooners and Minutemen, Michigan will need strong performances from its trio of juniors, but the wild cards will be sophomores Kris Zimmerman and Jaime Hertza. Zimmerman narrowly missed qualify- BIG TEN STANDINGS Conference Overall Team W L W L Illinois 10 2 20 5 Michigan State 8 3 19 3 Indiana 7 4 16 9 Ohio State 8 5 17 8 Iowa 6 5 17 7 Wisconsin 6 5 15 7 Penn State 5 6 15 7 Purdue 5 7 13 10 Michigan 4 8 10 13 Minnesota 4 8 16 9 Northwestern 1 11 9 16 Wolverines will be the status of fresh- men Bernard Robinson and Maurice Searight. Although he dressed for the game, Searight did not play against Iowa. Robinson also did not start for the second-straight game. Coming off the bench "was differ- ent, but what can I say, it's the coach's decision," Robinson said. "Everything worked like it was supposed to, so I have no problem with it as long as we win." CLIFF KEEN ARENA Who: No. 3 Michigan vs. No.1 Oklahoma and No. 10 Massachusetts When:1 p.m. Latest: The Wolverines will look to con- tinue their winning ways as they take on the top ranked Sooners. Gyminfo National Ring :(as of Feb. 12) (by highest twomeet average) { Seniors Katie Dykhouse and Anne <:< Thorius give each other a tearful hug night's game against lowa. WOOD/Daily Sekniorswshine infinal home game at Criler M By Jeff Phillips Daily Sports Writer 1. 0klahoma 2. Ohio State 3. Michgan 4. Michigan State 5. Illinois 214.575 214.125 212.500 210.887 210.325 Webber sidelined with ankle injury SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - All- Star forward Chris Webber will miss the next four games for the Sacramento Kings because of a sprained left ankle. X-rays on the ankle, which Webber injured during the final seconds of regu- lation Tuesday night in the Kings' 97-94 overtime victory at Utah, did not show any broken bones. The Kings said Webber, who was to miss last night's game in Portland and home games tonight against Denver, Sunday against Utah and Tuesday against Atlanta, will have his ankle re- evaluated early next week. .Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said Tuesday night that losing Webber would be "a very bad thing." The injury happened as Webber tried to drive the baseline with 0.9 seconds left in regulation. Webber said he *hought he stepped on someone's foot as he became entangled with Karl Malone. Gretzky returns to NH L as owner of Coyotes PHOENIX (AP) - The Wayne Gretzky era began yesterday for the Phoenix Coyotes as the former hockey wreat and developer Steve Ellman com- pleted their $88 million deal to buy the team. The closing, delayed by a series of cmplications lining up financing, ame the day of the NHLs Feb. 15 dead- 1ine and months after the sale was orig- inally supposed to be completed. Ellman and Gretzky had been given two extensions to up the purchase. Had the sale fallen through, former owner Richard Burke would have been free to keep $26 million that the new *owners paid in advance and sell to someone else. Trucking company exec- utive Jerry Moyes helped ensure the deal would get done by stepping in as a partner last month. ''NAACP boycott won't affect hoops tourney *COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Southern Conference basketball tourna- ment will be played at Greenville's Bi- Lo Center despite a boycott effort by the NAACP In a letter to the NAACP, conference commissioner Alfred White said Wednesday the organization should feel free to protest Southern Conference tournaments through pickets, sit-ins and other means deemed necessary. The NAACP has led a boycott of outh Carolina since January 2000 ecause of the Confederate flag that flew atop the Statehouse dome. That flag was removed in July and a similar one put up at the Confederate Soldier Monument on Capitol grounds. "The Southern Conference was in favor of relocating the flag from the dome of the Capitol just as much as the NAACP," White wrote to state NAACP president James Galiman. NCAA men's basketball Yesterdky's rits TCU 102, No. 20 Fresno State 88 No. 8 Arizona at No. 24 UCLA, inc. NBA On senior day at Crisler Arena, it was fitting that both of the Michigan women's basketball team's seniors got a chance to shine in ways that fit their roles on the team. Katie Dykhouse - a vocal leader for the Wolverines - was given the opportunity to sing the National Anthem prior to the start of the game, and she did not disappoint. A nervous Dykhouse stood in front of her teammates and never cracked, "I used to (sing the National Anthem) all the time during high school volleyball," Dykhouse said. "I think everybody liked it and it got my team hyped up." While Dykhouse's moment of glory was at the beginning of the game, Anne Thorius saved her clutch performance for the end. Thorius hit a jumper in the lane to put Michigan up by four with 1:23 to pliay. Then, with one second left in the game and the Wolverines ahead by one point, Thorius was sent to the line to seal the victory. Thorius - the Big Ten's free- throw peocentage leader at 87 per- cent - sunk the first shot, but missed the second in order to run out the clock on Iowa, which did not have :any timeouts. "It's hard (to miss) when you are shooting; 19-of-19," said Thorius, who had, actually made 21 consecu- tive free throws coming into the game. "'It sucks to shoot a shot knowinp you are going to miss." In addition to sealing the victory, Thorius; again showcased her pass- ing abillity by dishing out seven assists .- enough to put her over 500 assists for her career "It is. a great feeling (mu reach the milestoie), but when you are in the game, you don't have a lot of time to celeIbrate it," Thorius said. "Once I am done here I will look back and have .a proud monimt within myselir" The game brings to a close the home careers of Thorius and Dykhouse, who were part of coach Sue Guevara's first recruiting class. This senior class will leave as the most successful group in Michigan woman's basketball history. Currcntly, their career record is 75- 39. B ig Ten looms for. 'M' tennis. By Albert Kim Daily Sports Writer The key to victories on the road to te Big Ten tennis championship is doing just that - winning on the road. And the unbeaten Michigan men's tennis team is looking to do so this weekend as it kis off the conference slate at Northwestern. As always, the Big Ten will be strong from top to bottom, boasting four top 35 programs and upset-minded teams every weekend. As a result, the Wolverines'5-0 non- conference record is already distant in the minds of the players. "The Big Ten is what it's all about," sophomore Chris Shaya said. Last year the Wolverines tied for fourth in the Big Ten with a 6-4 record. Meanwhile, last season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Northwestern, but the Wildcats still gained a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Like Michigan, the Wildcats are currently unbeaten, and the teams have split their last ten matches. But, the similarities between the two teams don't end with their records. The Wolverines and Wildcats boast similar lineups - Michigan brings three sopho- mores and four juniors to the table while Northwestern has three juniors and three sophomores. "It will be our toughest match to date," Michigan coach Mark Mees said. Northwestern is led by its No. I sin- gles player, sophomore Jackie Jenkins, who beat out last year's No. 1 player Brad Erickson for the top spot. "I guess you could say they are a lot like us in terms of age," Mees said. "Jenkins has improved from last year and is a quality player." Michigan has yet to play on the road this season, and the unfriendly surround- ings will be -an adjustment for all involved. The courts at Northwestern will be different from what Michigan is used to at the Varsity Tennis Center, both in atmosphere and speed. Northwestern has only three courts to play- on, rather than the traditional six - which may disrupt the normal order of the matches. "I think it will be important for us-to get off to a good start and to keep our composure in a difficult, noisy environ- ment," Mees said. "They will have a good crowd in their bubble which they play in." ing for a spot on the U.S. national gym- nastics team, bringing home a sixth- place finish in the Winter Cup Challenge. Zimmerman and Kenna will take part in the all-around against Oklahoma and Massachusetts. "Oklahoma has a different approach than us," Golfer said. "They are much more aggressive and add a lot more diffi- culty in their routines than we do. We are trying to be more consistent with ours. "And so far, it's worked." The likes of Zimmerman and Hertza will be called upon to contribute heavily this weekend - and perhaps the rest of the season - towards the team score, especially with team's lack of depth. Though the Wolverines have yet to lose a tournament this season, they dropped to the third spot in the GymInfo national rankings after having been atop the polls for four consecutive weeks. The rankings are based on the average scores of a home meet and two away meets. Despite beating the Nittany Lions in State College two weeks ago, Michigan dropped in the rankings because of its low margin of victory. "We beat Penn State at Rec Hall and that's the main thing," Golder said. "The rankings don't bother me much at this point." M OTAH KIANS' Continued from Page 10 "We talked a lot about this," Plocki said. "It was a heartbreaking loss for us in Georgia, but a lot of positive things happened also. We just have to continue to increase our concentration so that we can get better as a team." Of late, maintaining concentration and focus in pressure situations has been a problem for the Wolverines. Their performance on the balance beam in Georgia is a prime example of their inability to respond in key situa- tions against key opponents. "The beam is a very arbitrary event," Plocki said. "But we still have to try and be more aggressive as a team. In Georgia, we let the pressure get to us. When the beam courts the way it did fa r us, and your performance is going, to make or break everything, it's really hard." This weekend, Michigan has an opportunity to regain its early-season confiklence and get back on the win- ning track. But, with meets against Utah and UCLA looming, the Wol'ivrines must maintain the high level of intensity that is necessary to compete with the nation's best. K*AEBLE HONORED BY BIG TEN: Mice igan senior Bridget Knaeble received Big Ten co-athlete of the wee': honors for her performance in Georgia. Knaeble posted three-season highs and two career-highs in the three eve its she competed im. t 1 i EVANSTON Who: Michigan (50) vs. Northwestern (4-0)} When: Noon Latest: Michigan freshman Anthony Jackson looks to stay undefeated in dual match play; while junior Ben Cox hopes to improve on a 37-9 career singles mark in Big Ten play. . r I M I Cookies, Web Bugs, and Internet Privacy:. Undisclosed Tracking of Consumers and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act Tracy Sonneborn Assistant Attorney General Michigan Attorney General's Office Friday, February 16 3:30 PM Anderson Room-D, Michigan Union Sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy REC SPORTS INTRAMURALS The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM _______________________ w Intramural Broomball w $ .. a q a w J 9 q e t WHAT'S HAPPENING o No Experie Necessary Officials Needed!! RceE RET- .g Get a Free =Shirt , . ' ; .< . ,. ' ;y: Men's Gymnastics * Officials Paid for Al Games Wor SPORTS are I NTRAMURALS l I rked Flexible Yours #3 Michigan vs. #1 Oklahoma & #10 UMass Sunday, February 18 1 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena ITr~jini*n0 cinic,%Regrin