i2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 15, 2001

Gymnasts host No. 5 Spartans for final time

By Swapnll Patel
Daily Sports Writer
With the Big Ten Championships
looming in the near future, the No. 2
Michigan men's gymnastics team
will finish off its 2001 regular season
by facing intrastate rival Michigan
State tomorrow.
Interestingly, the competition
between the Wolverines and Spartans
will take place at Crisler Arena - a
location in which the gymnasts have

not competed since the 1998 Big Ten
Championships.
Senior tri-captain Kevin Roulston,
who is out for the remainder of this
season, will have knee surgery today
to mend the torn ACL that he suf-
fered in the pre-meet warm-ups
against Penn State earlier this sea-
son.
While Roulston waits to hear from
the Big Ten committee about whether
his request for a medical redshirt will
be approved, the team expects to use

its final meet as preparation for the
postseason.
"We are planning to treat it like a
championship meet," junior Daniel
Diaz-Luong said. "Our plan is to go
into full attack."
Throughout most of the season,
Michigan coach Kurt Golder has
stressed consistency within the gym-
nasts' routines, while other institu-
tions such as No. 1 Oklahoma have
adopted more aggressive, challeng-
ing approaches.
But sporting an 11-1 regular sea-
son record thus far, Michigan's strat-
egy has proved successful.
The Wolverines realize that, and
during the Big Tens and National
Championships they need to combine

an element of difficulty with their
consistency in order to compete with
the top-notch programs around the
nation.
"As the season is getting closer to
the end, the guys are adding new
skills and making their routines hard-
er," junior Scott Vetere said.
"I think we are the only team that is
able to perform difficult skills and
stay clean at the same time during our
routines."
For now, the meet against
Michigan State will be the primary
focus for Michigan.
In hopes of avoiding a repeat of the
letdown against Minnesota, the
Wolverines only to expect to look
forward to the postseason after com-

CRISLER ARENA
Who: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 6 Michigan
State
When: 7:30 p.m.
latest The Wolverines face the Spartans
for the last time ever as Michigan State's
gymnastics program is going to be cut.
pleting the competition against the
Spartans.
The meet against Michigan State
marks the last time these two teams
will face each other since the
Spartans will not field a team for
next year.
"Right now we are just looking
ahead to Michigan State," junior
Brad Kenna said. "We can't take
them too lightly. There is nothing that
they would like better than to come
into our house and win their final
regular season meet ever against us."


Women out of basement, onto course

By Jim Weber
Daily Sports Writer
Not many people have gotten in a
round of golf this year at the University
of Michigan golf course, as it has been
covered in snow.
Yesterday, the Michigan
women's golf team was PELICAN BA'
finally able to practice on
the University course for What: Michig
the first time this year. in Hatter Spr
The course has not had When atur
the time or the weather to Sunday in D
be well manicured, but no Latest: The l
one seemed to care. compete in t
Playing on a course nament since
allowed them to practice classic, plac
different lies and taking
divots with shots, something difficult to
replicate indoors.
Even without the course to practice on
for most of the year, the team didn't stop
trying to improve. Michigan has been
driving to Ypsilanti, home of the Miles of
Golf practice facility.
"We have the disadvantage of not
being able to get out and practicing; as
much as the southern schools," said
women's head coach Kathy Teichert.

The Wolverines have also worked on
their putting in the basement of the
complex on an indoor putting green,
especially from the three to six foot

range.
But this
1Y NORTH C.C.
ign competes
ing Fling
day and
aytona Beach.
ady Wolverines
heir first tour-
ethe Midwest
ing tenth.

isn't any ordinary rug. In
order to try and replicate a
real green, the women
could alter the contours of
the indoor surface with the
turn of a knob to try and
work on different reads.
The team was not about
to use these poor training
conditions as an excuse for
losing.
Sophomore Kim
Benedict said that most of
the team is from the

tried to improve after its 10th place per-
formance at the Midwest Classic in a
field of 18 teams.
"We worked our butts off," said
sophomore Kim Benedict.
When the team wasn't practicing,
Teichert said they were reflecting on
their past play and reassessing their
goals and attitudes.
Teichert cited a fourth place finish,
qualifying for the regional tournament,
and winning a tournament like they did
on Feb. 13 at the Lady Aztec
Invitational in San Diego, Ca.
The hard work and reflection will
hopefully pay off this weekend when
the team travels to Daytona Beach,
Fla. to compete in the Hatter Spring
Fling tournament on March 17-18
against a less competitive field than
they faced during their 10th place
finish.
Teichert thinks the key to the match
will be to keep the previously mentioned
good attitude and "staying out of the
high holes." The coach made it clear that
they must eliminate these scores such as
double and triple-bogeys that the team
has committed in the past to succeed this
weekend.

Pitino now 'not thinkingi
about any other jobs'
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Rick
Pitino wants his next coaching job to
be his last, and Louisville is the only
job he's looking at.
The former Kentucky and Boston
Celtics coach visited with retired Hall
of Fame coach Denny Crum and'
toured the Louisville campus yester
day with his 18-year-old son, Richard.
Louisville athletic director Toni
Jurich, who met with Pitino in Mianm
last weekend, has said Pitino is thd
only candidate for the job.
Pitino didn't say when he would
decide his future, but denied yesterday:
he's biding his time to see what other
jobs open. Michigan athletic directoi
Bill Martin said he wanted to talk to-
Pitino after firing Brian Ellerbe on
Tuesday.
"I'm really not thinking about any,
other jobs,' Pitino said. "I have to tak-
my time and make sure I'm making
the right move, but it isn't because of
other job openings, that's not the case~
at all.
"This is a big decision for me
because I wanted Boston to be my last
coaching job and this certainly will
be."
Pitino flew to Louisville on Tuesda
night from Dayton, where he worked
as a television analyst in the NCAA.
opening-round game. He will work fdp'
CBS through the Final Four and hai
said he will not accept a coaching job:
until next week, at the earliest.
Sports Illistrated: Mi.
may suit up for Wizards
NEW YORK (AP) - Couh
Michael Jordan's next big acquisitio
for the Washington Wizards be
Michael Jordan?
Citing a source identified only as
being "very close to Jordan," Sports
Illustrated colum-
nist Rick Reilly
reported in this
week's edition the
former NBA gre
is "90 percer
committed" to
making a come-
back next season
with the Wizards.
Jordan told The Washington Post on
March 8 that a comeback "has not
crossed my mind, butIwill never say
never."
"The first time I said never, I ended
up coming back, but I can say that
there's a 99.9 percent chance that I a
not coming back' he said.
Former Piston All-Star
found dead in his bed
DETROIT (AP) - Former Detroit
Pistons center Walter Dukes had been
dead for a month when his body was
found in his bed yesterday, police said.
Dukes, 70, apparently died of natu
al causes, said Officer Claude Fox,
department spokesman.
Police were called to the large home
in Detroit's historic Boston-Edison
neighborhood by Dukes' sister, who
had not spoken with him "for some
time " Fox said.
Dukes was an NBA All-Star for the
Pistons in 1960-61.

Midwest and "are used to taking win-
ters off and hitting off mats."
Although yesterday was Michigan's
first practice on its home course, it had
already tested many of the courses near
Austin, Tex. over spring break.
Instead of partying like many other
Michigan students, Teichert described
the team's spring break as "pretty much
a golf trip." This "break" included prac-
tices every day of the trip as the team


Today's Games

East Region:
Uniondale, N.Y.
12:20 p.m. No. 2 Kentucky vs_
No. 15 Holy Cross
2:50 p.m. No.7 Iowa vs
No. 10 Creighton
7:40 p.m. No. 3 Boston College vs.
No. 14 Southern Utah
10:10 p.m. No. 6 Southern California vs.
No.110klahoma State
Greensboro,N.C.
12:25 p.m. No. 5 Ohio State vs.
No. 12 Utah State
2:55 p.m. No. 4 UCLA vs.
No. 13 Hofstra
r6
7:40 p.m. No. 1Duke vs.
No. 16 Monmouth vs.
10:10 p.m. No. 8 Georgia vs.
No. 9 Missouri
West Region
Boise, Idaho
12:40 p.m. No. 6 Wisconsin vs.
No. 11 Georgia State
3:10 p.m. No. 3 Maryland vs.
No. 14 George Mason
7:50 p.m. No. 7 Arkansas vs.
No. 10 Georgetown
10:20 o.m. No. 2 Iowa State vs.

r