Cll PRT 2L y.g Sports desk: 763-2459 sportsdesk@umich.edu SECTION B '. .l .l Y# S 1 8/ a C "'1 Y<' C rozen in time Jubilation rules W regional win RAND RAPIDS - They just couldn't contain hemselves any longer. As the final seconds ticked away, and as Michigan clinched its first trip to the Frozen Four since 1998, the Wolverines leaped over the bench and rushed the ice. By the looks on their faces, and the emotions shown by their interactions, one would think they had won the national title. Not yet, but almost. *)n the bench, the usually stoic Red Berenson embraced associate head coach Mel Pearson. On the ice, sophomore J.J. Swistak leaped into the air like a kid who just got out of his last day at school. At the same time, 22 other Wolverines swarmed goalie Josh Blackburn -knockings the net off its posts and raising the JOE crowd to its feet. SMH H "It's the best feeling right now," senior Mark Kosick said. "We held The one in the end, which was awesome. and only "This is the best weekend this team has had so far. No question." It wasn't just that Michigan won, but how it won. An exhausted bunch of Wolverines unexpectedly had trouble with Mercyhurst the night before, squeezing out much needed energy for their most important game of the year - when everything was on the line. Staring Michigan right in the eye, fresh off a first-round bye, was No. 2 seed St. Cloud. Not only were the Huskies ed, but they were also loaded. inning 12 of its last 13 games coming into the Regional final against Michigan, St. Cloud boasted the nation's best offense and powerplay. Berenson considered the Huskies the hottest team in the tournament, a dangerous team that Michigan had never played in its history. Meanwhile, Michigan ended its regular season on a See SMITH, Page 4B Seniors show their true colors By Ryan C. Moloney Daily Sports Writer GRAND RAPIDS - In the years following its magical, but improbable, run to the 1998 national champi- onship, the Michigan hockey team's class of 2001 has been labeled many things. If you believe everything you hear, you are probably confused. This year's seniors have been called overachievers and underachievers, grinders and finesse players, leaders and followers - call them what you will. But today, there's only one moniker that truly sticks - Frozen Four-bound. "Our senior class has had their moments this season, but they stepped forward tonight; Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "You look at who scored the goals tonight and the seniors were the key." On the ice, the play of Michigan's senior class was reminiscent of a Supremes' song lyric - "Reflections of the way life used to be." Here was Mark Kosick, the fab freshman of the '98 team, bobbmig and weaving through traffic to net goals on both nights, kick-starting the Wolver- ines yesterday with the deflection and key first goal of the game. Kosick's confidence and game were See SENIORS, Page 5B TOM FELDKAMP/Daily An elated Mark Kosick celebrates after tallying the ever-important first goal in Michigan's 43 victory over St. Cloud. The win clinched a Frozen Four berth. Daily 3 Dance uuur hy the Terpi oro everyone who isn't doing well in your pool: Listen to us more often. Our pre-season picks in Tipoff were so money that you don't even know it. We told you that Arizona would be in the Final Four. We told you that Duke would be there. And we told you that Maryland would be there. All three are. Sure, we also said Michigan State the other team in the Final Four - s the most overrated team in the country, but three out of four is pretty good, especially before the season even starts. Now, for all of you thinking luck had a lot do with our picks, we also pegged Player of the Year (Shane Bat- tier) and Freshman of the Year (Eddie Griffin), so we clearly know a lot re about basketball than all you ubs with ruined brackets. So what does Swami say will hap- pen this weekend? Duke should beat Maryland by 13. Think about it. Duke beat Michi- gan by 43, and Maryland beat the Big Blue by 31. Even Brian Ellerbe could tell you that means Duke is 13 points better. Or so the transitive property would have you believe. In actuality, the Terps will find a will win it all WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS Women take another Big Ten crown By Naweed Sikora D~ally S~ports Writer CHI IPS MEN'S GYMNASTICS way to win. Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon are playing like All-Americans and Terrence Morris is playing like LaVell Blanchard - pretty well but getting way too much credit for it. And, well, we picked Maryland to win the national title. On the other half of the draw, look for Arizona to beat Michigan State. For the last three years, everything Sparty touched turned to gold, while everything Michigan touched, turned to, well, that's another story. This trend will change. It has to. Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson and Gilbert Arenas are playing well and Michigan State is beatable - though Ellerbe would tell you other- wise - especially if Charlie Bell, Marcus Taylor and Jason Richardson don't shoot well from the perimeter. Plus, the Spartans beat Michigan by an average of just 24 points this year. The Wildcats would have cer- tainly beaten Michigan by way more than that. We promised you Maryland would win it all at the start of the year, and the only surer thing than a promise from us is a promise from Drew Hen- son, so look for Gary Williams - sweaty suit and all - to cut down the nets in Minneapolis next Monday. Despite suffering two setbacks on the balance beam during the final rotation Saturday night, the Michigan women's gymnastics held off its competi- tion long enough to win its third consecutive Big Ten title. With a score of 197.15, Michigan placed first among seven teams, beating out its closest com- petitor Penn State by .725 of a point. Although things became scary at the end of the meet, the Wolverines managed to capture their ninth title in the past 10 years. "It's really exciting," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "As many as we've won, it doesn't get any less exciting for us. The competition tonight was out- standing. A lot of the teams were really strong, but it was really fun to be able to pull this one off in front of our home crowd. They were great." By the final rotation, it seemed as if Michigan held an insurmountable lead. With Penn State - its closest competition - already finishing with a 196.425, Michigan needed only a 48.125 or better on the balance beam to win the meet - a score it was more than capable of getting. After the initial three gymnasts hit on their rou- tines, Karina Senior - who had suffered a fall earli- er on the uneven bars - fell once again. Senior's error required the final two gymnasts - Shannon MacKenzie and Elise Ray - to hit their routines so Michigan would not be forced to count a fall for the event. Mackenzie responded beautifully, performing a near perfect routine, winning the individual event title and relieving the pressure just a bit. - "I just kept telling myself that I knew how do it and to just do one thing at a time," MacKenzie said. "I really try not to think about the pressure situations that I am in. I try to take myself back to the gym where we do lots of practice with pressure sets over and over." With Mackenzie's routine out of the way, and only Ray left to compete, Michigan seemed to be home free. Ray, who was on her way to becoming all- around champion for the meet, had been flawless in all of her performances to that point. Still, with all that on the line, Ray suffered an uncharacteristic fall late in her routine, jeopardizing Michigan's once comfortable lead. "After that last fall, we were all terrified in the Karina Senior struggled on the beam, but scored well on the floor exercise to help her team win its third consecutive Big Ten Championship and ninth in ten years. r woes cos men vico Blue is second, not first, for first time in three years By Dan Willians Daily Sports Editor STATE COLLEGE - "Sometimes you eat the ba, and sometimes the bar eats you," - Sam Elliot in "The Big Lebowski." In the Big Ten men's gymnastics championships this past Friday, the bars definitely ate Michigan. The Wolverines fought resiliently after woeful performances in their first two events, the parallel bars and the high bar, but the two-time defending conference champions could only retrieve second place. Michigan finished with a 216, trailing just place after a rough first two events - I was very pleased with that." The team was set back by some glaring errors on the bar events. With only Brad Kenna scoring above nine, Michigan began the night with a 34.9 on the parallel bars. The Buckeyes scored a 35.8 in the same event. "Parallel bars have been inconsistent for us all year, and it's potentially a very strong event for us" Golder said. "We just made mistakes and we've got to eliminate them." As the team rotated to the high bar, the errors per- sisted. gu.,.._ , ., .. _ riW .- S ;....t ... x _ . L I