The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 16. 2001 - 98 ...... .......rv.. ....... .,r.., .... ..... ..... ,.t... .. ..... .. .. Benedict conquers playoff demons on the links By Naweed Sikora Daily Sprts \nter For Michigan sophomore Kim Benedict, the third time is a charm. Competing in her third playoff this season, Bene- dict finally beat out her competitors, winning her first career individual title while leading Michigan to third team title of the year at the Ilawkeye Invita- tional in Iowa City. Benedict began the tournament in excellent fash- ion, shooting a par 73 in Saturday's afternoon round to establish herself at the top of the leaderboard. She continued her hot shooting into the evening round, posting a 74 to finish the day at one over. But with a 72 and 71 in the first two rounds respectively. Kelly Picket of astern Michigan held a four-stroke lead over Benedici heading into Sunday's round. The deficit did not seem to phase Benedict, as she recorded a final round of 76 to finish with a four over 223. Pickett, on the other hand, did not finish strong down the stretch - recording a final-round score of 80 to finish in a tie with Benedict. Michi- gan's LeAnna Wicks and Iowa State's Noel Jacobusse also finished tied at 223 to force a four way playoff. On the first playoff hole, Benedict - along with Jacobusse - managed to par the hole while Pickett and Wicks were eliminated with bogeys. Benedict went on to par the second playoff hole, but Jacobusse missed her par putt and the tournament was over. Lcd by Benedict's clutch performance, the Wolverines finished the tournament with a team total of 902, beating out second-place Indiana by 17 strokes. In addition to Benedict and Wicks, Michi- gan junior Bess Bowers finished in fifth place with a 225 -- a career-best finish. The team was a model of consistency throughout the weekend. In round one, the Wolverines shot a 29( and would have led had it not been for a 297 posted by the Hoosiers. On day two, Michigan shot a 302 to take the lead into Sunday. And on Sunday. the team managed to hold on by shooting a 301, the best score of the afternoon. Michigan's third tournament victory this season tied the school mark for most tournament wins in a season. The Wolverines last had three victories in the 1995-96 season. The win comes at a very important time for Michigan, as the Big Ten Championships in Min- nesota are just around the corner. This weekeid's victory should add crucial momentum to the Wolver- ines' push for a championship two weeks fi om now. SWEEP Continued from Page 1B Rothstein attributed this time dis- crepancy to different weather condi- tions during the various races. In its' morning race, Michigan's first varsity four faced just Iowa. The Wolverines beat the lfawkeyes by nine seconds. In their second race, the Wolverines defeated Michi- gan State and Ohio State by seven and 10 seconds, respectively. Their stellar performance earned them spe- cial praise from their coach. "If I had to pick one boat out that I thought really did a nice job, it would be our first varsity four because they just had a lineup change," Rothstein said. "They only had rowed for one day - which is really unusual - and they responded really well and were victorious agrainst some g9vd crews." Michigan's second varsityIfir raced against Ohio State and MNe'i- gan State in both of its races.M th time, the Wolverines placed first, Ohio State came in second and Michigan State finished third. Michigan triumphed in the two races by seven and six seconds, respec- tively. As if this run of victories w isn t enough. Michigan's novice boats also were dominant. In the morning, the Wolverih'c" first and second boats went head-to- head with Iowa and beat- t-ie lawkeyes by 13 and 21 secor itl, respectively. In the afternoon, the competition got tougher, but Michigan's' IWO boats still won by seven and 10 s6- onds, respectively. ', One-two punches lead 'M' track Distance runners' spandex speedsuits help produce multiple victories I By Shawn Kemp Daily Sports Wrter. Can 100 percent spandex really ke a runner go faster? While most sprinters and fieid athletes on the Michigan men's track and field team regularly don the one-piece, all-spandex speed- suits, the distance runners put the uniforms to the test for the first time at this past Saturday's Michigan Triangular meet. And it worked. The duo of Brian Turner and Mike Wisniewski sport- ed the speedsuits and finished 1-2 in & 3,000 meter run. Turner out- kicked Wisniewski. finishing in 8:27.68, while Wisniewski clocked 8:28.26. . Turner and Wisniewski's 1-2 fin- ish 'was one of' many strong perfor- nianees that helped the Wolverines- to a first-place finish in their first scoring meet of the season. Michigan tallied 163 points, while *ntral Michigan finished second with 133. Michigan State came in third with 79. "We were down a little bit in the middle, and then we came back and just kept getting better," Michigan head coach Ron Warhurst said. "I was real happy with this." Ravi Smith and Tony Wishart gave Michigan another 1-2 finish in e400-meter dash, running 48.64 48.69, respectively. Junior Ike Okenwa - who won the 100-meters in 10.72 - also won the 200-meters in a time of 21.59, while freshman Anthony Beal finished second in 2258. Okenwa said that Beal's solid fin= ish- made him more happy than ner- "(Beal) hasn't had that confidence Wbut these guys are good, or they wouldn't be here," Okenwa said. And it's true. Freshman Mason Ward ran off of senior teammate A look at the underside of U of M Steve Lawrence's shoulder in the 1500-meter run until there were 250 meters left, when Ward took the lead and pulled away to win in 3:53.27. Lawrence finished second in 3:55.20. What could be considered a sur- prise win was Kevin Rogan's victo- ry in the 800-meter dash, a race that was chock full of former state champions. With less than 100 meters to go, Rogan passed Michigan State's Matt Ingram and finished in 1:52.17. Ingram finished second, while Michigan's Phil Stead and Tommy Greenless ran to third- and fourth- place finishes, respectively. In Michigan's final 1-2 punch on the track, senior co-captain Josh Sellers took first in the 400-meter hurdles, while Andrew Ochs was second in 53.41. Sellers said having teammates to train with has helped him through- out his racing career. "Michican has always had a c-ood core of excellent 400 hurdlers." Sellers said, citing such names as former teammate Brian Theisen and current teammates Ochs and Derek Applewhite. "I've had the benefit of having excellent training partners." Although they may have been less noticeable to spectators, Michigan's field event athletes also excelled and helped in the scoring. Oded Padan, who finished second in the long jump with 22-03 3/4, took first in the triple jump with a leap of 45-08 1/2. Teammate Terrence Walcott fin- ished second by just two inches, jumping 45-06 1/2. Senior co-captain Andy Derr claimed his first win of the season in the javelin with a toss of 188-09, while Bob Arnold finished second in the high jump in 6-09 3/4. With the Big Ten Championships a month away, Warhurst stressed the need for his athletes to compete for victories and not just aim for good times, heights or distances. "In the Big Ten meet, it becomes critical to learn to compete so you don 't panic." Warhurst said. And even though he labeled the 3.000 meters "clown time." Warhurst said the speedsuits calmed his runners and lessened the "panic" they might have felt. "Anything to keep their minds comfortable," Warhurst said. ' _ : : _ : . +ir y r. . ~ + , _y, er ^ ~ . Wstr% a.. 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