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P;ORTS

GRADUATINQ
SPRING, 2001


Strikes


SNational championships dominate seniors' time at Michigan ...

Varsity claims
tite in 19%98
Jan 1998
'PASADENA, Calif. - Long after the trophy has tar-
nished and this newspaper has yellowed, tales will be told
with chest-bursting pride of these Michigan Wolverines and
this Rose Bowl, of this team's character and its comebacks,
ffthe emotional energy shared by those lucky enough to
behold the marvelous magic made on New Year's Day.
The greatest football season in school history ended here
4 e rosy twilight gleamed off the San Gabriel foothills.
Michigan's 118th team won the 84th Rose Bowl, 21-16, and
finished No. 1. Nothing can spoil it. Not a controversy about
howthe game ended, with Washington State begging for one
MOXnecond, one more play and one more gasp of life. Not a
split decision among the voters, who awarded half of the
national championship to Nebraska by a miniscule margin.
No, nothing can spoil this. Nothing can top this. Nothing
could quell the crowd's cheers, even a half-hour after the
game, when the fans were still chanting with the band,
will cherish this game, this university, for the rest of my
li said senior quarterback Brian Griese, who was named
the game's most valuable player. "You have opportunities in
life; and those who stand out are the ones who take advan-
ta$ 'of those opportunities. It's just sweet for us to capitalize
on an opportunity to make history."
"When this season began, the Wolverines were ranked
14th, and recovering from four consecutive four-loss seasons
seemed daunting enough. An unblemished record and a
national championship weren't in the picture. "If you would
, told me then," defensive end Glen Steele said, "I would
have laughed." After all, Michigan didn't win a national
championship in coaching legend Bo Schembechler's 21-
year era of eminence. Bo never went 12-0.
"Nobody gave us a chance to be in the Rose Bowl, let
aloile win the national title," said all-purpose star Charles
Woodson, the Wolverines' game-breaker who this season
became the first primarily defensive player to win the Ileis-
man Trophy. "Everybody thought we were going to go 8-4
again. We played hard every week to get to this position. We

Hockey wins second in three years

By Red link
Apnl 6,1998

three games in both seasons. In 1996. Mlichigan dereated i
nesota 4-3 in the final game in the West Regional. Thi sea o
Michigan defeated North Dakota 4-3 to earn a trip to the m:i

Coincidence? Hard to say ... four. In the semifinal game, Michigan deokated on'toni Uve.
Two years ago, after the Michigan hockey team won its first sity, 4-0, in 1996, and this year the Wtolverines hea Nv
national championship since 1964, fonner Wolverine Brendan Hampshire 4-0 in the semifinal.
Morrison said that the NCAA title wasn't just for the players Two years ago, Michigan defeated Colorado Colleye 3
on that season's team, but rather that the title was for all of the overtime to win the title, and of course the WoI enne, de ca'
players in past seasons who had helped build the program - ed Boston College 3-2 in overtime to win the title this 1 ear
but who hadn't won a national championship. Even the final game was similar to the final game aain>
This year, Bill Muckalt felt the same. Colorado College. Two years ago, the Wolverines entered t<
"This one is for all of the guys that wore the maize and third period trailing, 2-1. Mike Legg scored a third period oa
blue," Muckalt said. "It's for all of those guys who have that year to send the game into overtime.
worked so hard putting Michigan on the map and making this This time around, the Wolverines again found themsetve
program what it is." trailing 2-1 heading into the final period, and Mark iKoici
Perhaps it's appropriate that Muckalt and Morrison had such scored a third period goal to tie the game.
similar things to say after the victory - there was much else The hero in 1996 was, of course, No. 9 lBrendan MorinisoI
about Michigan's title run that seemed eerily similar to the who scored the game winner. This season, the hero vas No.
Wolverines' championship run two years ago. Mark Kosick, who scored Michigan's first two goals.
When Josh Langfeld scored in overtime to give the Wolver- And one final coincidence Kentucky won the nat]'OnA
ines a 3-2 victory, the parallels with 1996 were almost championship in basketball in both 1996 and 1998 ail k
unavoidable. which Pearson pointed out.
For starters, consider the scores in the Wolverines' final Coincidence...?
Gymnasts get in on championship aCt

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FILE PHOTO
Jerame Tuman lifts Tai Streets to the sky during the 1998 Rose
Bowl. Michigan would win the game and the national title.
all felt we could go undefeated; we just had to go out and do
it."
They went out and did it the way they had all autumn - by
doing what no one but themselves thought they could.
Griese, a one-time walk-on who had lost his starting job and
rode the bench a year ago, threw his longest two passes of
the season for touchdowns. Both were to wide receiver Tai
Streets, who hadn't caught a ball in three of his last four
games because his fingers, two of which were dislocated,
wouldn't let him.
And when it was over, they knew it would never be this
good again. They walked off the field, their faces flickering
in front of flash bulbs, glinunering with triumphant tears.
Having overcome so much, emotion overcame them.
"We won all the major awards, the Heisman Trophy,
coach of the year." said senior co-captain Eric Mayes,
whose knee injury ended his career in October but could-
n't keep him out of uniform for his final game - and his
finest hour -- as a Wolverine. "We're undefeated, ranked
No. I ... this may be the single greatest season ever - in
college football history."

By Dan Dingerson
Ma 1999

LINCOLN, Neb. - For the first
time since 1970, Michigan is at the
top of the gymnastics world. On
April 23, the Wolverines used their
best performance of the year to
secure the coveted title of "national
champion."
Joining Michigan at this year's
NCAA Championships were Ohio
State, Penn State, Nebraska, Brigham
Young and Stanford. The three Big
Ten teams, who had traded the No. 1
ranking throughout the year, were all
favored to advance past the qualify-
ing round on April 22. The Wolver-
ines placed first in the qualifying

round with a score of 230.5, scoring
more than 230 points for the fifth
straight competition. Ohio State
placed second, and Nebraska used
the home crowd advantage to claim
third, edging out Penn State in the
final rotation of the evening.
"It was a very strong event for us,
and I was very confident that we
could get off to a real good start on
it," Michigan coach Kurt Golder
said. "It was really important to start
strong."
The championship was almost over
as soon as it started. The Wolverines
did start strong on the pommel horse
and jumped out to a quick lead. 'The
next two events would give the team
a nearly unrelinquishable lead.

Justin Toman was a key element at the
NCAA Championships.


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