8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 1, 2001
4
A Bronx tale: 'M' places seventh at Iona
By Bob Hunt
For the Daily
The Michigan women's cross-country team got
back into action after a three-week layoff by heading
to the Bronx for the Iona Invite. The Wolverines flew
into Newark International Airport, which was the ori-
gin of United Airlines flight 93 which crashed in Penn-
sylvania during the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks.
While it didn't physically affect the race, where the
Wolverines finished seventh out of 22 teams on Satur-
day, being near everything that happened was still an
experience for the Wolverines.
"When we flew in, I don't think anybody really
thought anything of it but it was much more of the
reality," Michigan coach Mike McGuire said. "It was
there. In the Daily News, it's still in there like it hap-
pened yesterday."
Field hockey
Despite the presence of a few strong teams like
Boston College, a squad that finished fourth in last
year's NCAA Championships, McGuire and the rest
of the Wolverines were disappointed with their finish.
Michigan ended up behind Boston College, Boston
University, Cornell, Yale, Dartmouth and Villanova.
"We improved over the first meet so I was satisfied
with that but (our performance) still wasn't reflective
of the progress we made in training from the first meet
to the second meet," McGuire said.
The Wolverines had four runners place in the top 50
in the 6 kilometer race. Lindsey Gallo finished 24th,
while teammates Andrea Parker (33rd), Katie Ryan
(45th) and Jeanne Spink (48th) all placed in the top 50.
But Michigan would have liked to finished as a team
in the top three or four considering the competition.
Despite the team performance, McGuire said the
performance of redshirt freshman Parker was impres-
sive.
"She's the most improved kid on our team and she's
been racing as well or better as she's been practicing,"
McGuire said.
Michigan was supposed to have run at the Spiked
Shoe Invitational atPenn State on Sept. 15 but the
meet's cancellation left the team with a three-week
layoff. The team last raced on Sept. 8 in the Miami
Invitational at Miami (Ohio).
Many of the teams the Wolverines raced against
originally scheduled last week as a bye week, but
because of the recent cancellations, those teams found
meets.
The Wolverines took a different route - instead of
scheduling a meet, they decided to just train in prepa-
ration for later meets.
"I don't think (the layoff) had a huge effect,"
McGuire said.
The women's crew team dedicated its new boathouse on Saturday.
Alumni turn out for
boathouse dedication
swats away Iowa, Ball State
By Brian Steere
Daily Sports Writer
By Dan Rosen
For the Daily
The Michigan women's crew team
officially dedicated its new S I.2 mil-
lion facility during its annual
Boathouse Day event on Saturday.
The building was functional last sea-
son but wasn't fully completed until
recently.
Saturday's event was a celebration
for a program that has come a long
way in its first five seasons - the
team finished second in the NCAA
Championships last year. A sign of
the tradition that is building on
Belleville Lake - the home of
Michigan women's crew - was the
large group of alumni present for the
ceremony.
"It's important to see where this
program has come from, to see who
the club rowers were who started the
program, who had to fundraise and
pay for everything themselves, who
had to travel in the vans and sleep on
gym floors," said senior rower Julie
Brescoll of the alumni who returned
for the event.
"It's inspiring to think that when
people like Kate Johnson were fresh-
men here, there really was no
boathouse, there really wasn't much
of a program," freshman Brett Sickler
said.
"They came into it blindly, not
knowing what to expect, and just
went for it."
As a member of Michigan's first
varsity crew team, Johnson sees the
new boathouse as a way to link the
program's promising future with the
birth of the varsity team five years
ago.
"I think it's important just to keep
the spirit going," said Johnson, a 2000
graduate and three-time All-Ameri-
can.
"It doesn't end after you leave here.
The tradition of being a part of Michi-
gan rowing continues for the rest of
your life."
The new facility covers 6,000
square feet directly on the shores of
the lake. It has a classroom, a locker-
room, offices, a lounge for team
members, and an athletic training
facility - in addition to the large
garage for the team's boats.
"A facility like this, for a sport of
this nature, it's absolutely essential,"
Athletic Director Bill Martin said.
The rowers will now have a heated
building to return to after practice.
They will be able to put boats directly
in the water, instead of carrying them
down the large hill from the old
boathouse.
In addition, they will be ablo to
study video and discuss strategy in
the comfort of a home space.
"Anytime you have a facility that
you can take pride in, that helps psy-
chologically but also functionally,"
said coach Mark Rothstein of how the
facility has improved the program.
"It's made a big difference. We have
meeting rooms right here and we're
right on the water, which is more effi-
cient for practice."
"The old boathouse really wasn't a
home," said junior Helen Dallas.
For the second-straight weekend, the
Michigan field hockey team benefited
from a strong offense and a nearly
impenetrable defense to earn two wins.
The fourth-ranked Wolverines (2-0
Big Ten, 8-2 overall) cruised past Ball
State 5-1 yesterday on the road and
dominated No. 16 Iowa 4-1 on Friday
afternoon at Ocker Field.
Against Ball State, Michigan had to
adjust to different playing conditions
than it usually sees back home.
"It was a little bouncy out there today,
which means the ball runs a lot slower,"
Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. "I
thought the team stayed poised and han-
dled the adjustment nicely."
The Wolverines have now beaten Ball
State in each of the past four years.
On Friday, facing their first ranked
opponent since losing 2-1 to No. 1 North
Carolina back on Sept. 8, the Wolverines
responded against Iowa with a tremen-
dous effort on both sides of the ball.
"This is one of the best games we've
played all year," Pankratz said. "Iowa is
a very good team. Our girls came out
with a lot of confidence, and they never
relented."
After being stymied for nearly the
entire first half by Iowa goalkeeper
Saleema Rogers, the Michigan offense
finally found an answer with two min-
utes remaining, when sophomore for-
ward April Fronzoni fired a shot past
Rogers into the right corner of the cage.
Trailing 1-0, Iowa nearly tied the
game before the half on a breakaway.
But senior goalkeeper Maureen Tasch
came up with a huge save as she rushed
out from the goal and knocked the ball
out of bounds to preserve the lead.
"I like one-on-one situations," Tasch
said. "We work on them quite a bit dur-
ing practice so I have a lot of confi-
dence."
Michigan picked up its scoring to start
the second half with two goals in the
first seven minutes. Sophomore defender
Stephanie Johnson scored on a penalty
shot for her sixth goal of the year and
junior forward Molly Powers netted her
fifth score of the season on an assist
from forward Jessica Blake.
Sophomore forward Kristi Gannon
finished off the scoring for the Wolver-
ines with just over six minutes remain-
ing on another assist from Blake.
Tasch would have recorded her sixth
shutout of the year if it had not been for
a questionable goal by Iowa forward
Tiffany Leister.
The controversy centered around
whether Leister should have received a
high stick penalty on her shot, which
would have eliminated the goal..
"I did not think it was a goal at all,"
Tasch said.
The victory extended Michigan's win
streak in the conference to 10 games
with No. 6 Michigan State looming on
Thursday night in East Lansing.
"This is going to be a huge game,"
Pankratz said. "Michigan State has an
outstanding team this year and is always
an intense, competitive rival. Both teams
are ranked in the Top Ten so it is an
important national matchup as well."
U
M
This Week in
Presented by: neritch.
Michigan Athletics
Volleyball
Wednesday, Oct. 3
Michigan vs.
Michigan State
7 p.m.
State Pride Match
Free NIKE water bottles to
the first 300 fans!
Home matches at
Cliff Keen Arena.
Admission is $4 for adults; $2 for
children and senior citizens.
U-M students admitted for FREE!
For more info. on
Michigan Athletics
visit MGoBlue.com.
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