6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 7, 2002 *I Tankers 'zone out for trip to the Grand Canyon state By Courtney Lewis Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's swimming team rang in the new year by eclipsing its dual meet loss total for all of 2001. Michigan lost to Arizona State 132-111 in Tempe, Ariz. this past Saturday after coming up short against Arizona the previous day. The Wildcats won 124-119 in Tucson. The Wolverines, who had been unde- feated in dual meets this season going into the weekend, fell to 4-2 (1-0 Big Ten). Prior to this weekend, Michigan's last defeat was Jan. 6, 2001 against Cali- fornia. "We were pretty disappointed because we could have won," said freshman Andrew Hurd. But Michigan's coach had a different outlook. Jon Urbanchek said he was "not disappointed at all" and described the weekend as "very exciting" and "produc- tive." Urbanchek pointed out the quality of Michigan's opponents and the close mar- gin of defeat on both days as reasons for his optimism. Neither the fifth-ranked Sun Devils nor eighth-ranked Wildcats have lost a dual meet this season. Michi- gan is the No. 12 team in the country. Michigan and Arizona State both swam to their strengths on Saturday. The Sun Devils controlled the sprints, sweeping the 50-yard freestyle, 400 medley relay and 200 backstroke. "They slammed us," Urbanchek said. The Wolverines countered by taking the top three spots in the 1000 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. Sophomore Dan Ketchum won the 200 freestyle with an NCAA consideration time of 137.61. Tim Siciliano and Jeff Hopwood also had victories in the 500 freestyle and 200 breaststroke, respective- ly. "We stayed within striking distance," Urbanchek said. "It basically came down to the relay at the end in both meets." Michigan's 400 relay teams couldn't come through in either meet. Ketchum, Jordan Watland, Matt Raines and Mike Porth finished third behind the Arizona State's A and B teams. Against Arizona, Hurd teamed up with Ketchum, Watland and Porth to grab a second-place finish, but Michigan needed to win the event to win the meet. The Wolverines are usually stronger in individual events than in relays, and they knew the importance of the final event in both meets. BREND.ANO'ONNELL/Daily Eric Wilson and the Michigan men's swim team spent the first few days of the new year in Arizona, but could not manage a win in meets against Arizona or Arizona St. "There was a fair bit of pressure, but I tried to just forget about that and try my best." Hurd said. Before facing Arizona and Arizona State, Michigan spent 11 days training in Flagstaff, Ariz. In addition to swimming for two hours twice a day, the Wolverines did dry land training for one hour before their night workouts. Flagstaff's altitude of 7,000 feet made the practices even more difficult, but Urbanchek expects long-term rewards. Training in high altitude increases red blood cell counts, which allows for greater oxygen intake. Hurd said he felt the benefits immedi- ately when Michigan descended to Tucson and Tempe for the dual meets. He ended the trip feeling relaxed and confident, despite Michigan's two losses. "It was one of the best training camps I've had," Hurd said. "We try not to let (the losses) get us down because they're two top teams." Women off and running after Jack Harvey. By David Oxfeld Daily Sports Writer Before an intimate crowd of family and friends, the Michigan women's track team shot out of the gate at the Indoor Track Building on Saturday host- ing the annual Jack Harvey Invitational - named after the former Michigan men's track coach who retired in 1999 after 32 years of coaching, 26 as the head man. "It's a great thrill to have this meet in my name," Harvey said. "It's so unexpected. I miss the friends, such as the other coaches and the officials, and I miss the kids. "If you are the coach at Michigan it is your life, it is hard to step away and take a time out. But I don't miss the travel and I surely don't miss the recruiting. It was all too time consuming." Harvey was successful during his tenure as coach, amassing 10 Big Ten titles and leading the team to a third-place finish in the 1994 NCAA Indoor Championships. The invitational marked the start of the 2002 track season for Michigan. With many of the team's key components from last year returning, this sea- son starts with high expectations for the Michigan women. This meet is an unusual one because it is the first meet of the season, while most of the women have taken some time off from training to celebrate the holidays and enjoy the break. "Competition is not really the driving factor in this meet," said Michigan assistant coach Karen Harvey. "Each girl is back on campus and we all are trying to get ready for next week's meet with a real Big Ten opponent (Indiana) on the road, " Some of the team members enjoyed the chance to find their groove. Sophomore star thrower Melissa Bickett understood that her recent time off had hurt her performance. "This meet is really about working yourself into shape after taking some time off," Bickett said. "The emphasis is really not on team in most track meets, until the Big Ten meet or our head-to-head match with Indiana." Even without the added emphasis on victory, the Wolverines were quite successful overall, winning 12 of 15 events. Particularly noteworthy during the field events was junior April Phillips, who won two events and also broke her personal record by close to two feet in the weight throw with a throw of 52 feet, 3 inches. Junior TaNisha Williams won two events as well, finishing first in the 60 meter hur- dles and the long jump. Coach James Henry was happy with the team's effort. "We have not all been up to date in our training, but we came out and competed," Henry said. "With this experience under our belt, we will be a step ahead for next week in Indiana." With the competition over, Henry wrapped up the day by asking the freshmen members of the team to step forward and lead the team in a chorus of "The Victors." It was suggested that after the song'was concluded, the freshmen were officially members of the team. Instead, when the song ended, the returning upper-classmen doused the newcomers with cups of water and silly string. ' * Gymnasts' Hawaiian vacation is great for the tans but bad for their record By Matt Kramer Daily Sports Writer In between a Christmas break filled with luaus, snorkeling and surfing lessons, the Michigan women's gymnastics team stumbled to a third place-finish out of four teams at the Maui Invitational on Jan. 4. The third-ranked Wolverines' overall score of 193.625 was over a full point behind the meet's winner, No. 17 Ari- zona, which scored 194.650. No. 13 Oklahoma finished sec- ond with 194.425. "We have a lot to learn from this," said junior co-captain Janessa Grieco. "The meet didn't go as expected, but it's behind us now." After a slow start on the vault (in which Michigan could muster just a 48.325) the Wolverines (1-2) posted their best rotation score (49.275) on the uneven bars thanks to a first- place showing by sophomore Elise Ray (9.975) and a score of 9.875 by fellow sophomore Amy Kuczera. Senior Shan- non MacKenzie and freshman Kallie Steffes each recorded a 9.8. But the balance beam was once again Michigan's Achilles heel as five members took falls on the event and Grieco's 9..750 was the best of all Wolverines. Michigan received a score of just 47.050. "This trip showed that we need a little more balance beam practice," Grieco said. "Nerves were a factor too, but it's all stuff that we can improve on with practice when we get home." In it's final event, Michigan posted a solid 48.975 on the floor, but it still wasn't enough to overcome Arizona and Oklahoma, which posted scores of 49.025 and 49.000, respectively. Ray's all-around score of 38.600 tied her for fourth with fellow Wolverines Steffes and Calli Ryals. It was the first time in the last 11 meets that Ray has not scored over a 39.000 in the all-around competition. Arizona's Randi Liljenquist won the meet with a 39.425, three-hundreths of a point better than Oklahoma's Mariana Gocalves. While the third-place showing was unexpected, it may prove to be good motivation for the Wolverines as they head into their next meet at home against Northern Illinois on Sunday. "Sometimes you need things like this to open up your eyes so you can see just how much you want it and what you need to do to get there," Greico said. Although the tournament results didn't go as well as Michigan expected, none of the gymnasts complained about their Christmas break in Maui. The Wolverines were able to spend nine days on the island thanks to winning the Leaders and Best Award, which was given to the team with the high- est grade point average. After practice every day the team was able to receive surfing lessons, go snorkeling and par- ticipate in luaus. "I didn't see it," Greico said, "but I heard Calli Ryals and Cammie Singer were the best surfers of the bunch." 0 0 0 88::.n. x .. ...... ..... ...,,..N.z . .. x . ' .....,.... ; g3G.... TOM FELDKAMP/Daily The gymnastics team earned extra days in Hawaii for its outstanding grades, but earned low marks in competition. REC INTRAURAL$ The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHAT'S HAPPENING ICE HOCKEY BASKETBALL * I J( ENTRIES TAKEN: Tuesday 1/8 ONLY 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $410 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Tues 1/8,6:00 PM, IMSB PLAY BEGINS: Weds 1/9. Yost Ice Arena S ENTRIES TAKEN: Tues 1/8 ONLY 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $78 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Weds 1/9,6 & 9 PM, IMSB PLAY BEGINS: Thurs 1/10 IMSB & Sports Coliseum *1 iI INNER TUBE WATER POLO ENTRIES TAKEN: Tuesday 1/8 ONLY 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $60 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Weds 1/9, 8:00 PM, IMSB 0 TEAM RACQUETBALL ENTRIES TAKEN: Tuesday 1/8 ONLY 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $50 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Weds 1/9, 7:15 PM, IMSB * * PLAY BEGINS: Thursday 1/10, IMSB PLAY BEGINS: Thurs 1/10, IMSB The Entry Deadline for the Badminton Tournament is 4:30pm Thursday 1124 while entries for the Swimming and Diving Meet will be taken at the IMSB Main office until 4:30pm Tuesday 1129. -J. - (T it dmorI ®-