12A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 7, 2002
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Final dual meet starts tapering for 'M' netters
By Melanie Kebler "The meet is the last chance for people
Daily Sports Writer to swim an event as they are preparing
for the Big Tens. This is kind of like a
As the dual meet season wraps up final rehearsal before the curtain goes
for the men's swimming and diving up."
team, Michigan has one final chance For Michigan's swimmers, the sea-
to tune up before head- son is divided into three
ing to the Big Ten Cham- major parts. The swim-
pionships later this CANHAM NATATORIUM mers spend the early
month. Michigan State Who: No. 10 Michigan (4-0 weeks of the season condi-
visits Canham Natatori- Big Ten, 7-3 overall) vs. tioning and training hard,
um this weekend, but Michigan State (0-3, 3-5) then move into the dual
Michigan coach Jon when:6 p.m: tomorrow, meet season where they
Urbanchek doesn't noon Saturday can test the results of their
expect the competition to Latest: The Wolverines will training against other
serve much more than a wrap up their dual meet swimmers. Finally, after
trial run for the Wolver- season and prepare for the the dual meets are over,
Ines. the swimmers begin to
"We taper off the yards you do over
the week," Urbanchek said, explaining
the swimmers' workouts over the last
three weeks of the season. "We work
on practicing at higher intensities, so
it's more of a race-pace type of train-
ing."
The team practices this way, swim-
ming shorter but more intense
yardage, in order to rehearse the
speeds at which they will compete.
Along with the physical preparation,
there is also a need for mental prepara-
tion as well.
"You've got the psychological
preparation for the rpeet, like visuali-
zation and working out all the little
details about the race. The starts, turns
and finishes, all those little things add
up," Urbanchek said.
As the season comes to a close,
Michigan practices become more
focused on individualized workouts
and fine tuning the aspects of each
particular race. Practices can be like "a
20-ring circus," according to
Urbanchek, because of the difference
in focus from swimmer to swimmer.
"It's very individualized, some peo-
ple need more rest than others, and we
try to be a lot more specific to the indi-
vidual's needs during these last three
weeks,"he said.
The dual meet against Michigan
State marks the official beginning of
the final stage of Michigan's season.
Even if the Spartans don't pose much
of a challenge, this meet is the last
chance for Michigan to work out any
kinks in its game plan before racing in
a competition where it really counts:
The Big Ten Championships.
"Michigan State will not be a big
factor as far as the outcome of the
competition goes," Urbanchek said.
taper and prepare for the most impor-
tant meets of the season - the Big Ten
and NCAA Championships.
BRETT MUNTINI'/Daily
Junior Joanne Musgrove has played at the No. 6 singles consistently all year.
Netters test Flames
before Big Ten fire
Women seek win before war
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
It has been more than a week since
the Michigan women's tennis team has
seen any action, and it seems longer
because of the Wolverines' recent loss.
Michigan (2-1) resumes action at the
team to enjoy a weekend off, and it was
well deserved after tough play over the
past two weeks.
The Notre Dame match saw the return
of sophomore Chrissie Nolan to the line-
up. Nolan had not played since the Tribe
Classic on Jan. 13. In her return against
the Irish, she won her No. 2 singles
By Dan Rosen
Daily Sports Writer
To compete well in the battle before the war -
that's the goal that Michigan women's track and field
coach Henry James has set for his team this weekend
at the USTCA Collegiate Challenge in State College.
His hope is that the team can gain some valuable
experience for its return to Penn State and the Big
Ten Championships in two weeks.
"I want the young ladies to feel the adrenaline and
the butterflies," James said. "(I want them) to feel the
emotion of competition, so the second time around it
will not be a new environment for them."
The meet will also give Michigan an opportunity
to face some strong Big Ten competition as Indiana,
Michigan State and Penn State will also be compet-
ing at the meet.
The Wolverines have good reason to be optimistic
about their chances of finishing well against their
conference rivals. Michigan took first place in four
events at last Saturday's George Mason Patriot
Games in Fairfax, Va. The Wolverines were led by
junior April Phillips, who swept two throwing events
- the weight throw and the shot put - for the sec-
ond week in a row.
Phillips was among five Wolverines who set per-
sonal highs last weekend, as she broke her own
school record in the weight throw. James thinks that
the team's strong showing is a good sign as they
build towards the Big Ten Championships.
"As a coach; you can't ask for more than what
they've already done," James said. "These young
ladies, pretty much across the board, are walking
away with performances that they've never done
before."
Their success can also be attributed to the surpris-
ingly quick impact of the team's large freshmen
STATE COLLEGE
Who: Michigan at the USTCA Collegiate Challenge
When: 5 p.m. tomorrow, 10 a.m. Saturday
Latest: Michigan will try to prepare itself for the Big Ten Champi-
onships, which will be held at the same site in two weeks.
class. Last Saturday, newcomer Stephanie Hirtle ran
Michigan's fastest 800 meters this season at 2:10.28,
her first ever appearance in the event. Fellow fresh-
man Rachel Igbawua also placed second in the high
jump behind senior Nicole DeNamur.
"We always hope that the (freshmen) can make an
immediate contribution, but we don't expect that to
happen," James said. "So, being that it is happening,
it's a bonus."
And while he remains confident about his team's
chances this weekend, James knows that they still
have two weeks to prepare themselves for the war.
"If we come back wounded, we'll lick our wounds
and go back at it again," James said. "We're expect-
ing a good battle, but I'm expecting a better war."
0I
Varsity Tennis Center this
weekend, a week and a half
after its first loss of the sea-
son to Notre Dame. On
Saturday, the Wolverines
face Illinois-Chicago,
which has already compet-
ed in five matches this sea-
son. The Flames (1-4) have
had a tough schedule so far
- facing two opponents in
the top 25 - and their only
VARSITY TENNISCENTER
Who: Michigan (2-1) vs. Illi-
nois-Chicago (1-4)
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Latest: The Flames have
already faced two teams in
the top 25, and should pro-
pose a fine test forthe
Wolverines, who start Big
Ten play next week.
match in straight sets.
"I think Nolan is just
tough. I think that's her
trademark," Ritt said.
"She's a competitor and
she finds a way to do it.
She really wanted to play,
probably wasn't 100 per-
cent, but was very deter-
mined out there."
As a result of Nolan's
return, Ritt continues to
victory came against Indiana State.
"They have primarily international
players and they are competitive nation-
ally, and they've done that through inter-
national recruiting," Michigan coach
Bitsy Ritt said. "It's a team that several
schools in the Big Ten will play."
Last Wednesday's loss to No. 13
Notre Dame was hard-fought, but
nonetheless disappointing. Many of the
matches lost were come-from-behind
victories for the Irish. The Wolverines
had a few extra days this week to pre-
pare for Illinois-Chicago because they
had no match this past weekend. The
squad had three days off, and resumed
practice Monday. Ritt indicated that this
is one of the few opportunities for the
adjust her roster, looking for the perfect
fit for everyone. Only Kavitha Tipirneni
at No. I singles and Joanne Musgrove at
No. 6 singles have remained constant in
each of the matches so far.
Last week, Michigan moved into the
national rankings for the first time this
season. The Wolverines *were ranked
69th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Asso-
ciation's top 75 poll. The honor came
after the team amassed a 2-0 record
against then-No. 69 Western Michigan
and DePaul during the opening week-
end of the season.
"We don't really talk about (the
ranking) that much," Ritt said. "We use
them to recognize our strength of
schedule."
MORRISON
Continued from Page 10A
team's unit was a major strength for the
Wolverines last season, as it almost sin-
gle-handedly led Michigan over Wis-
consin.
"(The special teams) did an outstand-
ing job," Morrison said. "Our goal was
to have the best special teams in the
Big Ten, and when you can win a few
games on special teams, it says a lot."
GOING ASKEW: Carr didn't have much
to say about Monday's arraignment of
running back B. J. Askew.
The junior was charged with a mis-
demeanor for domestic assault and bat-
tery of his 20-year-old girlfriend. This
incident was not the first of its kind to
occur for the Wolverines this year, as
freshman cornerback Markus Curry is
facing sentencing on Feb. 14 for a simi-
team this summer (about this)," Carr
said. "When you put your hands on
anybody, you have a problem. But
other than that, I'm not going to
comment on it."
SLOW MONTH: The last time Michigan
safety Cato June was on the football
field, he was outrun by Tennessee tight
end James Witten in the Citrus Bowl.
June, who returned this season from a
torn ACL, was unable to fully regain
his speed and strength as the season
progressed.
"He struggled there in the Tennessee
game," Carr said. "When a guy is out
for a year like Cato was, it takes a while
(to regain form). His weight is down,
and he feels a lot better about almost
every situation. I think he'll be much
better next year."
lar incident.
"We had
someone speak to the
The many adventures of Lloyd Carr
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr had quite the year as a recruiter. Carr made his
way all over the country, and here is what he had to share.
ON THE HOSPITALITY HE RECEIVED: "I want to thank all of those mothers out there
who fed me during the course of the recruiting process. I had a lot of
wonderful meals. I traveled to the Southwest, the Southeast. I
had a good time, but it's always good to get back
home."
ON HIS EXPERIENCES RECRUITING OFFENSIVE LINEMAN MIKE BIHL:
"Now that was an interesting trip. We drove up to the farm,
and hehas a steere there that he shows. And his Dad explained
to me how you castrate a steere, and how you artificially insemi-
nate those animals, so it was quite an educational experience for
me."
ON HANDLING THE STEERE IN THE SUMMER: "(The steere's) hair has to
look perfect. In the summer time, it gets hot and the hair falls
out, so what do they do? What would you do? What you would loyd Carr
do is you would have an air conditioned room where you put
them, so that hair wouldn't fall out. Unbelievable DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily:,
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