8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 4, 2002 Ketchum shines asJ M alls to Minnesota MEN'S SWiMMING ANA PWINp BL??MNGTQN CiiA4plotNsllp By Courtney Lewis Daily Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON - Michigan swimmer Dan Ketchum wrestled with mixed emotions after the Men's Big Ten Swimming and Diving Champi- onships on Saturday. The sophomore tied for most points earned and was recognized twice during the post-meet ceremonies, once as a member of the All-Big Ten team, and once as Big Ten Swimmer of the Year. But then Ketchum stood poolside with his back to the podium, unwilling or unable to watch as Minnesota was crowned Big Ten Champion. For the second consecutive year the Wolver- ines finished second to the Gophers in the team standings, despite some out- standing individual showings. "I thought a lot of people swam real- ly, really well, but we were second, and you're always shooting for first - so to get second is just tough," Ketchum said. "But at the same time I had a great meet and I'm really excited with my swims." Michigan began the final day trailing Minnesota by 71.5 points, and it hoped, to jumpstart a comeback bid in the first race, the 1,650-yard freestyle. Although four ,Michigan swimmers finished in the top five spots - includ- ing champion Brendan Neligan - it wasn't enough to pull even with the Gophers, and the Wolverines knew their title hopes were dead. Minnesota finished with 711.5 points, 75 ahead of Michigan. "We definitely thought we had a chance," Ketchum said. "We knew we had a real strong mile and we almost caught them after the mile. They just got the best of us this time." Neligan excelled throughout the meet. He grabbed second place in the 400-yard individual medley and helped Michigan's 800 freestyle relay to first place. Neligan was most impressive in the 1,650 free, where he led from the start and finished 11 seconds faster than his nearest competitor, teammate Andrew Hurd. It was the 10th consecu- tive year a Wolverine won the event, and Neligan's dominating performance showed why the Big Ten coaches named him Freshman of the Year. Neligan said receiving his medal on the podium was an experience he won't forget. "It felt really special, seeing my dad up in the stands and seeing him smil- ing," he said. "And look to my left and see three other guys, it was something special and it was just keeping the tra- DAfINYIVULUOHJF'j Id Michigan's Jordan Watland and the rest of the Wolverines finished second behind Minnesota in the Big Ten Championships for the second straight year. This time, however, Michigan narrowed the gap from 248 points to 75 points. dition alive." , Last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Ketchum, starred for Michigan all weekend. His time of 4:16.30 in Thursday's 500-yard freestyle not only won the race, but also set a pool record, and he followed that by winning the 200 free in a school and Big Ten meet record 1:34.19. Ketchum added sec- ond-place finishes in the 200 butterfly and the 400 freestyle relay. "I think Dan is performing extreme- ly well this year," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "He's swimming up to his potential. He looked good all year and he's just an awesome person to coach - he's a coach's dream." Rounding out Michigan's individual champions were Tim Siciliano, who won his fourth 400-yard individual medley title, and diver Jason Coben, whose 528.35 points in the platform event set a pool record. In all, eight Wolverines swam NCAA automatic qualifying times at this meet. But Minnesota dashed Michigan's hopes again by finishing first in two relays and performing well in several sprinting events as well as the distance races. The Wolverines are narrowing the gap, though. The 75-point deficit showed improvement from last year, when the Gophers won by 248 points. That had the Wolverines thinking about the 2003 Championships, which Michigan will host. "I just can't wait for them to come to Ann Arbor next year," Ketchum said, finally breaking into a smile. "We'll be ready for some revenge - in our pool." Tankers shave offjust about anything for extra speed By Courtney Lewis Daily Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON - When asked if there is anything swimmers won't do to shave seconds off their times, Michigan junior Garrett Mangieri had to stop and think. "A while ago people used to put vasoline and stuff on, but that's illegal now so I don't think peo- ple will do something that's going to get them in trouble," Mangieri said. But he added that they'll do "anything humanly possible to get the edge against everybody else." The Wolverines - and most of their competi- tors - brought out their best tricks for the Big' Ten Championships this weekend. For Michigan, that included full-body shaves and long shorts or pants instead of their usual speedos. Mangieri admitted that those things can make swimmers faster to a certain point, but the physi- cal advantage isn't the only benefit. "I mean, a suit is a suit," he said. "This does bead water off, but it's all about training. I think we could wear whatever suit we wanted, and I think we'd still swim the fastest. Thinking that you have the edge is probably the biggest part." But don't tell senior Tim Siciliano it's all in his head. On Thursday, the first day of the meet, Sicil- iano struggled in the 200-yard individual medley prelims, barely qualifying for the finals. That night, he finished second in the final heat, swim- ming an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:46.97 and shocking his teammates and coaches. "I mean, he's never been that fast - not even close to that fast - in the 200 individual medley, and he just came out of nowhere," Mangieri mar- veled. Siciliano didn't put in extra training time or change his strategy for the finals, but he did do something else between races. "I hadn't shaved my back yet, and my room- mate Heath (Novak) shaved my back, and I could actually feel it (during the final heat)," Siciliano said. "I could actually feel the difference, so I do think it helps." Even if shaving really does make swimmers faster, isn't it still a little weird? Mangieri said most of his friends are used to it now, but he did get teased When he was younger. "I'd come back from a meet in middle school, and people would be like, uhh ... really," Mang- ieri said, raising his eyebrows to imitate the strange looks his classmates gave him. "We're around swimmers the most anyway, so if every- body shaves down at the same time, you can't get made fun of" But Mangieri did think of one thing he won't do to improve his times. Unlike many of his team- mates, including Siciliano and Big Ten Swimmer of the Year Dan Ketchum, Mangieri said he will never shave his head. "My family, I don't think they'd let me hear the end of it," he said. "And I've got a big bump on the back of my head, so I'll just stick with the cap."' 9 1 Hoosiers stnpped of title due to false start, but lose gracefully Indiana swimmer jumps off wall early, giving Penn State the crown :,1~t4 Tankers take fifth in unusual. season By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Writer This wasn't a typical year for the Michigan women's swimming and diving team. It was quite apparent when, after the third day of the Big Ten Cham- pionships (Feb. 20-23), the Wolver- ines found themselves in fourth place, 174 points behind then-first place Indiana and with just two medalists going into the final day of competition. Though the Wolverines ended up in fifth behind Penn State, Indiana, Wisconsin and Northwestern - far from their traditional spot of first, which they had been in 13 of the past 16 years - Michigan did pro- vide some memorable finishes to leave a positive impression on the championship meet. Sophomore Annie Weilbacher, a medallist in the 200-yard medley " relay and the 100 butterfly in the first three days, earned second and third place honors last Saturday in the 400 freestyle relay and 100 freestyle. "Of course I always wish I could do better, but that's what keeps you in the sport," Weilbacher said. "If you ever become completely con- tent, you're not really going to go anywhere. I'm happy with the way things went and I'm using (the meet) as, 'I'm here, now where do I move forward.' There's still things I want to do. And as a team I think there's a lot more to do." As a team this meet, Michigan, concentrated on the efforts of indi- viduals in hopes of getting some final qualifiers into the NCAA Championships (Mar. 21-23). The Wolverines fell short, though, as no names were added to the four already going to NCAAs - Weil- bacher, Lindsay Carlberg, Kelli Stein and Amy McCullough. There were hopes that last-year's All-American, Emily-Clare Fenn, would qualify in the 1,650-yard freestyle - the event she finished sixth in at NCAAs last season. But Fenn couldn't join fellow miler McCullough, who qualified last month, as her time of 16:49.26 was- n't near the automatic qualifying time of 16:29.51. "Her tempo dropped off," Michi- gan coach Jim Richardson said. "Emily's had a different winter this season. It didn't come as easy as last year, but I think in part it was because we worked a lot harder out of the pool this year. And it's possi- ble her muscles haven't fully recov- ered from a lot of the out-of-the-pool work we've done. She's obviously a great swimmer, she'll come back and perform well. I think she'll be back to form this summer." Michigan's only other medallist in the meet was McCullough in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:27.76 - just behind Wisconsin's Carly Piper and Indiana's Sarah Fiden. Piper, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was also the Big Ten Swimmer of the Meet with wins in the 500-yard freestyle, 200 free and was a part of the winning 800 freestyle relay. Indiana's Susan Woessner was named the Big Ten's Swimmer of the Year and earned pool, meet and conference records in the 100-yard backstroke with her time of 53.59. The meet was also the final time that the Michigan seniors would compete in Canham Natatorium. Carlberg, the only point scorer in the senior class, was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke and seventh in the 200 backstroke. Senior co-captain Andrea Kurrle was an alternate for the finals in the 200-yard breaststroke with her time of 2:20.67 and was 19th in the pre- liminary round of the 100 breast- stroke. Career-bests were posted by senior Kathleen Gilbert in the pre- lims of the 200 breaststroke, 200 and 100 freestyles. Diver Lindsey McElroy had two top-25 finishes in the one- and three-meter competi- tions. "This last month, I've been trying not to think about (being done), because I've been swimming since I was four," Carlberg said. "I didn't know how I was going to _ By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Writer "Indiana relay! Indiana relay!" That chant echoed through Can- ham Natatorium last week (Feb. 20- 23) to conclude the Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. But unfortunately for the Hoosiers, the crowd did not chant for celebratory . reasons. The fans chanted out of. .respect for a 400-yard freestyle relay team that was disqualified in the final event of the four-day meet to not only lose the event, but also the Big Ten title to Penn State. The controversial and somber end- ing took away from a meet known for the deafening cheers from the crowd and sidelines, the colorful rainbow made by each team's colors and the sights and sounds of 11 teams giving it their all in this last conference compe- tition of the season. With the tone of the meet set early on, it was only fitting that the final event should have decided who was going to be champions. Indiana, with just two events remaining, was down 32.5 points on then-leader Penn State. The Hoosiers used two top-16 finishes in the 200- yard butterfly to gain 31 points and shrink the No. 14 Nittany Lions' lead. The 400 freestyle relay would decide it all. Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead in the relay and never looked back. Michigan and Indiana fought it out for second, while Penn State's fans and athletes could only watch as their team struggled to hold on to fourth. As long as the 19th-ranked Hoosiers were ahead of the Nittany Lions at the end of the race they would be Big Ten Champions - no matter what place they finished. The race ended. The Badgers cheered for their win-, ning team. Michigan fans and team- mates applauded their relay team for its third-place finish. And Indiana could not help but explode in joy as its 400-yard freestyle relay team not only beat Penn State by two spots in the relay, but also seemingly secured the Big Ten Title by three-and-a-half points. The judges the walked up to Indiana's relay team. The crowd was silent. There were no happy faces. No 50-year-old parents jumping up and down like they were kids again. No red-and-white "IU" flags being waved. Just quiet, depressed faces. Within 20 seconds, Big Ten offi- cials notified the Indiana four that they were disqualified for jumping early on one of the legs of the relay. Freshman Erin Smith was believed to have gone off the block early on the last 100 yards. Forgotten was the Hoosiers' 1-2-3 sweep in the 400-yard individual medley. Forgotten was Indiana senior and Big Ten Swimmer of the Year Susan Woessner, who won both backstroke events and set new pool, meet and conference records in the 100-yard backstroke. Now the Hoosiers and every other team sat stunned, not knowing what to make 'of these difficult developments. As Indiana coach Dorsey Tierney went to console her relay team, which was still gathered around the diving block, the scene resembled that of a Kevin Costner baseball movie. Hoosier fans stood up - followed by the Wolverines, Boilermakers, Nittany Lions and every other parent in the crowd - to chant "Indiana relay!" Even Penn State's team, which still hadn't comprehended that it was the 2002 Big Ten Champion - the first in its history - got up and cheered for the teary-eyed competitors from Bloomington who stood strong in the face of this new adversity. "This team that we have here is the hardest working team in the Big Ten," Tierney said. "They went through day after day of training and they came into today and swam their hearts out. The whole weekend we swam as hard as we could." After the tears were shed and the crowd woke up from trying to make sense of the final minutes of the meet, cheers once again filled Can- TOM FELDKAMP/Daily Sophomore Annie Weibacher swam for Michigan in the 400-yard freestyle relay that decided the Big Ten Championships' winner of Penn State. ham. The Nittany Lions, after receiv- ing their first-place medals, took a dive into the pool in their warm-ups, only to be followed in by Penn State coach Bill Dorenkott, who was still wearing his suit and tie. "It's never the way you want to see a championship decided, it's just not," Michigan coach Jim Richard- son said. "But when a kid makes a mistake, there's just nothing you can do about it. Billfeels badly because he's such a competitor. He wanted to go head-to-head and let the best team win. "You're sure that one team jumped and you're not sure how good they could have been had they not jumped, so it's frustrating. If you do a sport long enough, things like this are going to happen. They don't hap- pen very frequently, thank goodness, but they happen." The Hoosiers finished 33.5 points behind Penn State and went home with three All-Big Ten honors in Woessner, Brooke Taflinger in the 400-yard individual medley and diver Sara Reiling in the one-meter diving competition. Wisconsin, Northwestern and Michigan rounded out the top five. What makes this difficult for Indi- ana was that with the star in Woess- ner and the supporting cast of the individual medley swimmers and multiple top-10 divers, this was its best chance to win its first ever Big Ten Title in the sport. But the Hoosiers are young, and they plan on making their mark at the NCAA Championships in March and at Big Tens next year in West Lafayette. "Losing Susan is huge," Indiana coach Dorsey Tierney said. "Losing' the 2002 conference swimmer of the year, the 100-yard backstroke Big Ten champion, the 200-yard back- stroke Big Ten champion and proba- bly one of the fastest relay swimmers ... losing her is huge, there's no doubt. As far as the freshmen, we've got a great crop coming in, we've got a great crop'now that are just going to grow. Erin Smith, she came up huge. She's had a great meet and she's going to improve the rest of her career." The Hoosiers left Canham as "the best second-place team in the nation," proclaimed the meet announcer, but they should be forev- er remembered as great sports. Even with the controversial ending, they accepted their fate without protest and left with their heads up high. U _-u m BELL'S PIZZA