6
2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 11, 2002
CLUB WEEKLY
- Edited by Kareem Cobeland mv1 Tim Wphpr
The waiting is the hardest part
Uie Ifidit!Jan Kg
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Rugby squad unique
11
im weber
Who: Bobby Korecky
Hometown: Saline
Sport: Baseball
Year: Senior
among ciur
By Bob Hunt
Daily Sports Writer
In m'ost sports, teams shake hands
after they play one another. In rugby,
they party.
The camaraderie that rugby teams
have with each other makes the Michi-
gan rugby team different than most
clubs. After each game the host team
throws a party for their opponent win
or lose, a tradition displayed in all lev-
els of rugby around the world.
"It's referred to as the world's
largest fraternity," Michigan team cap-
tain Andrew Marcus said.
Rugby, which derived from an
incident when a man, while playing
soccer at the Rugby School in Eng-
land in 1823, picked up the ball and
ran with it, is known to be one of
the world's roughest games. And the
sport's rigor, as well as the atmos-
phere, is what drew in a lot of the
Michigan team's members, many of
whom played football or wrestled in
high school.
"Rugby is a hooligan's game played
by gentlemen," Marcus said.
The sport has been played in some
form at the University since 1876, but
the club has had a resurgence over the
past five years after it broke off from
the Michigan Rugby Club, an over-25
'M' netters
By Brian Stowre
Daily Sports Writer
programs
group that includes many professors
and graduate students.
The students play a season in the
midwestern section of USA Rugby's
Division II in the fall along with the
many other schools in Michigan and
Ohio including Ohio Northern,
Northern Michigan, Western Michi-
gan and Ferris State. In the spring, the
team plays a number of exhibitions
including its annual spring break trip,
which this year was to Trinidad and
Tobago.
After going to England last year, the
team "wanted to go some place warm"
according to club president Kevin
Barlow. So, it scheduled two matches
against the small inland country's U-
19 national team and a match against
the Tobago Rugby Football Club.
Twenty-seven of the club members
went on the trip, which was a com-
plete success as Michigan finished 2-
0-1. It defeated Tobago RFC 49-14
and tied with the U-19 national team
5-5 before beating them the second
time around 20-12.
But more important than the results
was the experience of the island. The
team went deep-sea fishing and
enjoyed the nightlife by going to
numerous casinos and nightclubs.
"The people were so friendly," Mar-
What: Although Michigan continued its losing ways by dropping two out of
three at Texas-San Antonio, Korecky was a bright spotfor the Wolverines.
Michigan's pitching demonstrated some progress against the Roadrunners,
and Korecky was a big part of that. He pitched a six-hit shutout on Saturday
night as the Wolverines took out the Roadrunners, 7-0. The senior should be
an anchor for Michigan's pitching rotation this season. 4
Korecky
6 INOTES
Michigan hockey fans stay patient in line yesterday from 2-5 P.M. for tickets to
last night's game against Lake Superior State.
Controversy in
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Jon Gruden is Johnsor
making good on his promise to make pointings
the competition for Tampa Bay's start- spending
ing quarterback job interesting next sea- career with
son. While r
The Buccaneers agreed to contract with 29 tc
terms Saturday with free agent Rob tions as ar
Johnson, who was released by the Buf- prevented
falo Bills in a salary cap move last tions as ti
month. future.
The length of the deal and financial The Bu
terms were not disclosed. are Brad Jc
Tampa
n played four mostly disap-
seasons with the Bills after
the first three years of his
.h the Jacksonville Jaguars.
he's thrown for 5,166 yards
ouchdowns and 20 intercep-
pro, injuries and inconsistency
him from fulfilling expecta-
the Bills' quarterback of the
ccaneers' other quarterbacks
cus said.
ohnson and Shaun King.
fall to Gophers, topple Wisconsin
The Michigan men's tennis team needed guts and
determination from its singles players to avoid a
fifth consecutive loss this past weekend.
After losing 7-0 on Friday night against Minneso-
ta (1-1 Big Ten, 5-3 overall), Michigan (1-3, 7-4)
rebounded yesterday with a convincing 5-2 victory
over Wisconsin (1-2, 6-4).
Despite the weekend split, Michigan coach Mark
Mees was frustrated with his team's performance
against the Gophers.
"We played pretty poorly at Minnesota and that is
disappointing," he said. "We didn't get it done at
crunch time or any time. I thought we played better
against Wisconsin.".
Henry Beam outlasted No. 16 Danny Westerman,
6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the No. 1 spot.
"Henry was tough as nails," Mees said. "He really
came back and earned a great win against a very
good player."
In addition to Beam's valiant effort, Mees was
very impressed with Greg Novak at No. 5, who he
said, "willed his way back into the match." After
dropping the first set to Alex Kazarov, Novak rallied
for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Anthony Jackson was the only other Wolverine
to need three sets, as he defeated Dave Hippee 6-
2, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 3. Matt Lockin and David
Anving rolled in straight sets at No. 4 and 6,
respectively, to preserve Michigan's first Big Ten
win of the season.
Led by the No. 1 singles player in Division I col-
team, cruised past No. 1 Henry Beam 6-2, 6-4.
"Henry played decent tennis," Mees said. "But
against a player like Harsh, you can't just play
decent tennis. I felt if he played like he did against
Wisconsin, he would have had some better results."
Michigan had a difficult time adjusting to Min-
nesota's extremely fast courts and unusual "bubble"
facility.
But Mees refused to accept any excuses for his
team's performance.
"That's part of tennis," he said. "We had plenty of
time to practice. We just didn't play good tennis."
Michigan will have this week off before returning
to the confines of the Varsity Tennis Center on
March 19 for a nonconference battle with Bowling
Green.
This will give the Wolverines some needed time
M' shows progress
but drops two more
Even after several changes to the
defense and a shakeup in the rota-
tion, the Michigan baseball team still
just took one of three from Texas-
San Antonio.
The problems came early in the
season for the Wolverines. After a 1-
8 start, pitching and defense were
areas that needed swift and decisive
action. Michigan baseball coach
Chris Harrison responded.
For this weekend's series, Harrison
started defensive mainstay Brock
Koman at shortstop and Jake Fox at
third base. This lineup, Harrison
hoped, would be the cork needed to
plug the flood of balls going through
the left side of the infield.
Friday night, despite two errors
coming from the left side of the
infield, the Wolvegnes came together
for a big 7-0 victory. Fantastic pitch-
ing came from Michigan's main
weapon, Bobby Korecky. Korecky
got the win with a six-hit shutout
backed by seven runs from a potent
Michigan offense. Left fielder Bran-
don Roberts accounted for three runs
and five RBIs.
Saturday's game did not produce
such a potent offensive effort, but
the pitching effort did not waver
from Friday. Rich Hill gave nine
innings of solid pitching for the
Wolverines. In those nine innings,
Hill had a season-high 15 strikeouts.
But the game was lost in the bottom
of the tenth, when the Roadrunners
rallied with two outs to overcome
reliever Jeff Trzos for the winning
run.
In the third game, the Wolverines
lost a close one, 4-2. Jim Brauer
tossed seven innings in another solid
performance for Michigan.
Even though it just won one game,
this weekend's series in Texas
showed that Michigan baseball has
taken the necessary steps to continu-
ally improve this season. In this
series, the team corrected several
defensive struggles and the pitching
came together. Those things, com-
bined with good hitting brought a
couple good games and gave Michi-
gan a brighter outlook for the rest of
the year.
-- Staff reports
Early Big Ten game
not favorable for Blue
The Big Ten season began a little
earlier than expected in the Semi-
nole Classic when the Michigan
softball team squared off against
Minnesota yesterday.
Pitcher Marissa Young (10-4),
after allowing just five hits in a 1-0
win against No. 22 Florida State,
lastedjust two innings against the
Golden Gophers, giving up six runs
on seven hits.
The eighth-ranked Wolverines
were tied for third in the Classic,
winning three of the five contests.
Michigan (17-6) took the first two
games of the weekend with victories
against Winthrop and Missouri-
Kansas City with 8-0 and 6-3
scores. The winning pitchers were
Young and freshman Nicole Motyc-
ka (7-2), respectively.
Young's two shutouts of Winthrop
and Florida State were the sixth and
seventh for her this season.
Leading the offensive charge in
the Winthrop game were Meghan
Doe - 2-for-2 on Friday with two
runs - and Melinda Moulden who
had three hits and four RBI's.
Michigan's 7-0, three-hit loss to Min-
nesota was the first time the Wolverines
have been shutout this season.
The trips down South for the
Wolverines will end with a bye-
week this weekend and an invita-
tional at Louisville in two weeks.
Big Ten play for Michigan will
open at home on March 29-31
against Penn State and Ohio State.
- Staff reports
Brannen runs well,
misses NCAA finals
On Friday, Arkansas hosted the
NCAA Indoor Track and Field
Championship at the Randall Tyson
Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
Freshman Nathan Brannen was
the only Michigan athlete to qualify
for the meet, doing so in the mile.
Brannen's time was the eighth-
fastest time for the day. But his
mark of 4:03.53 was not good
enough to qualify for the finals
because he was in the faster heat.
Seven of the eight runners in his
heat qualified for the final.
Though he had a faster time than
everyone in the first heat, the top
three runners from each heat make
the finals.
Brannen was named Big Ten
Freshman of the Year earlier in the
week, and was the third Wolverine
to win the honor for the indoor sea-
son. Earlier this year, Brannen pro-
visionally qualified for the NCAA
championships on four different
occasions, but elected to concentrate
on the mile
The Wolverines will begin the
outdoor season in Tallahassee, Fla.
on March 21.
-Staff reports
At NCAAs, Jazwinski
turns in a strong run
Senior co-captain Kate Jazwinski
went to Fayetteville, Ark. as the only
Wolverine to compete in the 2002
NCAA Indoor Track and Field
Championship. Arkansas hosted the
event over the weekend.
Jazwinski competed in prelimi-
nary round of the mile and finished
13th overall. Her time of 4:45.62
was .061 of a second short of reach-
ing the finals. In Jazwiniski's final
indoor meet she ran her second-best
time in her five-year career.
Two weeks ago the Wolverines
won the Big Ten Championship at
Penn State. There, Jazwinski won
the Big Ten Athlete of the Meet
award, earning 26 points for the
team in three events.
The Wolverines will start the out-
door season at the Florida State
Relays on March 21.
- Staff reports
DAILY SPORTS.
WE CARE ABOUT
THE WNIT.
a
After losing the doubles point for the fifth consec- lege tennis, Harsh Mankad, Minnesota defeated to improve.
utive match, the Wolverines garnered five of the six Michigan for the third consecutive time. Mankad, "We have to get tougher as a team," Mees said.
singles contests against the Badgers. who is a former member of the India Davis Cup "We need to start playing the big points better."
Wolvennes cruise to sweep of four matches
By Daniel Bremmer
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan water polo team
has had its share of nailbiters this
season. But this weekend, the
Wolverines dominated their compe-
tition en route to four easy wins.
Michigan traveled to Slippery
Rock, Pa. to take on Pennsylvania
State-Behrend and Slippery Rock.
The Wolverines flattened Behrend
17-2 and defeated Slippery Rock by
a score of 13-8.
Saturday at the College and
Recreation Pool in Grove City, Pa.,
Michigan dismantled Washington &
Jefferson 18-1 in the morning game,
and routed Grove City 19-3 in the
afternoon.
Sophomore Chelsea Kay and
freshman Jo Antonsen led the way
scoring°five goals each in the two
games combined. Senior Maribeth
Sitkowski and freshman Casey Ker-
ney each scored four goals.
These four victories added to the
team's winning streak, which now
stands at seven.
Michigan is now 12-10 overall,
10-0 in the Collegiate Water Polo
Association.
Michigan coach Amber Drury-
Pinto described the offense and
defense as "equally important" in
her team's victories this weekend.
She also pointed to the team's coun-
terattack as its major strength.
Assistant coach Bernice Orwig
agreed, but offered a different per-
spective as well.
"Definitely our speed was also a
key," said Orwig, who believed that
it was the team's quickness that led
to its strong counterattack.
Kerney thought that the team's
chemistry was a big factor in these
victories.
"We played as a team," Kerney
said. "We made a lot of unselfish
passes on our counterattack."
Despite its dominance, the one
point that Drury-Pinto said needed
work was Michigan's powerplay,
which she had also criticized after
last weekend's performance at the
Brown Invitational.
"It's gotten better, but we didn't
have a lot of opportunities this
weekend," Drury-Pinto said.
Drury-Pinto believes that with
more work in practice and more
chances in games, the Wolverines
will be able to get to the level they
want to reach with the man advan-
tage.
Kerney believes that Michigan
also needs to work on converting
more of its chances.
"I think we made good opportuni-
ties for ourselves, but we have to
work on finishing them and scoring
goals," she said.
Like most of the team, Kerney
was relieved to have an easier week-
end, as compared to the team's
tough west coast stretch two weeks
ago. The California opponents were
a much higher level of competition,
and the Wolverines lost eight of
nine games.
"It's more fun to play this type of
game and get some wins," said
Kerney.
0l
The Department of Communication Studies
of the University of Michigan
presents a lecture by
Charles Bierbauer
2001-2002 Howard R. Marsh Lecturer
From the White House to Hollywood:
What television tells you,
and what it doesn't.
Friday, March 15, 2002, 4:00-5:30 PM
Founders Room in the Alumni Center
200 Fletcher Street / Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Contact the Department of Communication Studies
(734-764-0420) for more information.
Be a campus
cic
Applications av et y ailable tda-:
www.umich.edu/~info/
Questions? Call 764-INFO
'M' CIEDU1E
Wednesday. March 13
W Basketball vs. Valparaiso in WNIT First Round, 7 p.m.
Friday March 15
W Swim/Diving at NCAA Diving Zones (West Lafayette), 9 a.m.
M Swim/Diving at NCAA Diving Zones (West Lafayette), 11 a.m.
M Gymnastics vs. French National Team in Corritore Classic, 7 p.m.
Water Polo vs. Michigan State, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Saturday, March 16
W Tennis vs. Wisconsin, 11 a.m.
Ice Hockey at CCHA Semifinals (Detroit), 2 or 5:30 p.m.
W Gymnastics at Shanico Inn-vitational (Corvallis, Ore.), 10 p.m.
M Golf at El Diablo Intercollegiate (Citrus Springs, Fla.)
W Golf at Hatter Spring Fling (Daytona, Fla.)
Sunday, March 17
W Tennis vs. Minnesota, 11 a.m.
Ice Hockey at CCHA Championship (Detroit), 3 p.m.
M Golf at El Diablo Intercollegiate (Citrus Springs, Fla.)
W Golf at Hatter Spring Fling (Daytona, Fla.)
-h . ., ......~ ..
-a'v