The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 11
'M' hopes to
take winning
ways on road
By Josh Holman
Daily Sports Writer
Senior night has come and gone for the Michigan
women's gymnastics team. As expected, it was an
emotional night, and the Wolverines took some of that
emotion and turned it into a 197.775, the team's sec-
ond highest score ever.
The night was just one more realization for a tal-
ented group of seniors that it is, in fact, almost all
over.
"The meets are a little more sentimental," senior
Shanon MacKenzie said. "I'm paying a little more
attention to exactly what it feels like, but it's still the
same thing. I'm trying not to over-think them."
With just the Shanico Inn-vitational in Corvallis,
Ore. remaining on the Wolverines' schedule before
the start of the postseason, Michigan coach Bev Ploc-
ki hopes to stretch some of that emotion out to anoth-
er arena.
"We have not competed as well as we should have
on the road," Plocki said. "I'm trying to instill in them
the fact that we can go there and expect ourselves to
do every bit as good as we do on senior night at
home."
As easy as that may seem, the ques-
tion is whether the Wolverines will actu-
ally perform to those high standards that CoRvAL
they set on Saturday at Crisler Arena.
That task became even harder when 40 BgTn
they learned of the injury status of sen- When: 7 p.m.
ior Missy Peterson and junior co-cap- latest: Michi
tain Janessa Grieco. its final regul
Peterson's ankle injury, which she at the Shanic
sustained last week in practice, will against Michi
keep her from this weekend's competi- Seattle Pacifi
tion and possibly the Big Ten Champi- gon State.
onships. Meanwhile, Grieco is suffering
from a bruised knee that resulted from a bad landing
on the vault in Saturday's warm-ups. She competed in
the rest of the meet, but now-swelling has made her
status questionable.
Despite the injury setbacks and a relatively unim-
WNIT
Continued from Page 10
nonconference schedule but was benched after
Michigan's game at Penn State on Jan. 13, as her
offensive production fell off in Big Ten play. But
Guevara thinks that Pool is ready to take on a bigger
role after spending the Big Ten season coming off the
bench.
"Tab has demonstrated to me the last couple weeks
that the defense has gotten better and the rebounding
has gotten better," Guevara said. "She's getting much
more comfortable with the motion offense. I've been
pretty pleased with the way she has been the past
couple weeks."
The more athletic lineup should match up well
BREAKAWAYS
Continued from Page 10
don't want them to shoot because they always try to go
right up top. It's a meteoric lift you can get if you stop
a breakaway."
Lake Superior had two breakaway chances early in
the first period of Friday's 4-3 upset win over Michi-
gan and capitalized on both of them to give the Lakers
a quick 2-0 lead.
"Both shooters just went in and shot it," Pearson
said. "The way (Lake Superior forward Jeremy)
Bachusz walked in on that first one, it was like he was
Blue divers eyeing NCAA berths
By Kyle O'Neill
Daily Sports Writer
It's not time to say goodbye yet.
For Michigan diving coach Dick
Kimball these next few weeks will have
extra meaning as they will cap off a
legendary coaching career spanning six
decades.
"(Retiring) will probably
hit me more when we get to WEST
NCAAs, because that will be
the last official meet for Who: Michig
me," Kimball said. "It's pret- women's RE
ty much routine getting the ZWhen: Fda
kids ready for competition, 11a.m.
(but) I think NCAAs will be latest: Kelly)
a culmination of it all." Tealin Kelem
On Friday Kimball will decent shot
take two women's divers to the NCAA Cl
the NCAA Zone Meet in
hopes of qualifying them both for the
NCAA Championships on Mar. 21-23
in Austin, Tex. Junior Kelly Vander
Kuyl - who just missed qualifying for
the NCAA meet by one place last year
- and sophomore Tealin Kelemen will
be the Wolverines' representatives in
L.
an
egia
iy ar
yVal
en
at
har
the Zone C competition with the other
Big Ten schools, the Mid-American
Conference and Notre Dame. Each will
compete in the 1- and 3-meter events,
but only Vander Kuyl will dive from the
tower. If one qualifies for NCAAs in
one event, she can compete in all three
at the Championships.
"Tealin is stronger on
* the springboard and
AFAYETTE Kelly's a better tower
AFAYET T diver," Kimball said. "If
at NCAA * she is going to make
on C Diving (NCAAs) it'll have to be
nd Saturdayon tower. For Tealin the 3-
n ' meter is her best event."
nder Kuyl and With the tower not used
each has a for competition until the
qualifying for Big Ten Championships
npionships. last month, Vander Kuyl
will hope to improve on
her fifth-place finish at Big Tens and
her finish of fourth at last year's zone
competition.
She should feel comfortable with the
facilities at Purdue - the host of the
zone meet - as they are brand new,
much like those at Canham Natatorium.
I
L
ic
ga
lar-s
,o Ir
igar
fc a
Elise Ray and the rest of the Wolverines need to step
up their performances on the road.
portant road meet this weekend that screams letdown,
a string of continued success is by no means out of
reach for this team, and the list of impressive per-
formances from Saturday proves that.
SDSophomore Elise Ray tied Michigan's
.s, ORE. record in the all-around competition
With a 39.825 that included three scores
higan(16-3' of 9.95 and a score of 9.975. Sopho-
more Calli Ryals earned her third per-
n competes fect 10 of the season on the floor
season meet exercise.
nn-vitational The Wolverines were also happy to
n State, see junior Cami Singer set three season-
and host Ore- high marks after struggling for a majori-
ty of the season. A solid contribution
from her could prove to be very impor-
Cob en has sights set
on bid to NCAA meet
Kelemen has enjoyed success all sea-
son with just three occasions in which
she hasn't been in first in the 3-meter
dive. Unfortunately one of those times
was at Big Tens. She was 12th, and the
majority of her competition will be
from here, including Notre Dame sen-
ior Heather Mattingly - who was a
NCAA qualifier last season - and
Michigan State's Big Ten Champion
Carly Weiden who defeated Kelemen
earlier in the year.
"I think Tealin has a great chance
because if she has a good day, she's as
good as any of those girls," Kimball
said. "But it'll be tough for both of
them, because there's a lot of good
competition from the Big Ten this
year."
This may not be a monumental way
for a coach like Kimball to end his
coaching career for the women, as there
is no clear-cut All-American on the
team. But what he has done is create a
young, talented team surrounded by two
future stars to lead the squad under
whomever will be the diving coach next
year.
"IWEKN
WEST LAFAYETTE
Who: Michigan at NCAA Men's Region C Diving
Zone Meet
When: Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.
Latest: Jason Coben is Michigan's lone hope for a
berth at the NCAA Championships.
last year, including a stress fracture in his
elbow. Now that he has figured out how to
dive without hurting himself, he loves
"doing something most people don't even
dream of doing."
Coben hopes to do well on platform at
Zones, but he isn't exactly looking for-
ward to the meet. Region C consists of
most of the Big Ten, plus Mid-American
Conference teams and Notre Dame, so the
divers are mostly the same as Coben faced
at Big Tens.
"It's like the exact same meet again,"
Coben said. "I want to compete against
new people. I'll just dive as well as I can
considering I've only had a week of rest."
By Courtney Lewis
Daily Sports Writer
tant with the injuries to Peterson and Grieco.
"We know we perform the best when we're relaxed
and confident," MacKenzie said. "This weekend we
need to put ourselves back in the state of mind where
there is no pressure."
tonight against Valparaiso. The Crusaders, who fin-
ished the season at 24-6 and won the Mid-Continent
Conference regular season title but lost to Oakland in
their conference tournament final, feature a plethora
of 3-point shooters and the towering 6-foot-5 Dutch
center Marlous Nieuwveen. But Valparaiso has yet to
play a team in the RPI top 100 this season.
"They really do a nice job of doubling in the post,"
Guevara said. "They're like a fly on fly paper as soon
as the ball goes inside."
But the Wolverines are worrying more about them-
selves then their opponents. Michigan wants to end
its season with a win.
"If we can make some noise in this tournament and
play well, it will be a nice springboard going into
spring practice," Guevara said.
a 50-goal scorer.
"Most teams have goalie tapes that we look at on
the opposition goaltender and if there's any weakness-
es that you see, you try to tell your team about that. I
don't know if they did that, but they made it look
easy."
As the postseason progresses for the Wolverines,
every scoring opportunity is monumental, and the
breakaway is the best opportunity of all.
"If you don't bury one now, you've got the whole
summer to think about it.," Woodford said. "The pres-
sure on you now to perform is so much higher -
every goal now is absolutely huge."
Michigan diver Jason Coben dominated
the dual-meet season, sweeping the 1-and
3-meter events six times. Then he won a
Big Ten Championship on platform and
finished second on the 3-meter spring-
board.
Coach Dick Kimball's intense training
regimen has probably contributed to that
success, but at least part of the credit goes
to Coben's 10-year-old sister, Lauren.
The elder Coben, a sophomore, dove
throughout high school, has almost two
years of college diving under his belt, and
last season competed in the biggest meet
of the year, the NCAA Championships.
But that considerable experience does-
n't mean he is relaxed out there.
"I'm nervous all the time," Coben said.
"But I'm most nervous when I know I'm
behind (in the score)."
Coben has a simple solution to keep
those nerves from affecting how he dives:
He just thinks of his little sister.
While attending high school in New-
town Square, Pa., Jason practiced 45 min-
utes away from home, and Lauren became
an unwilling passenger on those car rides.
"We always had to drag my sister along
and she was always whining and-pouting,"
the big brother remembers. "So I'm just
thankful that my sister gave up her time
for me. She's only 10, so she thinks the
world of me, and I just want to make her
proud."
Coben will need calm nerves this week-
end when he competes as Michigan's lone
male representative at the NCAA Men's
Region C Diving Zone Meet in West
Lafayette. Between 25 and 30 divers will
fight for six NCAA Championship spots,
and unlike swimmers - who can qualify
throughout the season - divers get just
one chance.
"(Coben) is definitely capable of mak-
ing it, but he has to perform well again,"
Kimball said. "He has an extremely good
chance because he has three good events."
Of the three events (1-meter, 3-meter
and platform), Coben's favorite is plat-
form, although it wasn't always that way.
"I learned it last year, and I hated it," he
said. "It hurt every time I would dive in
the water. You hit (the water) at like 33
miles per hour so it's like hitting a brick
wall."
Coben said he suffered several injuries
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Michigan's diving team only has one competitor at the Zone Diving Meet.
SWolverines set to tee up
for Carras' final season
By Jacob Leonhardt
For the Daily
After 24 years being on the coach-
ing staff, and 20 years as the Michigan
men's golf coach, Jim Carras will be
retiring after this season. Carras has
been known throughout his career as a
"player's coach." He has always
stressed the importance of earning a
degree as the primary goal for student-
athletes. Since 1987, Carras has
coached more than 35 Academic All-
Big Ten student-athletes.
"The most memorable moments of
my coaching career have not been of
the game itself, but the lasting relation-
ships with my players," Carras said, "I
have been to some of my players' wed-
dings and watched them grow into
strong members of society, not only on
the golf course but as human beings."
Carras has earned respect not only
as a competitive coach on the course,
but also as an influential figure for his
young players. He has done so by first
stressing education, then putting
6 emphasis on his players' performanc-
; es.
With the opening of the spring sea-
son coming up this weekend, Michi-
gan is looking forward to a fresh start
after an average fall season. The team
will begin its spring season this week-
end at the El Diablo Intercollegiate
meet in Citrus Springs, Fla. Five play-
ers will be traveling to Florida -
Andy Matthews, Andrew Chapman,
Kyle Kilcherman, Dave Nichols and
Scott Carlton.
"All five players making the trip
in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse during the
winter months, the Wolverines plan to
take advantage of the limited opportu-
nities in the warm Florida sun by earn-
ing a top-five finish this weekend.
EL DIABLO INTERCOLLEGIATE
Who: Michigan in Citrus Springs, Fla.
When: Saturday and Sunday
Latest: With its first match canceled due to
rain, the Wolverines will tee off their first
match of the spring season this weekend.
ARE YOU
BILINGUAL?
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE LAB AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN IS
LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO SPEAK
MORE THAN 1 LANGUAGE, HAVE NO
HISTORY OF HEAD INJURY,
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CLAUSTROPHOBIA (FEAR OF
ENCLOSED SPACES), AND HAVE NO
HISTORY OF READING OR LEARNING
DISABILITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN
STUDIES. PAYS $8-$15/HOUR
DEPENDING ON STUDY, PLUS YOU
MAY RECEIVE A PICTURE OF YOUR
BRAIN. CALL 763-0343 FOR MORE
INFORMATION.
3 Ilyt: Franc e vs. Michigan
Michigan The Corritore Classc
Men's
Gymnastics #8 M higan vs.
needs a teacher.
Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for children and senior citizens. U-M students admitted for FREE!
Tickets can be purchased at the Keen Arena ticket windows on the night of the meet.
For all the latest info. on Michigan Athletics, visit MGoBlue.com
Teach(
Tfh 1l
Saturday, March 23, 2002
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
at the Sports and Expo Center
'1 Macomb Community College South Campus