Ilbe Alidligun aaiI PORTS March 3, 2003 SECTIONB wo ..... m, I Iloilo 1111111111 --- ------- - ------------------ w Berenson humbly gets milestone DETROIT - When Michigan coach Red Berenson exited the Wolverines lockerroom on Saturday night and saw the hoard of reporters and TV cameras waiting to greet him, he seemed a bit surprised. The team's 5-4 win over Michigan State on Saturday was the 500th victory of Berenson's 19-year career in Ann Arbor. But Michigan's leader on the bench doesn't put much stock in individual accolades, especially in the crunch time of the Wolverines season. He would much rather talk about his team. "I'm still lamenting the fact that we didn't win last night, and it's not because of the 500 business," Berenson said of Michi- gan's 4-0 loss on Friday. "It's because these were big games and we lost a home game last night. We had to bounce back with a FILE PHOTO better game tonight and I thought we did that. If it's 500, then One of Red Berenson's biggest wins came in 1996 when he you guys have made a pretty big thing of it and you know me, and the Wolverines won his first national title. it's not a big thing until it's all over." Friday night had seemed like the perfect opportunity for Beren- A NEW ROTson to reach 500 - with a game at Yost Ice Arena and Michigan's N A NEW biggest rival in town. It was also Senior Night for the five graduat- MRFESTONE ing Wolverines. But all of the distractions proved to be too much. Michigan came out slowly and the Spartans took advantage. To see more pictures of Red Berenson from his 500-win cal- "I think there was so much built up into (Friday) night's game, lege hockey coaching career, check out page 8B for a Beren- I think that's why we were so flat," associate head coach Mel son collage. Inaddition, hockey writer Kyle O'Neill writes Pearson said. "There were so many distractions, and I think it about Michigan backup freshman goaltender adjusting to the showed in our play." role of backing-up Al Montoya after starting his enitee But Saturday night, Michigan bounced back and got its coach youth hockey career. a milestone victory. For the graduating seniors, it was a fitting See BERENSON, Page 48 eers split series with Spartans P M TONY DING/Daily Big Ten Co-Diver of the Championship Jason Coben is in midflight. Tankers fly at Canham, win Big Ten By Waldemar Centeno Daily Sports Writer Fully clothed, Michigan's men's swimming and diving head coach Jon Urbanchek dove into Cahnam Natatorium's pool preceded by the entire Michigan men's swimming and diving team. Overheating, the Big Ten Coach of the Year had all the reason to celebrate. His Wolverines had just won the Big Ten Championship. "How am I going to describe this man in a couple of sentences?" senior co-captain Jeff Hopwood said of Urbanchek. "He's unbe- lievable. He's such an amazing man because he cares probably more about us out of the pool than in the pool. You know, that's really hard to come by in a coach. He is like a father to all of us." As they announced the winner of the Big Ten Championship, the Wolverines awaited in ecsta- sy for the results of a dramatically close tourna- ment. Pressured by the resilient Golden Gophers (689), the Wolverines used their final few events to capture their first Big Ten title (727) since 2000. "Every little thing counted," Urbanchek said. "For us to win this meet we could not give up any points." After winning the 500-yard freestyle and being a favorite throughout the Big Ten Champi- onship, Big Ten Freshmen of the Year Peter Van- derkaay fell short to Minnesota's Justin Mortimer in the 1,650 free. "It's definitely disappointing, but it was a good time," Vanderkaay said. "I gave it a good, effort but I just got to refocus and comeback to get ready for the NCAA, which we like to call the 'Big Dance."' Although Vanderkaay lost, he was able to cap- ture a NCAA automatic qualifying time, and with the help of four other Wolverines, allowed Michigan to maintain its narrow lead over Min- nesota. Following Vanderkaay's loss, senior Garrett Mangieri furiously entered the pool for the 100- yard free. Mangieri's intensity turned into results, as he came in second and helped Michi- gan gain momentum going into the final events. Feeling the thrust for victory, Jeff Hopwood then attained a first-place finish in the 200-yard See SWIMMING, Page 7B By Courtney Lewis Daily Sports Editor DETROIT - The superstitious among Michi- gan fans may have been a little worried. With coach Red Berenson perched at 499 wins, the Wolverines suffered an uncharacteristic home loss - just their second all season - Friday night, they were shutout for the first time this year andICHIGAN 5 they were headed to Joe Louis Arena - home rink of Brett Hull, the Detroit Red Wing who was stuck at 699 career goals for seven games. Michigan couldn't afford to wait that long for another win. The Wolverines responded to Fri- day's 4-0 shellacking at the hands of Michigan State by sqeaking by the Spartans 5-4 in a back- and-forth game to give Berenson his 500th career victory behind the bench. The loss the night before probably had more to do with Michigan's lethargic start and multiple turnovers than with a "curse of the milestone," although John Shouneyia did admit Michigan might have been distracted. The Wolverines said they weren't prepared for that game and made sure they were ready for Saturday. "I think as a whole we really had to come together mentally," Shouneyia said. "Tonight we put everything aside. We had to come out and execute as a team and that's what we did." The Wolverines fell behind early for the sec- ond night in a row after Michigan State's John- Michael Liles scored at 3:43, but Michigan knotted it with a Jason Ryznar goal shortly after. The Spartans left the period with a 2-1 lead, but the Wolverines took control in the second, as they often have this season. Shouneyia fed Jed Ortmeyer to tie it 2-2, just 23 seconds in and minutes later sailed a pass to Mike Roemensky, who blew one by Michigan State goaltender Matt Migliaccio. "The game really came down to momentum swings throughout the night," Shouneyia said. "They had a lead, we had a lead, just going back and forth. Every shift was just a momentum swing, every powerplay. " Michigan State snatched the momentum back on a powerplay - a Michigan powerplay. Brad Fast stole the puck in the neutral zone and sent it to Tim Hearon, who dished to Lee Falardeau. He beat Al Montoya from the slot to tie the game at three with 9:04 left in the period. It was the Spartans' second short-handed goal of the night. After setting up his teammates for most of the night, Shouneyia, who finished with three points, drilled a shot from the left side to put Michigan back on top - this time for good. Freshman Brandon Kaleniecki added an insur- ance goal early in the third period that turned into the game-winner after Michigan State's Ash See SPARTANS, Page 4B TONY DING/Daily Michigan's Jed Ortmeyer skates against Michigan State's Brad Fast in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena Saturday night. Illinois steals Big Ten title from Blue's grasp Long-distance finishes give 'M' Big Ten title By Jim Weber Daily Sports Writer By Seth Klempner Daily Sports Writer A. brass ring was presented to the Michigan basketball team Saturday afternoon when it tipped off against Illi- nois. It was a chance for the Wolverines to atone for their worst performance of the season, seizeM H N control of first place in the Big Ten and play its biggest game against Illinois since the 1989 Final Four. And while the Wolverines reached for that ring with outstretched force, they could only close their fist on the vacu- um left by their prize, seconds after Illi- nois had plucked it away. They were presented with several chances to win the game that both teams called one of the best-played games of the season. But in the end it was experi- enced No. 18 Illinois (10-4 Big Ten, 20- 5 overall) that left Crisler Arena with the 82-79 win over Michigan (9-4.16-11 ) rebound off a missed LaVell Blanchard 3-point attempt and was fouled by Brian Cook while putting the ball off the glass and into the hoop. The 3-point play put Michigan up a point, allowing it to gain its first lead since a 66-59 advantage with 8:17 to go. On the ensuing possession, Illinois freshman Dee Brown missed a shot that traveled through a Wolverine's hand on its way out of bounds. Had Michigan grabbed the rebound, it would have given it the ball with 1:35 to go and a one-point lead. Instead, Illinois got the ball back, and Brown hit a jumper from the free throw line with Hunter in front of him. Michigan then failed to create a shot on its next possession and with the shot clock running down, Horton tossed up a running jumper in the lane that seemed to hang in the air - freezing time in Crisler. The shot couldn't find the net for Horton, who shot 4-for-17 in the game. Illinois capitalized in transition, as Placed at the end of track meets, the 5,000 meters is usually more relaxed than the other events as the meet winds down. But that wasn't the case at the Big Ten Women's Indoor Track Championships yesterday in Bloom- ington. After exchanging the lead with host Indiana for most of the cham- pionships, the Wolverines found themselves down by a half point going into the 5,000 meters, the second-to-last event. Distance runners Rebecca Walter and Andrea Parker responded to the pressure by finishing second and fourth, respectively. More importantly, they tallied 14 points for Michigan, clinching back-to-back indoor titles for the Wolverines prior to the mile relay, in which first place only receives 10 points. Michigan added a point in the relay to finish the race with 129.5 points to Indiana's 115. down championship, it didn't come down to the final event. "Anytime you are passing a baton, it is a nail-biting experience," McGuire said. McGuire said he was confident that Michigan's long-distance runners would outperform the Hoosiers, but there was still cause for concern. Wal- ter could have been tired after finish- ing third in the 3,000-meter race the day before. Also, the Hoosiers had an excited home crowd and a bitter taste in their mouth after losing to Michigan last season in the closest Big Ten Women's Indoor Championship ever. With the support of teammates, coaches and parents, Walter and Park- er put those fears to rest. "I have never been at a track meet with this much intensity and support from the team members," Walter said. "I could hear them the whole way." Said Parker: "It was crazy. It was really great to have the parents and the teammates cheering. I heard roars of people cheering and people yelling TONY DING/Daily LaVell Blanchard can't get the ball away from Illinois' Brian Cook in the Fighting Illini's 82-79 win at Crisler Arena on Saturday. Brown. Down three with 32 seconds remain- ing, Horton was able to get the ball to Blanchard who had a plav drawn un for pointers made in a game with 7-for-l 1 shooting, and Blanchard was forced to pass the ball to an open Lester Abram. The freshman, who had not taken a > 1 L