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2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 3, 2003

CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY
Sunday trips to range help prepare rifle club for battle

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

By Maggie Adams
For the Daily

For many students, Sunday mornings are a time
for rest and recuperation. The 15 members of the
Michigan club sports rifle team, on the other hand,
are awake bright and early for target practice at
the Jackson County Sportsman Club's rifle range
in Jackson from 9 a.m. to noon. Some have been
competitively shooting since they were six years
old, and others had never picked up a gun before
they came to college. Either way, these three-hour
practices prepare the co-ed teammates for matches
in the two leagues in which they competitively
shoot.
In both leagues, the competition is run the same
way. The Wolverines send their top five shooters
and each of them takes 40 shots with a .22-caliber
International Freestyle rifle in each of three posi-
tions. In prone position, shots are taken while
lying on the ground. In offhand position, the
shooter fires while standing up. The final position
is kneeling. Dead center in the target is worth 10

points, and each ring outside the center is worth
one less point. The shooter's scores from the three
positions are then aggregated to determine the
individual winner, and the overall scores of each
shooter are aggregated to decide the winning
team.
The Michigan ROTC League consists of major
schools in Michigan, including Eastern Michigan,
Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Howe
Military Academy. In this league, the Wolverines
have been undefeated for more than 17 years.
The second league is the Western Intercollegiate
Rifle Conference, which is made up of schools
from many states, including Ohio, Missouri, Wis-
consin and Wyoming.
"WIRC is the more competitive league," said
Matt Wolterstorff, one of the Club Rifle Team's
top shooters. "It's made up of some real Varsity
NCAA teams from schools like OSU (Ohio State),
where people are recruited and on scholarship.
They have their own ranges and more practice
time, which makes it hard for a club team like us
to compete at their level."

The University's on-campus rifle range, which
was located by North Hall, was torn down three
years ago to make room for the new Life Sci-
ences Building.
The club rifle team protested the dismantling,
and several designs were looked into that would
have preserved the range. However, because
marksmanship was cut from the ROTC program-
ming, it was decided that there was no need to
preserve the range. Since then, the team has had to
travel to Jackson for practice.
Still, over Spring Break, the Club Rifle Team
managed to place sixth in a field of 11 at the
WIRC Championship, which was hosted by Ohio
State in Columbus.
"OSU wins all the timhe," Matt said. "It's frus-
trating to compete against teams with their own
facilities and a lot of university funding. We're the
little guys in that league. But we've still got a
broad spectrum of talent on our team."
The club rifle team's next competition is during
the first weekend in April, and will be hosted by
Eastern Michigan.

Who: Rachel Sturtz
Hometown: Traverse city
Position: Middle distance

Sport: Track and Field
Year: Senior

Why: Sturtz set a school and meet record at the Big Ten Indoor Champi-
onships, winning the 800-meter run, in helping to lead the Wolverines to a
repeat conference victory. The senior joined April Phillips (shot put) and
Katie Erdman (600-meter) as Michigan's event champions.
6M' SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Mar. 5
M Basketball at Penn State, 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, Mar. 6
M Tennis at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m.
W Tennis vs. Ball State, 4:00 p.m.
Friday, Mar. 7
Softball vs. Providence, 2:00 p.m.
Baseball at Oklahoma, 3:00 p.m. CST
Softball vs. Utah 4:00, p.m.
Ice Hockey at Ohio State, 7:05 p.m.
W Gymnastics vs. UCLA, 7:30 p.m.
W Track/Field at Alex Wilson Invitational
M Track/Field at Alex Wilson Invitational
Saturday, Mar. 8
M Basketball vs. Purdue (date/time TBA by Mar. 3) TBA
Softball vs. Florida International, 10:00 a.m.
Baseball at Oklahoma 11:00, a.m. CST
Softball vs. Playoffs 3:00, p.m.
Ice Hockey at Ohio State, 8:05 p.m.
Wrestling vs. Big Ten Championships
Water Polo vs. Southern Division Tournament

WHLEYOU WERE AWAY:
Michigan's athletes were busy over Spring Break. Here's a quick breakdown
of a few of the events that went down in the last week.
Hockey
Feb. 21 def. Nebraska-Omaha 6-1, Feb.22 def. Nebraska-0maha 5-3
Feb. 28 lost to Michigan State 4-0, Mar. 1 def. Michigan State 5-4
Basketball
Feb. 26 lost to Wisconsin 73-42. Mar. 1 lost to No. 18 Illinois 82-79
Women's Track and Field
March 1-2 first-place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Track Championships
Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 27-March 1 first-place finish at the Big Ten Conference Championships
Baseball
Feb. 21 lost toA rmstrong Atlantic State 11-4, Feb. 23 def. Rider 15-1
Feb; 23 lost to No. 3 Georgia Tech 7.6, Feb. 25 lost to Saint Leo 13-12
Feb. 26 lost to Stetson 7-5, March 1 def. Bethune-Cookman 7-5, 14.0
Softball
Feb. 22 def. Temple 6-1, Feb. 22-23 lost to No. 5 Washington 5-3
Feb. 23 lost to No. 16 South Carolina 3-0. Feb. 27 def. Texas-San-Antonio 5-4
Feb. 28 def. Florida 5-1, Feb. 28 def. No. 5 Texas 2-0
March 1 last to North Carolina 3-1, Mar. 1 def. North Carolina 1-0
March. 2 def. No. 5 Texas 3-2 (8 innings)
Water Polo
Feb. 21 lost to No. 6 Loyola Marymount 7-5, Feb. 22 def. Cal State-Sari
Bernardino 103, Feb. 22 lost to No. 18 California4rvine 8-5
Feb. 25 lost to No. 4 Long Beach State 11-5, Feb. 26 lost to No. 10 California-
Santa Barbara 7-6, March 1 def. La Verne 133, March 1 def. Redlands 9.3
Women's Basketball
Feb. 23 def. Indiana 754, Feb. 27 lost to Ohio State 7055
March 2 lost to No. 13 Minnesota 76-63

Blue scores shutouts

By Brad Johnson
Daily Sports Writer

Following a three-match losing
streak, the Michigan men's tennis team
took out its frustrations on Butler and
Toledo, refusing to yield a single point
to the two teams.
On Feb. 22, the Wolverines (5-4)
defeated Butler 7-0 at the Varsity Ten-
nis Center, a victory which came on the
heels of a similar 7-0 win over Toledo a
week earlier.
"It's nice to get all seven of the
points," coach Mark Mees said. "We
had some positions where we played
really good tennis."
Against Butler, junior Anthony Jack-
son and sophomores Vinny Gossain
and David Anving each looked strong
in their respective singles victories
according to the coach. But Mees was
more impressed with the resilience and
toughness of his team.
"We won the matches where we did-
n't really play our best tennis," he said.
Three singles contests went to
"super-tiebreakers" instead of a
deciding third set, which marks a
change in the traditional format for
singles matches. The Wolverines
pulled out victories in all three of the
10-point tiebreakers, which are being
implemented in an effort to shorten
matches still in progress after the out-
come of the overall match has been
decided.
Michigan's team of sophomore

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317 S. State St.
(734)665-4990

Michael Rubin and senior Chris Rolf
dropped their No. I doubles match.
But the Wolverines were able to win
the other two doubles contests in order
to secure the all-important doubles
point.
Rubin and Rolf have struggled
together, going 1-3 since Mees shook
up the doubles teams several weeks
ago.
"Any team you play at No. 1 doubles
is going to be pretty tough," Mees said.
"Hopefully we will put three teams out
there that will give us a chance to win
two out of three matches."
The team had a great opportunity to
sharpen their doubles play this past
weekend, when they competed in the
Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament in
San Diego. Because it was an open
tournament, none of the matches
counted officially.
Despite this, it was still a good
opportunity for the team to play against
some of the top doubles players from
schools like Stanford, UCLA and Pep-
perdine.
"The tournament gave us a chance to
play against some really good teams,"
Mees said. "You realize what it takes to
play at that level. I was very pleased."
Playing outside for the first time in
months was quite an adjustment for the
Wolverines, who have been practicing
and playing indoors for some time now.
"It's such a good feeling to get out in
tl sun," the coach said. "It takes a bit
to get used to it,"
M' settles
for split in
South
By Jake Rosmnwass
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's tennis team
probably wishes it could have cashed in
its chips and left after squeaking out a
win against Wake Forest on Thursday.
Instead, Michigan had to hang around
until Friday, only to be crushed by a
very talented Duke squad.
Coming off their first loss of the sea-
son at the hands of Illinois, the sixth-
ranked Blue Devils took no mercy on
the overmatched Wolverines. Duke
started strong and claimed the doubles
point by taking all three doubles match-
es - the onslaught was on. Duke then
went on to sweep the six singles match-
es without dropping a set.
"They were upset about their first loss
of the season," coach Bitsy Ritt said
about the Blue Devils' loss to Illinois a
week earlier. "They lost their No. 1
ranking and were happy to be home in
Durham. They are a very experienced
team, and it really showed against us."
The day before, Michigan eeked out
a close match against a struggling Wake
Forest team. After dropping the doubles
point, Michigan took four of the singles
matches for a close 4-3 match victory.
Chrissie Nolan and Leanne Rutherford
took their matches in straight sets to
help the Wolverines gain some momen-
tum. The win for Rutherford was her
10th in a row.
"Leanne has been so solid," Ritt said.
"She's had a lot of close matches and
has found a way to win them by exploit-
ing weaknesses in her opponents. She's
a hard worker and has a great attitude."
With the match tied 2-2, freshman
Debra Streifler moved up to the fifth
singles spot and responded with a 6-2,
5-7, 6-0 victory, and Junior Kavitha
Tiperneni upset No. 65 Katie Martzolf
6-3, 5-7, 6-3 while playing in the sec-
ond singles spot. These long matches
clinched the win for the Wolverines.

"Kavitha really came on after losing
that close second set," Ritt said. "She
was aggresive at the right times and
played great in the third set."

Although the weather in San Juan
was sunny, the Golf Gods were not
shining on the Michigan men's team
this week. In the prestigious Puerto
Rico Invitational, the Michigan golf
team finished 18th. The top scorers
for the Wolverines were junior Dave
Nichols, who finished in 78th place,
and Mark McIntosh, who was the
only Wolverine to have two rounds
in the 70s.
For coach Andrew Sapp's squad,
the last-place finish was no doubt
discouraging, and the coach seemed
to have a good idea as to why.
"I don't think we were mentally
prepared as individuals (for Puerto
Rico)," Sapp said, "We were hitting
the ball well on the driving range,
but it took us a long time to adjust
to the playing conditions."
In addition, some of the top talent
in the country that competed in the
tournament helped contribute.
"When you are playing in a tour-
nament with some of the top talent
in the country - the Oklahoma
States, Clemsons and others, its dif-
ficult to perform well," Sapp said.
However, he didn't feel that this

By Jordan Acker
For the Daily


Sunday, Mar. 9
Baseball at Oklahoma, 1:00 p.m. CST
Men can't fCd touch
iPuerto Rco Classic

was all excuse and said that,
despite the lack of good playing
conditions in Ann Arbor, Minneso-
ta (which finished second on the
tournament) also had to face simi-
lar conditions.
Despite Michigan's finish, Sapp
was thinking positively about the
future of this team. "This tourna-
ment gives us a barometer of what it
is like to play with the top teams
and where we need to go forward,"
Sapp said. "These players, three of
whom are freshmen, will look back
on this event as a stepping stone to
achieve greater things."
With another tournament coming
up in Myrtle Beach March 10-11,
Sapp stressed two important things.
"We'll be working on our ball
striking. and some of the swing
changes we made over the winter,"
Sapp said. "But I think for us main-
ly, it's to be mentally prepared."
But Sapp still had his eye on the
ball, in this case the Big Ten Tour-
nament in May at Indiana Universi-
ty. "We should go down to Myrtle
each and play well." Sapp said.
"Our goal is to get better, and take
the important steps ... to improve
towards our big event, the Big Ten
championships."

Customer Service Survey
Answer these questions and get a FREE BLUEBOOK OR
10% OFF KODAK FILM for your Spring Break pictures.
Return this survey to Ulrich's or Michigan Book & Supply
to take advantage of this great deal.
1.) Would you buy other university school apparel in addition to
University of Michigan?

A

DAffWSCOREBOARD

NBA STANDINGS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION

NHL STANDINGS

New Jersey
Philadelphia
Boston
Washington
Orlando
New York
Miami

CENTRAL DIVISION

W
38
33
33
29
29
25
19
W
38
37
34
28
22
21
17
11

L
21
24
25
29
30
34
39
L
21
22
27
30
37
40
38
47

Pct.
.644
.579
.569
.500
.492
.424
.328
Pct.
.644
.627
.557
.483
.373
.344
.309
.190

GB
4
4.5
8.5
9
12.5
18.5

EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION
W L
New Jersey 38 1E
Philadelphia 34 1i
NY Islanders 30 2
NY Rangers 27 3
Pittsburgh 25 3
NORTHEAST DIVISION

L
16
17
24
1
1

Ottawa
Toronto
GS Boston
Montreal
Buffalo

W
40
37
28
24
19

Yes Q

No

T
6
11
8
4

Indiana
Detroit
New Orleans
Milwaukee
Atlanta
Chicago
Toronto
Cleveland

2.) What would you like to see Ulrich's and Michigan Book & Supply
carry in the future?
3.) On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate Ulrich's and Michigan
Book & Supply in terms of customer service?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4.) Have you shopped at Ulrich's or Michigan Book & Supply before?

1
5
9.5
16
18
19
26.5

L
18
23
25
27
31
L
25
22
25
33
32

SOUTHEAST DIVISION
W
Washington 30
Tampa Bay 28
Florida 19
Atlanta 21
Carolina 18

WESTERN CONFERENCE
NORTHWEST DIVISION

T
7
4
8
8
8

Dallas
San Antonio
Minnesota
Utah
Houston
Memphis
Denver

W
45
40
39
33
30
18
12
w
41
38
32
31
29
27
19

L
14
17
21
25
28
40
47
19
20
26
28
30
31
39

Pct.
.763
.702
.650
.569
.517
.3100
.203
Pct.
.683
.655
.552
.525
.492
.466
.328

GB
4
6.5
11.5
14.5
26.5
33
GB
2
8
9.5
11.5
13
21

WESTERN CONFERENCE
CENTRAL DIVISION
W L
Detroit 34 17
St. Louis 33 18
Nashville 26 25
Chicago 24 27
Columbus 23 32

T
7
10
12
5
9
T
9
8
9
10
7
T
10
11
8
8
10
T
15
8
4
8
6

OL
4
2
2
2
5
OL
1
1
3
7
6
OL
4
5
9
4
6
OL
3
6
4
4
2
OL
0
7
1
8
4
OL
2
4
4
4
5

PTS
86
81
70
64
59
PTS
88
79
67
63
52
PTS
71
71
59
51
51
PTS
80
80
65
62
55
PTS
86
80
73
68
54
PTS
87
72
64
62
59

GF GA
168 130
153 133
176176
180 203
164195
GF GA
207145
193 163
186 182
186193
142172
GF GA
181176
176175
152 192
165227
135187
GF GA
198159
204167
160160
154162
166 204
GF GA
205 160
190157
155139
174184
144189
GF GA
196133
157156
171179
160168
175187

a

NORTHWEST DIVISION
W
Vancouver 38
Colorado 31
Minnesota 32
Edmonton 26
Calgary 20<

PACIFIC DIVISION

Sacramento
Portland
LA Lakers
Phoenix
Golden State
Seattle
LA Clippers

PACIFIC DIVISION
W
Dallas 35
Anaheim 30
Los Angeles 28
Phoenix 25
San Jose 24


L
17
15
23
23
31
L
13
23
29
26
29

0l

Yes Q

No

NBA GAMEs
Yesterday's games
Orlando 102, Cleveland 76
Utah 91, New Jersey 90
Toronto 104, Boston 92
Minnesota 99, New York 90

NHL GAMES
Yesterday's games
Dallas 3, Pittsburgh 1
Detroit 5, Phoenix 2
Washington 2, Carolina 0
Colorado 3, Chicago 2
Atlanta 4, Anaheim 1

If YES, how many times per week?

0