The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 13, 2003 - 7B 'M' opens season with invitational By Ellen McGarrity Daily Sports Writer The meet was over and the fresh- men gathered in a huddle, surrounded by the rest of the team. As the women finished chanting "Hail to the Vic- tors," the newcomers were doused in water by fellow teammates, in an act of initiation. "I think it's a freshmen thing," pole-vaulter Elizabeth Boyle said, describing the surprise water attack. On Saturday, the Wolverines com- pleted their first official event of the indoor season. They hosted Eastern Michigan, Siena Heights, Western Michigan, Detroit, Toledo, Macomb and IUPUI in their Jack Harvey Invitational. The team, which triumphed as Big Ten Champions last year in both indoor and outdoor track, once again showed off its talents in the weekend invitational. Boyle was the one that shined bright- est, as fans applauded her record-break- ing pole vault height of 12'6" - six inches higher than the previous record. "I was very happy with the results," Boyle said. "But I was more excited to be wearing the Michigan uniform for the first time." Michigan associate head coach Mike McGuire was also pleased with his team's performance in the weekend's meet. "It was a really good first meet," McGuire said. "Some of the girls' performances looked like second- or third- meet style and we're only in the first meet of the season." One of those great performances came from senior April Phillips, one of the three team captains. She took first in the shot put event with a pitch of 14.31 meters and placed second in the weight throw. "I'm a senior so this meet was kind of special - it was my last first meet," Phillips said. Other highlights included senior Robin Landfair's win in the 60- meter low hurdles and Hawaii native Vera Simms' victory in the long jump. McGuire also said he was impressed with the efforts of the team sprinters and mile runners. Senior Carly Knazze took third in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes while freshman Shavonne Maclin and sophomore Keri Kirk were not far behind with fourth- and fifth- place finishes in the 400, respec- tively. In the 600-meter run, sophomore Theresa Feldkamp claimed first place with a time of 1:34.58, fol- lowed closely by senior Rachel Sturtz who came in second. The mile-run was dominated by freshman Katie Erdman, junior Andrea Parker and sophomore Chelsea Loomis, who crossed the finish line in second, third and fourth places, respectively. Since the invitational was non- scoring, it gave Michigan a good chance to warm up for next week's meet against Michigan State, Kent State and arch-rival Indiana. "This meet was really a stepping stone for the team," McGuire said. "Next week the atmosphere and intensity will be magnified." In fact, McGuire and head coach James Henry decided to purposely hold some of the best team members back this week to give them a long rest before competing next Saturday. Freshman Rebecca Walter was among them. Walter, who was the top finisher during her first women's cross- country season, has the potential to complete an even better track season. Now that the Wolverines have had some time to limber up, they will be practicing hard to prepare for Indiana. "We're geared up for Indiana." Phillips said. "We want to win, but won't kill ourselves over it." TONY DING/Daily Freshman Porsha Ellis and the Michigan women's track team opened the season this weekend with a non-scoring event, the Jack Harvey invitational. East defeats West 20-17 in Shrne game SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Torrie Cox rushed up to Ken Dorsey in the locker room to make sure Miami's star quarterback didn't get away before signing his shirt. "National championship game this year and last year, you have to get Ken," said Cox, a defensive back for Pittsburgh who grew up in Miami. "Plus, he's from my hometown." Dorsey, of the national runner-up Hurricanes, threw for 192 yards and led a scoring drive in the East's 20-17 victory in the East-West Shrine Classic on Saturday. West Virginia's Avon Cobourne ran for two touchdowns, and Donald Lee of Mississippi State caught four passes for 122 yards and the go- ahead score for the East. Louisiana State's Jerel Myers added six catches for 148 yards. The game features many of the nation's pre- mier college players, divided into teams from the East and West. "I was hoping to get 100 yards," said Cobourne, who finished with 72 on seven car- ries. "I did what I could. I just came down here to make myself a little more known." orsey was the first of three quarterbacks for the East, and returned in the fourth quarter. He was 9-of-18 passing and directed the scoring drive on the East's first possession, capped by Cobourne's 41-yard run. It was almost like a home game for Dorsey, who was a star at Miramonte High School in nearby Orinda. Dorsey's Hurricanes lost the Fiesta Bowl to Ohio State 31-24 in double overtime Jan. 3, and the quarterback was happy to have another chance to put the pads on so soon. It wasn't just his teammates who wanted his autograph. Dorsey had about 100 fans in the stands at Pacific Bell Park. The closest he'd ever played to home during college was at Washington and in Los Angeles. "I got to sign a few," Dorsey said. "The best part is to give back to the community. This is right in my backyard." Lee's 5-yard touchdown catch with 14:56 remaining put the East up 13-10, and Cobourne ran 5 yards for a score with 49 seconds left. Lee Blue impressive at Jack Harvey Invite By Nicole Stanton and Julie Master L'Hereux said. For the Daily Both coaches and teammates hoped for an outstanding showing A few seconds into the 400-meter from L'Hereux, and that confidence dash, sophomore Seth Waits saw led him to victory. himself in a tough situation. The Wolverines' camaraderie was He lagged behind three opponents a main theme at the exhibition. by nearly 40 meters, and it didn't Even though two of Michigan's top seem possible for him to win. But runners, sophomore Nate Brannen quickly, he soared from behind to and freshmen Nick Willis, did not win first place at 49.3 seconds, his participate, they went to support fastest time yet. their teammates who did compete in Just like Waits, after a relaxing the meet. two-week vacation, the rest of the The close team atmosphere is Michigan's track team came back at something the Wolverines hope will full blast at the Jack Harvey Invita- be beneficial in their meets down tional Saturday. the road. The Wolverines had just a week to "We hang out as much as we can as a prepare for the meet, but despite the team, and we also try to support each short layoff, they were ready to run other as much as possible at practice," when the time came. sophomore Nathan Taylor said. "I felt pretty confident today and "I have definitely noticed that our had a few good weeks of practice, team unity is better than last year. and knew I could come out and have We are all striving for the team goal a good race," Waits said. .f ,akin, the Big Ten Champ, Although the meet was non-scor- onships, and teamwork will help get ing; the competition was still fierce, us there." and Michigan was hopeful that a high Wayurst agreed with Taylor's energy level would help prepare for assessment. the rest of the season. "Track is an individual sport, and "(Saturday's) meet (was) really individually athletes have to perform. an opportunity to -whip the team If the individuals perform, it makes back in shape after vacation," coach the team stronger,"Warhurst said. Ron Warhurst said. "You have to have enough self Senior Alex L'Hereux was respect and respect for your team- impressive, pulling out a first-place mates to say that you want to be a finish in the mile, with an astonish- good team member, and do as best ing time of 4:14. you can. You can't isolate yourself "Today I came out and did what because track takes on a holistic my coaches and I expected," theory of life." AP PHOTO Former Miami (Fla.) quarterback Ken Dorsey may not have won the Fiesta Bowl, but he did lead the East to victory over the West in the East-West Shrine classic. was named offensive player of the game. Arizona quarterback Jason Johnson completed 17 of 30 passes for 275 yards and two touch- downs for the West, including a 14-yard TD strike to Keenan Howry of Oregon with 3 sec- onds left. "The goal this week was to have fun and give it my best shot," Johnson said. "And don't worry about things I can't control - agents, the NFL, scouts." Johnson hit Southern California's Sultan McCullough on a 76-yard screen pass for a touchdown 2:30 before halftime that put the West ahead 10-6. But that was one of few highlights for the West, which missed two first-half scoring chances in the red zone. Notre Dame's Gerome Sapp intercepted John- son at the goal line late in the first quarter. Then, UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas led the West to the 1 but the team had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Mike Barth of Arizona State with 8:45 left in the first half. The East missed a scoring opportunity of its own in the third quarter when quarterback Curt Anes was intercepted in the end zone by Califor- nia's Nnamdi Asomugha, but Lee's score made up for it. Ohio State, which won its first national cham- pionship in 34 years, had three representatives: safety Michael Doss, punter Andy Groom and safety Donnie Nickey. Cal and Colorado each had four players, the most of all schools. Cal defensive lineman Tully Banta-Cain was named defensive player of the game after he made four tackles, forced two fum- bles and had 1 1/2 sacks. The game was a homecoming for East coach Tyrone Willingham, who just finished his first season coaching Notre Dame following seven seasons as head coach at Stanford. Agassi and Williams prepare for Aussie Open MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - For Serena Williams and Andre Agassi, just starting the Australian Open is an improvement from last year. Both were hurt right before the 2002 tournament. That wiped out Agassi's hopes of winning a third straight Aus- tralian Open and, it turned out, Williams' winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in one calendar year. Williams twisted her right ankle chasing a drop shot in a warmup tour- nament in Sydney. When she recovered, she was just about invincible, winning the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open and moving up to No. 1 in the rankings. In the two weeks starting today, she is trying for a "Serena Slam" as reigning champion of all four major tournaments. The last woman to do that was Steffi Graf, who added the 1994 Australian title to her victories in the other majors in 1993. Graf also is one of only three women with a true Grand Slam. She did that in 1988, following Maureen Con- nolly in 1953 and Margaret Court in 1970. Serena wants to be the fourth. "I want to be undefeated" in 2003, she said. That probably would mean more vic- tories against older sister Venus, the runner-up to Serena at three Grand Slam events in 2002. If they meet in Australia, it only would be in the final because Venus - who has won major titles to her credit - is seeded second. Neither sister has reached an Aus- tralian Open final. Serena's best result was reaching the quarterfinals in 2001. Venus reached the semifinals that year. After playing well in the United States' victory in the Hopman Cup, Serena skipped this year's Sydney tournament. In contrast, Agassi went right back to the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, where he hurt his right wrist in losing last year's final to Pete Sampras. He won the Australian Open after winning at Kooyong in 2000 and 2001, and he won at Kooyong again Saturday, beating Sebastien Grosjean 6-2, 6-3 in the final. "This week I felt real good, a lot better a lot sooner than I was even hoping," said the 32-year-old Ameri- can, oldest among the seeded men in the Open. Despite his early setback, Agassi fin- ished last year ranked No. 2 behind Lleyton Hewitt. His best Grand Slam result was losing to Sampras in the U.S. Open final. A victory here would be Agassi's eighth in Grand Slam tournaments, put- ting him in a tie for sixth place with Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Ken Rosewall and Fred Perry. Sampras, who leads the list with 14 Grand Slam titles, is skipping the Aus- tralian Open. Hewitt, meanwhile, is trying to become the first Australian winner of the country's major since Mark Edmondson in 1976. Last year, weak- ened by chicken pox, he lost in the first round. "I feel sort of fine with that pres- sure, that expectation of sitting up there and being the number 1 Aus- tralian. I don't have too many prob- lems with that," he said. Last year's runner-up, Marat Safin, seeded third, hurt his right shoulder in Sydney but is expected to be in shape for the Open TONY DING/Daily The Michigan track team is off to a good start after competing in the Jack Harvey Invitational. Tigers' Redman traded to struggling Marlins MIAMI (AP) - Left-hander Mark Redman joined the Florida Marlins from the Detroit Tigers in a five-player trade Saturday. The Marlins sent right-hander Gary Knotts and minor league left-handers Nate Robertson and Rob Henkel to the Tigers for Redman and minor league right-hander Redman, entering his third full major league season, went 8-15 with a 4.21 ERA in 30 starts for the Tigers last sea- son. He didn't pitch after Sept. 11 because of fatigue in his arm but still logged more than 200 innings. He joins a rotation featuring young right-handers A.J. Burnett, Josh Beckett to pitch 200 innings but still have it up there in the high 80s and low 90s." Beinfest said this week's sale of out- fielder Kevin Millar to the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese league freed up money to sign Redman. The Marlins, who also signed catcher Mike Redmond to a one-year contract Saturday, plan to go the team with a .306 batting average last season, but added outfielders Todd Hol- landsworth and Gerald Williams this week. Knotts shuttled between the Marlins and Triple A last season, going 3-1 with a 4.40 ERA in 28 major league appear-. ances. Sf .',. l.,SW