The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 7, 2003 - 3B
Boyle soars to new pole vaulting record
STEVE
JACKSON
By Jeremy Antar
Daily Sports Writer
Elizabeth Boyle's career at Michigan
has been nothing short of spectacular,
and she is still just a freshman. On Sat-
urday at the Yellow Jacket Invitational,
Boyle set a new personal and Michigan
record when she soared over 12' 10" in
the pole vault.
Boyle's success was followed by sen-
ior Anna Fisher's performance. Fisher
earned an NCAA regional qualifier
when she cleared 12' 0" for fifth place
in the event.
Boyle and Fisher's performances
were two of 16 NCAA Regional quali-
fying marks that the Michigan women's
track and field team set at Georgia
Tech.
Success is nothing new to junior
Lindsey Gallo, so n6 one was surprised
on Saturday when she won the 1,500,
meter run. Gallo's time of 4:24.32 was
an NCAA regional qualifying mark and
personal best.
"I was really happy with how the
race turned out, this is where I want
to be right now," Gallo said. "I'm just
trying to keep lowering my time so I
am ready for the big races at the end
of the season."
As they have done throughout their
time as Wolverines, senior tri-captain
April Phillips and junior Melissa Bicket
dominated the hammer throw. The duo
earned a first- and second-place finish
for Michigan with NCAA regional qual-
ifying throws of 181' 4" and 171' 4",
respectively.
Phillips posted her second NCAA
regional qualifier of the day when she
tossed the shot put 50' 9 1/4", surpass-
ing the closest competitor by more than
two feet.
In the high jump, sophomores Jen-
nifer Kulchar and Stephanie Linz tied
for third place with yet another NCAA
regional qualifier of 5' 8 3/4".
Rounding out the field events was
senior tri-captain Teyonna Simpson's
sixth-place finish in the triple jump.
Her mark of 40'0" was an NCAA
regional qualifying mark.
Also capturing NCAA regional quali-
fying marks were junior Vera Simms and
sophomore Sierra Hauser-Price. Simms
won the 400-meter hurdles with a time
of 59.17, and Hauser-Price finished third
in the 200-meter dash at a time of 23.93.
Richardson s swimmers are
excellent in the classroom
ONYDIN/D u aily
Robin Landfair placed in the top 10 for 100-meter hurdles. Vera Simms, Beth
Vinckier and Porsha Ellis also ran in the hurdles placing slightly behind Landfair.
Men's track brngs
. the heat to Georgia
en S R nng1
By Nicole Stanton
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's track team
traveled to Atlanta this weekend for its
second outdoor meet of the season -
the Yellow Jacket Invitational, held at
the George C. Griffin Track and Field
Facility. What was at first thought to
be a five- or six-hour day turned into a
nine- to 10-hour day at the track - all
in the Georgia heat. But the Wolver-
ines brought more heat to Atlanta than
the city was ready for, bringing a win
home to cold Michigan.
"The atmosphere was great, and
everyone pretty much had a good day,"
sophomore Seth Waits said.
Waits was part of Michigan's third-
place finish in the 4x400-meter relay,
*; along with sophomores Kaj Johansson
and DarNell Talbert and senior Jeremy
Schneider. The team finished with a
time of 3:12.55, missing the mark set
by first-place Middle Tennessee State
by about five seconds. Still, it was a
big win for Michigan.
"I felt really good (on Saturday)
and am happy with the results,"
Waits said.
Among the group achievements on
Saturday were several individual suc-
cesses. And although the Wolverines
were extremely diligent in their
preparation for the invitational, there
were still some butterflies, especially
before the 1,500-meter run.
"I'm not going to lie - I was scared
(before I ran)," sophomore Rondell
Ruff said. "I get very nervous before I
run and was ready to walk off the
track. But then, when the gun went off,
and I saw everyone moving, I was
ready. We just ran in a group at first,
and I started off in one of the last
places and made a move on a guy and
gained seventh place. I just stayed
there until the end."
Ruff finished seventh in the
1,500-meter run with a time of
3:49.72 and did not qualify for the
NCAA regionals.
Freshman Andrew Ellerton fared
better in the 1,500-meter run, taking
third place with a time of 3:47.23.
What was even more impressive was
Ellerton's second-place finish in the
800-meter run, the most exciting
event of the day. Four Wolverine
runners achieved NCAA regional
qualifying times in the 800-meter
run - Ellerton, Schneider, senior
Dan Cooke and junio'r Tom Green-
less, with times of 1:49.76, 1:50.50,
1:50.49, and 1:50.95, respectively.
Qualifying four runners was a big
achievement for the Wolverines, and
each expressed great satisfaction
and astonishment.
"I had a couple hours in between
(the 1,500-meter run and 800-meter
run) so I felt pretty good," Ellerton
said. "But I still didn't expect to do
as well (in the 800-meter run), and
then I was like 'Holy shit' (when I
received second)."
"Two years ago, a time of just
1:52 would have been first or sec-
ond place (in the 800-meter run),"
Schneider said. "But today, it would
Tammy Nedell always dreamed
of swimming for the University
of Michigan. Her parents were
divorced, and her mother worked as a
janitor at her high school in Washing-
ton. These hardships weighed heavily on
Nedell, who needed three tries to achieve
the NCAA minimum SAT score.
She was by no means the best freestyl-
ist in the country, but there was some-
thing about this girl that peaked the
interest of Michigan women's swimming
coach Jim Richardson.
"She just had so much heart, and she
worked so hard at everything she did,"
Richardson said. "I knew she was the
type of person that could succeed here at
Michigan."
Despite her questionable academic
credentials, Nedell swam and graduated
with a 2.8 GPA and a degree in English.
She is now making a "1'm not goi
positive impact in other
people's lives as a scholarshi
teacher. people that do
This success story the opportu
was only possible world-class
because Nedell pos- Richard
sessed the qualities that R____ rd_
Richardson seeks in his swimmers.
"We go out and recruit people that are
achievement-orientated, people that are
quality conscience, self-motivated and
people that are engaged in the process of
becoming successful in and out of the
pool," Richardson said.
That has been a formula for success
for the women's swimming team, which
has maintained at team GPA above 3.1
for the last 17 years under Richardson.
Last week, the Big Ten announced its
Academic All-Conference performers;
the Michigan women's swimming team
had 15 winners from just 21 eligible ath-
letes. Academic honors like these have
been an integral part of the Wolverines'
program ever since Richardson arrived
in the fall of 1985.
"I'm not going to waste scholarship
dollars on people that don't appreciate
the opportunity to get a world-class edu-
cation" Richardson said. "We've had to
walk away from people because of that.
Maybe that makes us finish fourth in the
Big Ten this year instead of first, but I
can live with that"
Despite putting a major emphasis on
his athlete's academic lives, Richardson's
teams have still been very successful in
the pool. This year, the Wolverines fin-
ished 14th in the nation, but in 1995 and
1996, Michigan had back-to-back top-
three finishes at NCAAs. Richardson, a
tp
FIni
se
fSc
TONY DING/Daily
Nick VanderPloeg participated in the hammer throw at the Yellow Jacket
Invitational at Georgia Tech on Saturday.
two-time NCAA Coach of the Year, has
also coached women that competed in
the Olympics for the United States,
Canada and Australia. His Wolverines
have won 13 Big Ten titles (including 12
straight from 1987-98).
Richardson is not the kind of coach
that barks at his team through the entire
practice, and Michigan is not the kind of
institution that boasts an intimate learn-
ing environment for its undergraduates.
To thrive in this environment, the Michi-
gan swimming team requires women
that have a strong work ethic.
"We all sing the song about the lead-
ers and the best," Richardson said. "But
if you want to really live up to that, you
have to be personally engaged in a daily
routine that supports that."
That means that the women on his
team have to go to class everyday, study
g towaste and meet with their
o as professors. They also
dollars on need to swim more
7't appreciate than 10 miles everyday,
ity to geta with morning practices
ducation," before dawn and after-
7n said. noon practices before
________ dinner.
That routine can grow old quickly
once the snow starts falling in Ann
Arbor, but Richardson believes it is his
duty as a coach to help people take full
advantage of these sorts of once-in-a-
lifetime opportunities.
Richardson knows a thing or two
about missing opportunities. He
describes his first two years as an under-
grad at Wake Forest as "disastrous" and
"horrible."
"I had to work my butt off just to
graduate," Richardson said.
Richardson needed to work even hard-
er to earn his masters degree from North
Carolina-Greensboro, so he has first-
hand knowledge ofjust how hard it is to
overcome poor academic choices and
habits. That is why he makes sure the
women on his team take full advantage
of the academic opportunities they have
at Michigan.
"Everyone knows that at Michigan
you can't use swimming as an excuse for
letting your grades slip," Richardson
said. "That-stuffisn't going to fly with-
me."
Michigan is fortunate to have a coach
p~iwt teat atttite.T ey are a rare breed
in college sports these days.
Steve Jackson can be reached at
siiackso@umich.edu.
be around 10th place, and we have
about 10 guys who run faster than
(1:52) already."
Translation: The Wolverines per-
formed better than expected in the
800-meter run on Saturday and have
a group of strong 800-meter run-
ners.
Another interesting point of the 800-
meter run was Cooke's 0.01 second
win over Schneider.
"In the last 20 meters, I saw him
come up on my right shoulder,"
Cooke said. "So at the very end, I
just leaned forward and won it."
Tom Greenless' performance was
notable as well.
"(Tom) was a big surprise," Cooke
said. "No one expected him to run
that fast."
Q: WHAT'S GREAT
ABOUT THE SUMMER?
A: SOFTBALL,
BASEBsALL. TACK
AND GOLF0
WRITE FOR DAILY
SPORTS THIS
SUMMER.
I Mi
Weather, delays don't deter Blue
REC
SPORTS
INT RA UR A L S
The University of Michigan
Department of Recreational Sports
Intramural Sports Program
www.recsports.umich.edu
734-763-3562
REC
SPORTS
INTRAMURALS
By Gabriela D'Jaen
For the Daily
For most Michigan students, the
recent cold front meant a poor Hash
Bash showing and not including
sandals in their April attire. But for
many Michigan athletes, the weath-
er has had more serious repercus-
sions on their seasons, such as
cancelled meets and limited practice
time.
The women's rowing team, experi-
encing postponed regattas and strug-
gling with ice on Belleville Lake, still
managed to win its only home meet
yesterday against Michigan State and
Eastern Michigan. The meet was
scheduled for Saturday, but was not
held until yesterday due to extremely
windy conditions.
The Wolverines swept all varsity
races, consisting of two eight-per-
son boats and two boats of four.
Rowing through the 1,950-meter
course in freezing temperatures, the
Wolverines managed to bear the
cold and inch ahead of the Spartans
and Eagles at the start of the regat-
ta. The first varsity eight boat edged
Michigan State by four seconds,
posting a time of 6:32.37, while
Michigan State finished with
6:36.17 as Eastern lagged behind at
6:50.42.
"Michigan State got a little ahead
of us, but I thought that we stayed
composed and came back pretty
well," said senior Erin Kopicki on
her race on the first varsity eight.
"We probably went a little slower
due to the water temperature, but
the conditions were a lot better than
we expected to race in."
Along with the water temperature,
wind also effected course times, mak-
ing it hard to compare performances.
Regardless of the conditions, this was
an important meet for the fifth-ranked
Wolverines, finishing four places
ahead of the Spartans.
While Michigan had just four
days of practice before the regatta
against Brown, they have been using
their time on the water efficiently.
Prior to this event, Michigan State
had returned from racing in Califor-
nia against West Coast schools,
whereas the Wolverines had just
raced against Ivy-teams such as
Brown and Princeton.
"We improved upon last weekend's
performance, and we are looking at
stepping it up at each regatta through-
out the year until Nationals - taking
little steps to get there," said sopho-
more Leah Ketcheson.
Now that the Wolverines have a
solid victory over a top-ranked team,
they have gained great confidence.
Junior Heather Mandoli, who was
selected to the second-team All Big-
Ten last season, has an attitude that
inspires her teammates. While she
rows on the first varsity eight boat,
her optimistic goals and leadership
extend to all boats.
"I'm really excited for our whole
team this year, we've been having
some pretty positive results. I'm real-
ly pleased with our national ranking,
and it's still early in the season, so a
lot can change," Mandoli sid. "We
need to keep training hard, having
good practices and staying together as
a team. We are having a great year so
far, and I think we are on the right
road."
Michigan's season continues as
the Wolverines head to Columbus on
Saturday April 12, racing in the Big
Ten Double Dual against Virginia -
ranked 11th nationally - and Duke.
Entries taken:
Thurs, 05/01 ONLY
5:00 PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$70.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Thurs, 05/01
5:00 PM
IM Building
Play begins:
Sun, 05/04
Elbel Fields
Sc ft±'aII
Entries taken:
Thurs, 05/01 ONLY
8:00 PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$20.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Thurs, 05/01
8:00 PM
IM Building
Play begins:
Tues, 05/06
Elbel Fields
3-on-3 Basketball
Entries taken:
Thurs, 05/01 ONLY
7:30 PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$45.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Thurs, 05/01
7:30 PM
IM Building
Play begins:
Tues, 05/06
Elbel Fields
Roller Hockey
,f I pyrwe ant.,
PRO~t* P204ACY HL
Sr x j Nirn
I
Entries taken:
Thurs, 05/01 ONLY
6:30 PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$40.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Thurs, 05/01
6:30 PM
IM Building
Play begins:
Tues, 05/06
Elbel Fields
)lleyball
Sand Vc
HEALTHY, MEDICATION-FREE VOLUNTEERS,
AGES 18-45,
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