8A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 17, 2002

Clarett's
maturation
Continues
By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Editor
Two weeks ago, this.Saturday's
Ohio State-Wisconsin game looked
like it could go far in determining
the Big Ten race. But after two con-
secutive losses to Penn State and
Indiana, the Badgers find themselves
dead last in the conference and fac-
ing a team that Wisconsin coach
Barry Alvarez believes "has no
weaknesses."
"They are certainly deserving of
their high ranking," Alvarez said.
The source of
the Buckeyes' FOOTBALL
success has been Notebook
the play of true
freshman Maurice
Clarett, who leads the Big Ten in
rushing with 847 yards and scoring
with 15 touchdowns (13 rushing, two
receiving).
His play has even warranted
Heisman consideration. But the
freshman struggled in his only road
game of the season two weeks ago
in Ohio State's 27-16 win over
Northwestern.
Of course, he struggled his way to
140 yards and two touchdowns, but
he coughed up the ball three times
and was seen getting into an argu-
ment on the sidelines with running
backs coach Tim Spencer.
That experience has played a part
in Clarett's quick maturation and
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel thinks
Clarett will be mentally ready to play
in one of the most intimidating stadi-
ums in the Big Ten.
"I think we all grow more through
adversity than in things that are
going smoothly," Tressel said. "I
think for the most part he has han-
dled a very extraordinary and very
unusual situation as well as he pos-
sibly can. I think he knows he is
growing from it and he knows he
hasn't been perfect, but I just like
he is a young man that is very will-
ing to evaluate himself and very
passionate about being a person that
is going to contribute a lot to our
football team."
Not only are the Buckeyes anchored
by an outstanding running game, but
they also have a powerful defense.
"They have all the elements you
need for a great defense," Alavarez

Harriers prepare for
i Pre-National meet

By Mustafizur Choudhury
Daily Sports Writer
Coming off of a strong performance
at the Michigan Intercollegiate, the
Michigan men's cross country team
will be looking to continue it's winning
stride at the NCAA Pre-
Nationals in Terre
Hauete, Ind. TERRE Hi
The Wolverines will be hat: Mhig
counting on sophomore cross countri
Nathan Brannen and NCAA Pre-Na
freshman Nick Willis to when:11:35
lead the team, as they have Latest: The P
been doing in recent races. with 90 team
The duo finished first and largest field tl
second, respectively, in the have raced ag
last two races and have season.
helped the Wolverines
improve throughout the season.
"This is one of our biggest meets of
the year," Brannen said. "I'm hoping to
lead the team. We've been training pret-
ty hard for the last six or seven weeks."
Brannen was recently named co-Big
Ten Athlete of the Week for leading the
Wolverines to a second place overall
finish at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Feldkamp

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an
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Brannen is a track athlete who is
more comfortable participating in the
800-meter run than the regulation
8,000-meters of a cross country race.
He therefore has had to run harder and
increase his miles, looks to his team-
mates for motivation just as they look to
him for leadership.
' A"We're pretty close,"
TE, IND. Brannen said. "We moti-
Smen's vate each other by working
ins the as a team."
nnal. Coach Ron Warhurst
m. has loosened up on the
Nationals, team recently after several
s the weeks of arduous training.
Wolverines "We trained very hard
nst this all (season) and we're
lightening up just a little
bit," Warhurst said.
"There's 13 teams in our district and I'd

0

like to finish in the top five."
Warhurst is optomistic about the
upcoming race and expects the team "to
run the best it has run all year." He also
feels that the Wolverines can compete
with some of the better teams in the
nation, like No. 3 Colorado, whom they
will face this weekend.
shines as

Blue finishes in third

AP PHOTO
Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett has raised many eyebrows across the nation with his speed and power. The true
freshman has been so impressive that some have tabbed him a dark horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

said. "They are a physical defense
that has a lot of speed."
The two defeats could be caused by
the loss of offensive production due
to the loss of star wideout Lee Evans.
"It's hurt us considerably," Alvarez
said. "Not only is he a great posses-
sion receiver but he also has tremen-
dous speed. He is a home run threat
at all times.
"It is tremendous loss and a tremen-
dous change in our offensive plan."
Evans has made incredible
progress in recovering from his ACL
injury, but Alvarez did not say
whether Evans would return this
week or if and when he would return
this season.
"That's not my decision, that's
Lee's and Lee's family's decision,"
Alvarez said.
OFFICIAL STANCE: Penn State called

for a review of Big Ten officiating on
Monday after of few questionable
calls in its game against Michigan
last Saturday. On Tuesday a few Big
Ten coaches voiced their opinion on
officiating in the conference.
The coaches seem to agree that
there are calls that have been poor at
times, but it tends to even out for
both teams in the end.
"We've seen some calls that may be
debatable, typically, my experience
has taught me that calls have gone
both ways and I think that was very
evident in the Penn State-Iowa game
too," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller pointed to
the turnover in Big Ten referees to
the professional ranks as a possible
reason for the decline of quality offi-
ciating. Three Big Ten referees
entered the NFL last season.

But a sticking point for Penn
State coach Joe Paterno has been
how games are assigned, which cre-
ates a possible bias for the officials
in the game.
Paterno was upset that three of the
officials in the last week's game
reside in Michigan.
"We would like them to look at it
without pointing a finger to make
some decisions as to whether it has
been appropriate that there have been
certain assignments made, or inap-
propriate," Paterno said.
HOOSIER HERO: Indiana senior quar-
terback Gibran Hamdan was named
Big Ten co-offensive Player of the Week
after his performance in the Hooseirs'
32-29 victory over Wisconsin.
In the game, Hamdan set career
bests, passing for 310 yards and four
touchdowns.
Hamdan rallied the Hoosiers from
19 points down in the second half.
"It was an exciting win for us, the
fact that we were able to come from
behind - it was something we
haven't done here in awhile," Ham-
dan said.
Hamdan will look to maintain the
magic when Indiana takes on No. 15
Iowa this week.

By Mustafizur Choudhury
Daily Sports Writer
With the top runners of the
Michigan women's cross country
team resting for the upcoming
NCAA Pre-Nationals, some of the
untested members of the team were
given an opportunity to prove them-
selves and showcase their talent at
the Michigan Intercollegiate, which
was held at the Possum
Hollow course at'
Kensington Metropark '
in Milford. TERRE HAI
The Wolverines fin- who: 97 top te
ished third overall with NCAA Champio
58 points, behind hopes.
Grand Valley State When:11a.m.
University (first place, Latest: Trust u
14 points) and Central have reservatic
Michigan - (second Larry Bird halfc
place, 23 points). The the Drury InnCi
race featured 15 of the t
top collegiate teams from the state
of Michigan.
Leading the way for. Michigan
was redshirt-freshman Theresa Feld-
kamp, who finished the 4,000-meter
race in eighth place with a personal
best time of 15:35.
"Theresa did a really nice job,"
Michigan coach Mike McGuire
said. "She spearheaded the attack. It
was one of her better races, parallel
with what she did at Seattle (in the
Sundodger Invitational). Theresa's

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making progress."
"I felt confident because it was a
shorter race," said Feldkamp, who
claims to be a better track athlete
than cross country runner.
Theresa is accustomed to compet-
ing in the 800-meter run during
track and field season, but she feels
that she needs to gain more experi-
ence in the longer distances. She
also mentioned that she needs to
work on her sustained
running.
W It was the first race of
E, IND. the season for many of
swith the young Wolverines,
hip who will carry the expe-
rience into the spring
track season and the next
ere: If you cross country season in
at the hopes of improving and
rt hotel, playing a bigger role on
ead. the team.
Next up for Michigan
is the NCAA Pre-Nationals which
will be held in Terre Haute, Ind.,
this weekend.
The team is once again counting
on top runners Lindsey Gallo,
Andrea.Parker and Jane Martineau
to lead the way with strong individ-
ual performances.
"This is going to be a big meet
for us," McGuire said. "We're look-
ing to place in the top six or seven.
We've got to go out and be competi-
tive and composed."


Skilled coxswain key at Charles

By Dave Stuart, Jr.
For the Daily

is where Dalis comes in.
Since crew coxswains are respon-
sible for steering their boats, a
skilled "cox" is imperative for suc-
cess in a race that involves tight

Being a coxswain for the Michi-
gan women's crew team's varsity
eight is a crucially important job,
and one that fits junior
Helen Dalis well. This
will be especially true Bos
for this upcoming week-
end's Head of the what:Michig
Charles regatta in competesint
Boston. the Charles r
A "head" race is one est0n fo
where boats depart from Wolverines w
the starting line one at a against are th
time in 15 second inter- alums on theI
vals. Passing often Team.
occurs during head
regattas due to the the closeness of
the starting intervals. Crews vie for
the title of "Head of the River."
In all, the twisting course meas-
ures three miles in length, but that is
not what will prove to be Michigan's
biggest challenge. The difficulty of
the Head of the Charles lies in its
plentiful supply of tight turns. That

turns and

S UN
an rowing
the Head of
egatta
nt of about
)pie, the
ill compete
hree Michigan
U.S. National
coxswain
eight that
the 1999

passing opponents. The
Head of the Charles is
known for both of these
traits. If a coxswain fails
during one of the many
difficult turns of the
course, collisions can,
and do, occur.
To Michigan's advan-
tage, there will be a lot
of skilled rowers sitting
at the head of the varsity
eight boat this Sunday.
Dalis was the
for the Junior National
won the silver medal at
Junior World Champi-

very highly of his top coxswain.
"Helen is an excellent head race
coxswain," Rothstein said. "She is
very aggressive, and that is impor-
tant for the Head of the Charles.
"Helen is also very confident,
which will be good for the boat in a
race like this one."
Confidence is one quality that
will be beneficial to the eight when
they compete in the world's largest
two-day rowing event. Depending
on the weather, some 300,000 peo-
ple come to watch the regatta from
the shore. The forecast calls for
partly cloudy skies and a high
around 60 degrees for the races on
Sunday.
Another interesting aspect of this
weekend's race for the Wolverines is
the fact that the Michigan rowers
will be competing against three
Michigan alums (Kate Johnson,
Kate MacKenzie and Bernadette
Marten). These three are members
of the United States eight that won
the World Championship this past
summer.

onship. Because of that, she was
recruited for Michigan's young crew
program. She has always been a
solid performer, and this will be her
third season in a top boat.
Coach Mark Rothstein speaks

Golfers ready for season finale

By Matt Kramer
Daily Sports Writer

Looking to finish off its fall season on a high note,
the Michigan women's golf team heads to Knoxville,
Tenn., this weekend to participate in the 54-hole Mer-
cedes-Benz Collegiate.
This weekend marks the fifth and final fall tourna-
ment for the Wolverines, whose best
showing so far- has been a team total of
908 shot two weekends ago at the 7KNOV1LL
Women's Collegiate Shootout in Indi-
ana, when Michigan finished sixth out Who: Michigan co
of 16 teams. Mercedes-Benz Cc
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"We still have high expectations. But if we finish in
the middle of the pack this weekend, I'll be pleased."
Finishing in the middle of the pack will be no small feat
when it comes to this weekends competition. Six of the
nations top-25 teams - Auburn, Florida, Furman, North
Carolina, Purdue and Tennessee - will be in the field.
But the goal of a solid finish against some of the nation's
top teams is not totally out of reach for the Wolverines.
Despite its inability to notch the top spot in any
of its tournaments this season, Michigan is still
TENN. ranked No. 42 out of the nation's 201 teams in
the latest Golfweek/Sagarin polls.
etes at the "The level of competition is getting bet-
giate. ter each week," Teichert said.
lay;8 am. " , ", , " 1

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omp
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