The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 7, 2002 - 11A Stickers ready to reclaim y4 vfi :~.. .. .. ..... .ax k.r:... . ::2:.{. x..... ... .,.,. .x4.4 ... ,"::..v '::,.:: i~~ '.. 4::. '.: ii ~i:.} 'W ~'.::}:. . . . Big Ten o:T FIELD HOCKEY ' :.............) Bx.l ...... ...t.. .. x.:~ } °t ry COLUMBUS .. } f as , ..F. . o . . 'x By. Brian.r.R Stee:r.t ik' ".. ....k.r .ws:w. .... Daily2,.Sports Writer f Kulczycki fighting for spot in rotation By Eric Chan Daily Sports Writer One would think that a returning Division I All-American would be guar- anteed a roster spot. That's like asking if and then it finally caught up to me at nationals," Kulczycki said. For Kulczycki to have a starting spot in this year's lineup, he will either have to beat 2002 All-American Ryan Bertin Kobe Bryant would start for the Lakers. But what if Kobe suddenly gained seven inches and put on 40 pounds? Then he'd be too big to play guard and he'd have to beat out Shaquille O'Neal at center. A similar situation is facing Michigan wrestler Mike Kulczycki. Kulczy- cki, a 2001 All-American, THIS WEEKEND EAST LANSING Who: Michigan (0-0) at the Michigan State Open When: All day Saturday and Sunday Latest: This weekend will mark the Wolverines' last exhibition meet before they open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 22 at Lehigh. (ranked No. 4 at 157 pounds in Amateur Wrestling News' Presea- son Poll), or 2001 NCAA qualifier Pat Owen. Red- shirt freshman Ryan Churella is the leading candidate to replace Kul- czycki at the 149-pound spot. "It's an unfortunate situation, but I think work out for the best," The year 1999 produced many firsts for the Michigan field hockey team. The Wolverines earned their first NCAA Tournament berth, advanced to their first NCAA title game and cap- tured their first Big Ten Tournament championship. Three years later, bringing home tro- phies has become somewhat of a rou- tine for the Wolverines. This weekend, Michigan (6-0 Big Ten, 17-2 overall), the defending national champion and winner of the 2002 regular season Big Ten title, will be gunning for its third Big Ten Tour- nament title in the last four years. The Wolverines received the lone bye in the tournament as the No. 1 seed and will face the winner of Friday's quarter- final game between No. 14 Iowa (2-4,1 9-7) and Ohio State (2-4, 7-9) for the right to go to the finals on Sunday.I "I think Iowa's a little bit better team this year," coach Marcia Pankratz said. "But you have to prepare for both.; We'll be able to scout both teams at the same game, which is great. We also get an extra day's rest, so it's certainly an 'M' must r( TOM FELDKAMP/Daily Michigan freshman Lori Hillman and the Wolverines will be attempting to capture the team's third Big Ten Tournament championship in four years when the defending national champions head to Columbus this weekend. advantage for us." Michigan rolled against Iowa and Ohio State during the regular season, defeating the Hawkeyes 2-0 on the road and handling the Buckeyes 4-1 at home. Should the Wolverines prevail in the semifinals, they would likely face No. 2 seed' Michigan State in the title game. The Spartans lost a tough 1-0 decision to Michigan back in early October at Ocker Field. With the Spartans (5-1, 18-2) right behind the Wolverines in the national rankings, this weekend should deter- mine which team will grab the higher seed in the NCAA Tournament. One of the reasons for No. 2 Michi- gan's high ranking has been the play of sophomore Adrienne Hortillosa. Despite a slow start, Hortillosa has erupted in the second half of the sea- group afte son, leading the team with 12 assists, and she's coming off a six-point week- end that earned her the Big Ten Offen- sive Player of the Week award. "We knew she'd break out eventual- ly" Pankratz said. "I think that she's just really relaxed. I think everyone is really keying on April (Fronzoni) and Molly (Powers) because they've been the big point scorers. You can't forget about Adrienne - if you do, she's going to really hurt you." Michigan has a number of prolific offensive threats, but its defense is just as impressive. Anchored by junior Stephanie Johnson, the defense has helped produce nine shutouts, a Michi- gan team record for a single season. "We have enough confidence in our defense that I feel we can still allow the offense to go full-tilt," Johnson said. r 1-0 loss t COLUMBU S Who: Michigan (6-0 Big Ten, 17-2 overall at the Big Ten Tournament. When: Noon Saturday and noon Sunday Latest: The top-seeded Wolverines are aiming for their third title in four years. "The more insurance goals we have, the more confidence we take into the next game, knowing that we dominated." With the regular season over, only the postseason matters now, and Michigan knows that it must continue to exercise strong discipline. "This whole season we've really worked on our tactics and being physi- cally fit," senior Krista Meckley said. "I think that's really going to come into play now at the end of the season, and we're going to do well." Wildcats has to work hard to find a spot in this year's starting lineup. Kulczycki, who struggled in the postseason last year at 149 pounds, has opted not to try and make 149 this year, and instead will battle for the spot at either 157 or 165 pounds. "I sat down with Mike and he told me that he doesn't really think he can make 149"' Michigan wrestling coach Joe McFarland said. "He felt that the cutting weight really hurt him last year at NCAAs. Cutting really takes a lot out of you. He's just too big for the weight class." Kulczycki was ranked in the top 10 in the country throughout last season at 149 pounds. The senior entered the 2002 NCAA Championships with a No. 6 seed, but was eliminated on the second day of the three-day tournament by the No. 12 seed, Jared Frohardt from Air Force. "Throughout the whole year, (cut- ting weight) kept wearing on me - things will Kulczycki said. "Everyone always finds a place for themselves." Saturday, Michigan will send wrestlers to the Michigan State Uni- versity Open for the team's first major preseason action. Some younger mem- bers of the Michigan team took the short trip to Ypsilanti this past week- end to compete in the Eastern Michi- gan University Open, but no former, or even potential 2003 starters wrestled. The Wolverines going to East Lans- ing will be wrestling unattached, meaning they will not be affiliated with Michigan. "The tournament gives us a good gauge of where we're at. It also gives us some matches under our belt," McFarland said. "It's a good starting point." Kulczycki, 197-pounder Kyle Smith and 133-pounder Foley Dowd are the three Michigan wrestlers who will try to repeat as Open champions. WOMEN'S SOCCER *hifliEAST LANSING CONFERENCE By Michael Nisson Daily Sports Writer Losing to Kentucky 1-0 last week left a bitter taste in the mouths of the players on the Michigan women's soccer team. Today, the Wolverines look to dis- solve that bad taste with a victory in EAST the first round of the Big Ten Tourna- who: Michi~ ment. After finishing behind No. 11 the Big TenT Penn State in the final Big Ten regular when: 10 a. season standings, the team earned the Latest: The No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 seed Wolverines g Ohio State at 10 a.m.. seventh see' In the teams' only other meeting this in this quart year, Michigan won a hard fought Michigan re game, 1-0 on a goal from defender the Big Ten Andrea Kayal. Coach Debbie Rademacher said that she expects today's matchup to be a similar type of game. "It's definitely going to be a physical game," Rademacher said. "We need to be up to the physical LA gan Tou m. sec go L dec erf cor Tou challenge. The first game was a hard hitting battle." If past history is indicative of future success, then the Wolverines should feel pretty confi- dent. Three years ago, the Wolverines lost to Kentucky in the last game of the regular season and then went on to win the Big Ten - Tournament. ANSiNG But to repeat that feat, Michigan (13-5-1) at will also have to get by the likes of urnament either Indiana or Purdue in the semi- today final game, and then, possibly, beat ond seeded the Nittany Lions in the final. up against "Anybody we meet is a tough game d Ohio State for us," Rademacher said. inal match. Tile Big Ten Tournament is impor- d is 12-6 at tant to the Wolverines for several rea- ---t sons. The first and most obvious is that winning will help gain momentum going into the NCAA Tournament. But there are other moti- vating factors that are going through the players' heads right now. "We just missed winning a Big Ten regular sea- son championship," Rademacher said. "(The Big Ten Tournament) is kind of a second chance to meet some of the teams that may have beat us. We have won two Big Ten championships, never in the regular season, but those Big Ten championships mean a lot to us." The Wolverines are an experienced squad, and this experience may ultimately determine how far they go. Rademacher stressed the importance that the seniors, in particular, will play in helping the team play well. "We're going to expect big things from (our sen- iors)," she said. "They've won a Big Ten Tourna- ment Championship before. They know what it's like to have to play three games in four days and the grueling physical toll that it takes on your body. We need to have them there mentally." Winning the championship would give the team an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. But even if the Wolverines do not win the Big Ten r Tournament, large berth. they are virtually assured of an at- Blue expecting easy victory in East Lansing FILE FPHOTO' Michigan heads to East Lansing this week for its final exhibition before the Maize and Blue intrasquad scrimmage on Nov. 17. Do you H ave Acne?: g If you have acne you may qualify for an investigational study at the University of Michigan Department of Dermatology. ¢ You may also receive compensation for your participation. A If you are interested in participating, call the University of Michigan Department of Dermatology to find out more. A The number is : (734) 764-DERM Doctors in the area are HMA Conducting RESEARCH aSTUaY .3 By Gina Adduci For the Daily The Michigan men's swimming and diving team will head to East Lansing this weekend for a dual meet against the Spartans. The Wolverines have a perfect record thus far, having won their first two meets against Eastern Michigan and No. 6 Florida. Confi- dent about the upcoming meet, the Wolverines are not at all worried about the Spartans being the ones to end Michigan's undefeated streak. "Competition won't be strong," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "It will be a fun meet." In an effort to make the races against Michigan State more inter- esting, Michigan is changing things up a bit. Swimmers will swim "off events," meaning that they will par- ticipate in events that they do not normally compete in. This provides variety for each race and allows the athletes to explore a facet of a stroke or distance that they other- wise would not get to experience in competition. Michigan State provides an arena to experiment with event placement and relay order. "We didn't wanna beat up on them, so we changed the lineup so the score is gonna be close and make it exciting," Urbanchek saidl. "With the lineup we have right now, it will keep the score competitive." The Wolverines are so sure of vic- tory against the Spartans that their lineup does not include some of their distance freestyle swimmers, which is Michigan's strength this year. Instead, these swimmers will have a practice on Saturday and then travel to East Lansing afterwards, where they will remain on the pool- side to offer moral support. Although Michigan approaches every meet on its schedule seriously, the Spartans do not pose any realis- tic threat. The Wolverines will welcome this break in competition and use it as a time to gather their thoughts and strategies before facing Texas, the defending NCAA champion, in Austin on Nov. 22. And with such a short period between these meets, it is good that the Wolverines do not have to recover physically and men- tally from going against a strong team prior to Texas. "The meet against Michigan State is the calm before the storm," Urbanchek said. " A EAST LANSING Who: Michigan (2-0) vs. Michigan State (0-0) When: p.m. Latest: Michigan has emerged victorious in the last 26 meets against the Spartans, and has an overall record of 59-5. The Wolverines will use the meet to gear up for No. 1 Texas. stuay comparing Allegra to placebo in the treatment of asthma You may be eligible for the study if you are: " Generally healthy with the diagnosis of asthma " 18-80 years old " Use of an albuterol or similar inhaler (Proventil®, Ventolin®) " Not a current smoker or have not smoked more than a pack a day for more than 10 years ALL NEW ROCK & ROLL SHOW WITH SPECIAL GUEST JACKSON BROWNE f Study-related assessments and study medication at no charge mmi . -_'° N.1