8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 29, 2003

Rain delays
can't stop 'M'
m Evanston
By Waldemar Centeno
Daily Sports Writer
Two of Michigan's young guns had career days in
a 3-0 shutout of No. 20 Northwestern (0-1 Big Ten,
4-4 overall).
Junior Jessica Blake netted a career-high two goals
in the Michigan field hockey team's Big Ten opener.
Blake has scored in the Wolverines' (1-0, 6-3) past
three contests to extend her career-high marks to five
goals and three assists for 13
points this year. MICHIGAN 3
"She had an excellent game," TS
coach Marcia Pankratz said.
"We have moved some people's positions, so we put
Blake up on the forward line opposed to the mid-
field, allowing to have more scoring opportunities
that she has really capitalized on."
Freshman Jill Civic also knocked in a goal to help
fellow freshman sensation Beth Riley record another
victory as Michigan's goaltender of the future.
Riley has opened her career at Michigan with a
bang. She is 4-0 for the season with two shutouts.
"She is an outstanding goalkeeper," Pankratz said.
"She has been doing a really solid job, and it's not
easy coming in as a freshman. She's held her own
real well and has done a great job for this team."
Riley recorded just one save in the contest against
Northwestern, all due to Michigan's outstanding
defense.
"We really have come on strong," Pankratz said.
"We played a lot more disciplined back there, and we
have been getting better with each match. We are
really pleased how everyone is playing back there,
and it shows by our stats."
Michigan dominated the Wildcats Friday with its
superior defensive play. Northwestern had only one
shot on goal compared to Michigan's 13, showing
that the focal point of the Wolverines' strategy will
always be defense.
Also, constant rain delays disrupted the game in
Evanston this weekend. But, the rain had no affect on
Michigan's overall play.
"It shows a lot of discipline," Pankratz responded
to team's poise throughout the numerous rain delays.
"The team had the ability to focus on the match real-
ly well. It's not easy to come off the field and have a
big delay and go back out. We stayed in the same
tempo and kept the momentum going our way. We
did that twice really well, and we're proud of the
team for that. It shows a lot of team strength."

Shaky performance
for Michigan harriers

By Mustafizur Choudhury
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's cross
country team expected to have a
strong race at the Roy Griak Invita-
tional, especially after having a
week off from competition, but that
was not the case. The Wolverines
finished 10th out of 26 teams and
were left with plenty to think about
on their long trip home from Falcon
Heights, Minn.
"We were pretty disappointed,"
McGuire said. "We just did not have
a very good day. Three people (ran)
especially well, but it takes more
than that for a good team effort."
Despite the team's sub-par per-
formance, there were some bright
moments. Graduate student Jessie
Allen-Young led the Wolverines,
crossing the line in 11th place with
a time of 21:13. Not far behind was
sophomore Rebecca Walter, whose
time of 21:18 was good enough for
15th place.
McGuire was most surprised by
the performance of sophomore Ari-
anne Field, who was the fourth
Wolverine to finish the race in
22:18. Last season, Field was a red-
shirt freshman, but training hard
throughout the year has helped her
quickly move up the depth chart.
"I was kind of nervous because
I've never been in such a big (colle-
giate) race," Field said. "I knew that
I was in pretty good shape and
ready to go. I'm really happy with
how I'm doing."
Senior Chelsea Loomis, one of
Michigan's top scorers, was unable
to compete due to flu-like symp-

toms and a leg injury suffered in a
race earlier in the season. Her
absence was a serious blow to
McGuire's lineup.
Also contributing to Michigan's
poor outing were shaky performanc-
es from a number of individuals,
particularly senior Lindsey Gallo.
Despite being Michigan's third fin-
isher, Gallo, one of the team's best
runners, finished 49th overall.
McGuire isn't too concerned with
the results of this race because he is
confident that the team will improve
in the next few weeks.
"I don't want to make excuses,"
McGuire said. "We came up short
this weekend, but I think its things
that we can correct."
McGuire is concerned with the
fact that conference rivals Michigan
State and Penn State finished ahead
of the Wolverines, especially since
Michigan is the defending Big Ten
champion. Michigan State finished
second as a team, while Penn State
came in sixth.
The Wolverines definitely expect
these two teams to compete with
them for the conference title later in
the season. The preparation for that
challenge will begin soon.
"I think there (are) some strategy
changes we can make going into the
next big competition," McGuire
said. "We've got some kids that just
need some time. We need a few
more weeks of training, and I (can)
see us getting things straightened
out."
The Wolverines will have a week
off before they head to Allendale on
Oct. 10 for the Michigan Intercolle-
giate.

00

JASON COOPER/Daily

Junior Adrienne Hortillosa fed Jessica Blake to cap off Michigan's 3-0 shutout of Northwestern.

The Wolverines stayed in rhythm during the rain
delays with countless stretching and tactical think-
ing, which kept the players mentally focused.
Michigan's 2003 Big Ten season is now underway
with a strong victory. Its defense of the 2002 Big Ten
title will come against a strong and experienced con-
ference - all seven teams are placed among the top

25 in the country.
"The Big Ten is a very difficult conference,"
Pankratz said. "There are very strong teams across
the board. Every time we go out and play a solid
game, especially on the road, we are very happy
about it. So far, so good. We'll just have to concen-
trate on Penn State next and go from there."

Willis leads Blue to
fourth-place finish

40

By Phil Kofahl
For the Daily

Golfers inconsistent at Hoosier Invitational

By Matt Kramer
Daily Sports Writer

Michigan men's golf coach
Andrew Sapp knows he has the
pieces of the puzzle to put together a
good season.
Now it's just a matter of having
them all come together at the same
time to make something special.
Michigan got solid rounds from
all five of its golfers at this week-
end's Hoosier Invitational, but not
enough consistency to put together
a winning formula. The Wolverines
finished sixth, 43 shots behind win-
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ner Indiana.
"I think we're seeing different
guys all play well at different times,"
Sapp said. "We're not able to get
four or five guys to play well at the
same time."
While sophomore Christian Vozza
led the Wolverines last weekend, it
was freshman Kevin Dore who was
Michigan's main man in Indiana.
Dore, playing in just his second
tournament for the Wolverines, shot
rounds of 69-71-74 - 214 to finish
seventh individually.
Indiana's Jeff Overton, who won
the Northern Intercollegiate last
weekend at the Michigan Golf
Course, also won the individual
medal this weekend.
"Kevin had a great summer and
I'm not surprised that he played so
well," Sapp said. "I'm really pleased
with his effort."
Sapp wasn't pleased, though, with
Michigan's inconsistency.
One Wolverine, Will Kendall, shot

a solid first round of 70 on Saturday,
and then skyrocketed to a second-
round 82 in the afternoon. Yet he
was back to his first-round form on
Sunday morning, shooting 73.
"We just need to get three solid
rounds out of everyone (to com-
pete)," Sapp said.
Behind Dore's top-10 finish came
fellow Wolverines Dave Nichols
(223), Vozza (225), Kendall (225)
and Brandon Duff (228).
Dore's 69 and Kendall's 70, both
in Saturday's first round, were the
Wolverines' only rounds under par.
Michigan players were paired in
the first two rounds with players
from Indiana, which Sapp thought
helped his team.
"Having Christian play with Jeff
Overton was really good for him
because he'll be able to learn from
this experience," Sapp said. "Jeff
obviously won this tournament and
the one before, so playing with a
great player can only help Christian.

He's looking to bounce back."
Sapp can only hope that Vozza
and his team will be able to bounce
back fast.
Next weekend the Wolverines
travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to play
in the Franklin Street Trust Invita-
tional.
Sapp, a former player at North
Carolina, says his parents, who still
live in Raleigh, will be in the
gallery.
"I'm excited to be going back
home," Sapp said. "It's always fun to
take your team to your hometown."
Sapp also said bringing his team
to North Carolina will benefit if in
more ways than one. While he says
he's sure he'll be able to tell his
players exactly where all their putts
break on the greens over the week-
end, he's also sure of one more
thing.
"I went to college there, so I defi-
nitely know which restaurants I'll
take them to."

Nick Willis couldn't help but be
confident going into Friday's race
because he has run against better com-
petition.
Running against the world's best this
summer in Europe has given Willis
and teammate Nate Brannen the confi-
dence they will need to be among the
nation's elite this season. Willis
showed some of that confidence in his
first race of the year, leading the
Michigan men's cross country team to
a fourth-place finish. He crossed the
line in the fifth position. The Wolver-
ines ran in 85-degree weather and
heavy humidity in Cary, N.C., this
weekend at the North American Cross
Country Festival and came home
pleased. Twenty-two teams competed
in Michigan's heat.
Michigan finished 31 points
behind overall winner Northern Ari-
zona, currently No. 3 in the nation.
Coach Ron Warhurst is confident,
too. He said that his team showed it
can compete with the nation's best
teams. Helping his case is senior Tom
Greenless, who had the second high-
est finish this weekend, coming in an

impressive 15th place. This comes
just a week after he won the Spartan
Invitational, which garnered him his
first Big Ten Cross Country Athlete
of the Week honor.
"(Greenless) is just running tremen-
dous," Warhurst said. "He has goals for
himself that others may have thought
were too high, but he may soon prove
them wrong."
Fifth-year senior transfer Alex
L'Heureux was the third Michigan run-
ner to cross the line. L'Heureux is
competing in his first cross country
season for Michigan after transferring
from Lehigh University. He finished
26th overall.
The heat took its toll on some of the
runners. Junior Sean Moore was
forced to drop out with just a few hun-
dred meters to go due to exhaustion.
He's expected to recover fully in time
for this weekend's race at the Notre
Dame Invitational in South Bend.
The team is only looking forward.
It will be training straight through
the week, using the race as valuable
workout.
"These races are only quizzes for
our team," Warhurst said. "Our first
exam will be Pre-Nationals (Oct. 18),
we'll be working until then."


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