The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 8, 2003 - 7B Weilbacher heads tankers' effort By Anne Ulbie Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's swim- ming and diving team rarely has the chance to swim in meets close to Ann Arbor. Last year, the Wolver- ines had just two home meets, mak- ing it difficult for the swimmers to attend classes regularly and be fully rested for their races. "It's nice to be able to compete during the day and sleep in our own beds at night," senior captain Anne Weilbacher said. "It's tough having to stay in hotels before big meets." The majority of the team partici- pated in the Eastern Michigan Uni- versity Invitational at the Michael H. Jones Natatorium this weekend, while four of their teammates swam in the U.S. Open Long Course Meet in Federal Way, Wash. "We were planning on having more girls go to Washington," assistant coach Stefanie Kerska said. "But a lot of them felt they couldn't make the trip because of their studies." In Ypsilanti, the Wolverines con- cluded their two-day meet, finishing in first place out of nine teams with a total of 1,010 points. Michigan outscored second-place host Eastern Michigan by 166 points. The team swam through three sessions of competition beginning on Friday night, continuing on Saturday morn- ing and concluding in the evening session that night. "I'm really satisfied with how they did this weekend," Kerska said. "It's not easy coming into a long meet like this, especially in the mid- dle of a pretty heavy study time." Michigan easily captured the team title by winning 14 of the 16 events. The Wolverines dominated the invitational primarily by win- ning all four scheduled relays. These combined races accounted for 160 points toward the team's final score. Leading Michigan in individ- ual events were senior Kelli Stein and freshman Kaitlyn Brady, who won two events apiece. Weilbacher, the senior captain, claimed three individual titles this weekend, which included the 200- and 100-yard but- terfly and the 50-yard freestyle. "Weilbacher has a knack for swimming fast when she needs to," Kerska said. "She really knows how to get up and compete well." In one of the most exciting events of the weekend, Weilbacher posted not just one of her personal best times, but also a NCAA considera- tion time in her 100-yard butterfly race with a time of 53.83 - more than four seconds faster than the second-place finisher. "I was happy with my race," Weil- bacher said. "Invitationals are dif- ferent from other meets. We get more time between races and many of us wear special-made suits, which make a big difference." The full-body suits that many sprinters have converted to have changed the sport of swimming entirely. Becoming more water- dynamic, swimmers are able to cut their times down significantly. This new style of suit has just become implemented at all levels of swim- ming within the past five years. "The suits help us work with the small technicalities of our sport," Weilbacher said. "They are pretty much designed for my body type and have been one of the reasons I've been swimming faster." The Wolverines don't have any competition scheduled for the remainder of the 2003 year, but they will be continuing their winter training in Hawaii over the holiday break. Michigan will compete in the Rainbow Invitational in Honolulu on Jan. 3 before returning to Ann Arbor for the start of the Big Ten season. BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily Jennifer Smith (left), Sierra Hauser-Price and Stephanie Gandy receive direction from coach Cheryl Burnett while freshman Kelly Helvey watches on. Burnett's coaching was not enough this weekend in two losses to Drake and Creighton. Smith's 21 not enough for Blue By Megan Kolodgy Daily Sports Writer Not even Jennifer Smith could save them this time. Smith, the 6-foot-4 cap- tain who has put up 30 or more points in her last two home games, was held to 21 by Creighton's ___HGAN____ Blue Jays yester-_ day in Omaha. The Michigan women's basketball team fin- ished off a grueling run of seven games in 19 days with a disappointing 15-point road loss at the hands of Drake on Fri- day and an 82-66 defeat by Creighton. The Blue Jays' 82 points were the most the Wolverines have allowed any oppo- nent so far this year. "I'm not making any excuses, but we've been feeling like an NBA team with our schedule lately," coach Cheryl Burnett said. The weary, road-worn Wolverines struggled against a voracious full-court defense that Michigan just could not shake, as evidenced by its nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the first half, setting the pace for the remainder of the contest. They finished off the game with 24 turnovers. Burnett was forced to reach deep into her bench to compensate for running several players, including Smith, for the full 40 minutes in several earlier con- tests. Sophomore Lauren Andrews, who has played for an average of a little less than six minutes per game, remained on the court for a season-high 28 minutes. In the final two minutes of the game, sophomore Rachael Carney, completely cold, took the floor and quickly nailed a trifecta for the Wolverines. "We wanted to spread the time out a little bit," Burnett said. "We played seven games in the last 19 days, and I don't know who we would be able to ask to play that much in that many games." Michigan's lone saving grace was its free throws. Creighton's tight defense allowed for many opportunities to step to the line, and for the most part, the Wolverines were able to capitalize. They shot an impressive 80 percent from the charity stripe, and oftentimes, it was these points that appeared to put them in position to overtake the Jays. But appearances were certainly deceiving in this case, and the Wolver- ines were never able to make a defini- tive run for the entire stretch of the game. By the end of the first half, they were hanging by the skin of their teeth, trailing Creighton by nine. One of the bright spots for Michigan in this dreary matchup was captain Stephanie Gandy's 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Gandy, who spent some time on the bench during Michigan's last road trip to Dallas, fought her way back into the starting lineup. It was the more dire statistics, how- ever, that were the deciding factors in this game. Junior Tabitha Pool, despite her 16-point contribution, led the team with five turnovers and had just one assist. Freshman Kelly Helvey went 1- of-7 from the field and 0-of-3 from beyond the arc. Helvey took 25 shots through the first eight games of the season, but took 19 this past weekend. The freshman has seen her time on the court increase slightly as a result of a somewhat slow recovery from a hip pointer she suffered and also out of Burnett's desire to give her starters a bit of time to rest. The Wolverines' 46.2-percent field goal percentage was an improvement over their 33.3 percent performance against Drake. Michigan has dropped four of five on the road, missing the comforts of Crisler Arena, where they have won 80 percent of their games. The Wolverines are looking forward to having nearly an entire week to practice for their next contest. "The players have been completely overloaded lately" Burnett said. "With this being their final academic week of the semester, they're also overloaded with obligations for school. Our last day off, we spent the day traveling to Texas, so having almost a week to prepare for our next game is a welcome change." TONY DING/Daily Though the Wolverines could not compete at home, they found the next best thing: Competing in neighboring Ypsilanti. The Wolverines were the top team at this weekend's Eastern Michigan University invitational. 0 Sl Sell Books Now! Your + Michigan Book & Supply and Ulrich's Bookstore want to make you ! © Spin the Wheel for Cash & Prizes! © Get BONUS BUCKS when you sell your books. Save real money next semester! © Get your family U of M gifts this holiday! © Clearance Sale...Save up to 30% Ulrich 's and Michigan Book & Supply - Open Extended Hours During Finals Week. 1,4-p AL I t i