0 1QA - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 8, 2004 Montoya brings home gold By Sharad Mattu Daily Sports Writer The World Junior Championships weren't supposed to go this way for Al Montoya. Michigan's sophomore goaltender was supposed to back up Maine's Jimmy Howard, get some exposure to international competition and be ready when the United States hosts next year's tournament. But a left knee sprain just before the team was set to fly to Finland knocked Howard out, and Montoya suddenly became the starter. Though the United States was favored to win the tournament, some previews said the Americans' only weakness might be Montoya in goal due to his lack of international experi- ence. But this week, recaps of the World Juniors are singing a far different tune. On the big stage, Montoya turned out to be an asset and not a liability for the gold medal-winning Americans. He earned the Direc- torate Award as the tournament's top goaltender, allowing just eight goals in six wins and notching a .944 save percentage. In the Americans' 4-3 win over Canada, Montoya topped Marc- Andre Fleury - the No. 1 overall pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins last year. Fleury's strong showing in last year's World Juniors catapulted him to the top of the draft, and Montoya's draft prospects shot up with his great showing. "He played unbelievable," U.S teammate Matt Hunwick said. "He made big saves at big times. He gave us a chance to come back against Canada." Jeff Tambellini, who played for the Canadian team, agreed that Montoya played at the top of his game. But the loss has been tough for him and many others in Canada, where hockey is followed extremely closely. "I just congratulated him," the sophomore forward said of the few minutes they've spent together since the game. "He's been playing the national anthem in (the lockerroom), so me and (Milan) Gajic made sure that got turned off." In the Gold medal game, Tambelli- ni and Montoya got the chance to go one on one. "He had a breakaway on me," Mon- toya said, before smiling and adding: "He says he missed by an inch. "I saw (it was Tambellini) at the last second. The only spot he goes is glove. Our scouting report said that, so I knew what to do." Tambellini said he had just collided with a player at the blueline and was slightly disoriented as he skated toward the goal. But he concedes he was going glove side all the way. While it is easy to assume that Montoya should come back to col- lege hockey and cruise past Michi- gan's CCHA opponents, he doesn't believe that's true. But he felt that college hockey helped him out in Finland. "Before we played Canada, they put the whole Canadian fan section right behind me and all I could think about was how this is college hockey all AP PHOTO Goalie Al Montoya, sporting his Michigan helmet, helped Team USA to the Gold at the World Junior Championships. over again," Montoya said. "It wasn't a big deal. I'm used to the heckling and know how to zone it out." All three players said the World Juniors were a great experience, and while the travel and time difference hasn't been easy, they're back in Ann Arbor reenergized. "It was so special to be playing for our country," Tambellini said. "We would wake up in the morning and have 10 pages of e-mails wishing us good luck and thanking us for playing so well for our country. The passion behind the Canadian team during the whole tournament is something you don't see often. "That was the best experience I've ever had in the game of hockey. I was just dying to get to the rink today. I feel the best I've ever felt." Ritt has high hopes for freshman trio Traing in Hawai not all fun in sun Gabdela D'Jaen Daily Sports Writer In any athletic environment, there is always a desire for rookies to prove themselves worthy as competitors. The three freshmen - Liz Exon, Lindsey Goldstein and Kara Delicata - on the Michigan women's tennis team are no exception. They have found that their actions are the THIS I' fastest way to validating Michigan their presence on the Time: 10 team. After demonstrating rowand their individual ability 9 a.m. during the fall season, these women have gained Varsity Te the respect of their team- mates, coaches and opponents. Now, they are just excited to play in a team environment with aspirations of win- ning the Big Ten title in 2004. This weekend the Wolverines host Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech and LSU in the second Michigan Invitation- al. While the Invitational is not part of the dual-match season, it is the first event of the winter. The freshman trio voiced anticipation in regard to playing team events, but coach Bitsy Ritt is confident that they will continue to per- form up to par. "Players sometimes have feelings of anxiety and nervousness at the begin- ning of the dual-match season," Ritt said. "I've had some funny conversa- tions with players on the first change- over about how nervous they actually are, but once the match gets going, they focus on the game, relax and realize it's the same EKEND game of tennis they've vitational played all their life." Exon, who is the No. 6 :d tomor ranked singles player in inday the Midwest region .s Caccording to the Intercol- IS Center legiate Tennis Association, takes Ritt's advice to heart VE Inv am St nni FIL"''"O' Michigan freshman Lindsey Goldstein performed well In her flight of the Wolverine Invitational In October with a 4-0 record. and tries to maintain a calm attitude before heading into a match. She also looks to her older brother and sister for guidance, as both have made the transi- tion to college tennis. "As I watched my brother and sister play college tennis, I had an idea of what it was going to be like," Exon said. "It's everything I expected." The California native had an excep- tional individual season, winning the first Wolverine Invitational and finish- ing with a 10-4 record. This confidant freshman attributes her success to hard work and motivation from teammates. "Team tennis is totally different than what I grew up playing," Exon said. "I'm a little unsure, but my teammates know what it takes to win. When I'm looking at the team individually, I can tell we have a lot of depth - we are ready to compete." Delicata and Goldstein echo Exon's contentment with the fall season and are equally excited for the winter sea- son to begin. "The Wolverine Invitational was a great confidence booster," Delicata said. "I didn't know what it was going to be like coming into a NCAA environment." Delicata, who hails from Windsor, Canada, is a foreigner to team tennis, but has quickly adapted to both an American school and the team environ- ment. She admits it is easier to share her emotions and nerves with the eight other girls on the team than keep them to herself "I love this team," Delicata said. "There's a lot of school spirit here, which Michigan tennis really embodies." While this environment might be dif- ferent for Delicata, Goldstein has easily adapted to the team setting. Her doubles partner in the Wolverine Invitational was also her partner at Highland Park (Ill.) High School, sophomore Debra Streifler. "We won state champs together in high school, and I love playing with her," Goldstein said of Streifler. "It's really rare that two people from the same high school are on the same team." "Freshmen are always fun," Coach Ritt said. "But this is certainly a great class. They bring a lot to the program."' Every player on the team agrees that the conference will be competitive, but with the addition of these three women, the team's conference title aspirations are definitely attainable. By Anne Ulbe Daily Sports Writer The excitement leading up to the team training session began weeks before the women's swimming and div- ing team's plane left Detroit the day after Christmas. A week of sun and sand on the beautiful island of Hawaii looked like another world from the gray and white streets of Ann Arbor. "We were so fortunate to be able to have this opportunity to train in such a beautiful place," head coach Jim Richardson said. "The team was really pumped for the trip" The team spent its holiday training session in Hawaii for a week-long reprieve from the Ann Arbor winter to be greeted with just three full days of sunshine. "The main purpose of taking the team to Hawaii was to have them stay active outside," Richardson said. "Unfortunately, we were forced to do a lot of it in the rain." While basking in the unfavorable weather, the Wolverines competed in the Rainbow Invitational on Jan. 2 against several other teams doing their winter training on the island. Wisconsin and Iowa joined Michigan as the other teams representing the Big Ten confer- ence. Although the meet was not scored, the Big Ten held its own against the other participating nonconference teams. "Wisconsin definitely dominated the meet," Richardson said. "Their team won every event except the 50- and 100- yard butterfly, which (our own) Anne Weilbacher managed to place first in." Following in the pattern of the previ- ous days' weather, the meet was swum during a tropical downpour. The rain affected many of the swimmers' races and times. "We swam okay given the rain and the tough early morning workout we had given the swimmers that day," Richardson said. "Under different cir- cumstances, we probably would have had faster times." Although the rain hindered the team's sole competition and some of the prac- tices, the Wolverines were still able to put in an average of 15,000-yards a day, which is equivalent to 600 laps in the pool. Richardson was extremely impressed with the team's attitude dur- ing its training. The swimmers' willing- ness to work hard and go the extra mile during practices makes him believe that the team has the potential to be one of the best squads he's coached over the past few years. "I'm really looking forward to the next three months," Richardson said. "We have the ability to do some great things." Before Michigan's next scheduled meet, the team will be increasing the intensity of its training. Along with upping the yardage in the pool, Richardson will be implementing a new circuit training system. The program has three segments of weights broken into a part designated toward 20 min- utes for upper body, one part for 20 minutes for lower body and the last part for 20 minutes for core training. "This new circuit is going to be very demanding," Richardson said. "It will be the hardest training we've done yet. This program will determine the core strength of the swimmers." The Wolverines will open their Big Ten season schedule in two weeks host- ing the Michigan Invitational on Jan. 16-17. 4 U U 4 TAHtS 6ovyf~ FY5, Y /NG 706/ /VifD roKIVOW A501T Ci','M/6T,1-T WFVYE GOT H9/S &20K Buy ai used book and all the important stuff is already highlighted. We have access to the largest inventory of textbooks on campus, so you're sure to find what you need for all your classes. Stop by for affordably priced books broken in by brainlacs. Gibbs heading back to D.C. A ASHBURN, Va. (AP) - In a bid to return to their heyday, the Washington Redskins reached into their past with a stunning move: Joe Gibbs is coming back. The Hall of Fame coach who led the team to three Super Bowl champi- onships instantly restored hope to a franchise searching for answers after a decade of losing and the resignation of Steve Spurrier. Gibbs retired 11 years ago and then rose to the top in a second sports career as a NASCAR team owner. He signed a five-year contract worth about $25 mil- lion yesterday in a coup for owner Dan Snyder, who grew up rooting for Gibbs' great teams. "Who better to set our strategy and lead the Redskins back to champi- onship glory?" Snyder said. The details of Gibbs' contract, con- firmed by a source within the NFL, speaking on condition of anonymity, is similar to the NFL-record deal given to Spurrner. "Thedesire to coach has always been with me, even after being away from the game for 11 years," Gibbs said. Gibbs owns a minority share of the Atlanta Falcons and will sell his por- tion. In a statement, the Falcons said Gibbs approached them several weeks ago and talked about their vacant coaching job. "When the opportunity at the Red- skins came up, Joe told us he couldn't turn his back on the history, fans, loyal- ties and relationships built over time in Washington," the Falcons' statement said. "While we understand his feel- ins, we are disannointed that he didn't AP.PHOTO Legendary Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs will return to coach next fail. i&R 0 IE s/t source. Former Buffalo Bills coach Gregg Williams will be defensive coor- dinator. Joe Bugel, who oversaw the "Hogs" as offensive line coach under Gibbs from 1981-89, returns to that post. The Williams hiring was first reported by SportsLine.com. ance under five different coaches. Burned out from long days and nights - he was known as a worka- holic who sometimes slept on a cot at Redskins Park - Gibbs left football and pursued a successful NASCAR career. His racing team heavily involved both his sons, giving him the family life