4OA - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 18, 2004
Tankers set
sights high
for NCAAs
,By Anne U le
Daily Sports Writer
Three weeks ago, the No. 16 Michigan
women's swimming and diving team entered the
Big Ten Championship and was predicted to fin-
ish in fifth place. After overcoming a 36-point
deficit in the last two events of the meet, the
team walked away with the title.
Though they don't expect to earn this week-
'ind's NCAA title, the Wolverines are entering the
-meet with the same mentality they had for Big
Tens.
"We're not going to this meet to count points,
and I'm honestly not worried about the place we
-come in because it is a waste of effort," coach
'Jim Richardson said. "As long as we keep our
minds focused on our attitude and having fast
races, there's nothing more to do."
Even though the team says it isn't concerned
'with how it places, the athletes are nervous about
the intense competition.
1I "Nationals is such a step-up in the competition
level," senior captain Sara Johnson said. "As
{tough as it is to get there, there's always a voice
,in the back my head asking, 'Can I really swim
that fast?"'
The Wolverines have nine swimmers and one
diver qualified to compete in College Station,
Texas, where Texas A&M will host the champi-
onships. There were a total of 14 events with
automatic qualifications, 10 events with consid-
eration qualifications and five relay berths.
Senior diver Tealin Kelemen was the final ath-
lete to qualify for the meet last week when she
placed in the top five of the one-, three- and ten-
meter events at the NCAA Zone meet in Bloom-
ington. This will mark her first appearance at the
NCAA Championships.
"It's a great culmination of her hard work over
M WRESTUNG
Blue ends campaign
with trip to St. Louis.
Michigan senior Sara Johnson is preparing to lead the No. 16 Wolverines into the NCAA Championships this weekend.
the past four years," Michigan diving coach Chris
Bergere said.
The meet will run from today through Satur-
day, with preliminary races taking place in the
morning and qualified final races scheduled for
the evenings. Michigan has swimmers qualified
in all but one individual elent (200-meter butter-
fly)
"We're swimming all five relays and we have
people competing in just about every race,"
Richardson said. "It's hard to judge which day
will be our toughest because any day we're swim-
ming, I feel that will be a good day for us."
Though the Wolverines haven't competed in
three weeks, Richardson feels that the team is
much more ready and confident with its speed
and strength than it was before the conference
competition.
"I think the Big Ten Championships has really
prepared us for this meet," Richardson said. "We
swam through seven sessions without blinking,
so I think we'll be able to handle the NCAA
Championships. The girls are trained to the best
of their ability, and I think they're confident
about doing well."
Richardson has a few experienced swimmers
competing this weekend, but he is excited to see
how a pair of freshmen deal with their first
NCAA Championship. Lindsey Smith, who has
an Olympic Trial cut in the 200-yard freestyle,
won this year's Big Ten title in the event. Susan
Gilliam also performed well at the conference
championships, taking home a second-place fin-
ish in the 400-freestyle.
Richardson also believes that Johnson will
have a great meet. She is one of the more experi-
enced NCAA Championship competitors on the
Michigan squad and is scheduled to swim the
200-meter individual medley and the 100- and
200-meter backstroke. This is the third year she
has qualified for the meet.
"Sara will be one of the shortest athletes at the
meet," Richardson said. "It's so great to see her
compete."
By Alex Cummins
Daily Sports Writer
"Arch madness" is coming to St.
Louis this weekend with the NCAA
National Wrestling Championships
that begin today. The double-elimina-
tion tournament will pit Michigan's
No. 3 wrestling team against some of
the nation's best. After a mediocre
fourth-place finish in the Big Ten
Championships two weeks ago, the
Wolverines hope to bounce back on
the biggest stage.
Ryan Churella (149 pounds), Foley
Dowd (133 pounds) andRyan Bertin
(157 pounds) turned in the top per-
formances for the Wolverines at the
Big Ten Championships. Churella fin-
ished first, while Dowd and Bertin
both finished second in their respective
weight classes.
The Wolverines have been firmly
placed in the top-10 for most of the sea-
son, and the expectations are high for
this weekend.
After a disappointing fourth-place
finish at the Big Ten Championships,
junior heavyweight Greg Wagner is
itching to make his presence felt in the
Show-Me State.
"My performance at the Big Tens is
definitely motivating me," Wagner
said. "I didn't wrestle my best, and lost
to the Minnesota heavyweight (Cole
Konrad), (whom) I beat two times
before. That won't happen again."
Overall, the 2003-04 campaign has
been a very successful one for the
Wolverines, and they are looking to go
out in style this weekend.
"We're hoping for a top-four finish,
which we are very capable of," Wagn-
er said. "We have to wrestle better
than we did in the Big Tens."
While top-three finishes are the goal
at the NCAA Championships, Wagner
stressed that the wrestlers will not leave
with their heads down if things don't
pan out. He believes that what happens
on the wrestling mat - like all other
sports - is sometimes out of the ath-
lete's control.
"What's hard is that what you do on
the mat doesn't always show up on the
scoreboard at the end of the day," Wag-
ner said. "You can't control everything
that goes on, so if everyone wrestles
well and does their best, we can't be
disappointed."
Wagner has been one of the
Wolverines' most consistent perform-
ers this season, with an overall match
record of 32-8, including a win that
gave Michigan a much-needed dual
match victory over perennial power-
house Iowa.
"This has definitely been my best
season thus far," Wagner said. "I've
continued to improve, and I can see
how far I've come from last year.
We've also brought a lot of respect to
this program and we want to keep it in
the top five."
One of Wagner's favorite memories
from this season is the week-long trip
that the Wolverines took to Texas and
California in January.
While memories are nice, Wagner
and the Wolverines know that the most
important moment of their season is
upon them.
"That trip was a highlight of my
season," Wagner stated. "But after this
weekend, I'm hoping for a different
highlight."
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What Do
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The University of Michigan
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Gayle Crick, Manager,
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visit us at the LS&A
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Robert Lipper, Vice President,
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