2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 12, 2004
CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY
Family fun for Michigan roller hockey club
ATHeE 3iOF THEWEF
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
By Ryan Sosin
Daily Sports Writer
Many critics of hockey call the
sport a violent display that doesn't
play to a family audience. But the
12-5-1 Michigan roller hockey club
is making family the name of the
game.
Coming into a college tryout ,with
30 other guys can be daunting, but
for freshmen Greg and Eric Seremet
and Chuck Nguyen, there was a
familiar face to help ease the nerves.
The Seremet brothers went into
tryouts together after playing most
of their careers together. Chuck was
joining his brother, senior Anthony
Nguyen, on the club team.
"It's always nice to have someone
to talk to," Greg said. "(Eric's) pretty
much like another friend out there,
which helped me a lot."
While both pairs of brothers find
themselves on the same rink, the
families couldn't be any different.
"(The Nguyens) got the stick han-
dling and the skill over us," Eric
said. "We're the grinders."
Anthony Nguyen, a Michigan
roller hockey veteran, got his first
real opportunity to play competitive
hockey with younger brother Chuck.
"I feel a lot more comfortable,
more easygoing when (Chuck's) on
the team," Anthony said.
Despite playing different posi-
tions, Anthony and Chuck are very
similar players. The duo has shown
explosive offensive abilities, using
finesse and speed to rack up 40
points in 15 games.
"They both speak their mind and
let you know what they are think-
ing," club president and assistant
captain Derek Samsel said. "They
feed off of each other."
For Greg and Eric, practice is the
only time they play on the same
team. While Greg spends his time
mucking in the corners for the varsi-
ty squad, Eric is honing his skills on
the junior varsity blue-line.
"As long as I keep working hard
like (Greg) does, I should be there
pretty soon," Eric said on playing
with his brother on the varsity
squad.
Playing on different teams has
produced no animosity between the
tandem. They both continue to sup-
port each other and help with one
another's game.
"We joke around about it (playing
on different teams)," Greg said. "But
we just take our roles and play the
best we can."
Eric will join Greg in a temporary
spot on the varsity squad for the
team's Friday trip to the Winter
Nationals in Las Vegas. The tourna-
ment will prove a good gauge for
Who: Dwight Helminen
Hometown: Brighton
Sport Hockey
Year: Junior
al
Why: Helminen had been struggling to find the offensive success he
had last year, but took a step in the right direction, scoring four goals
in Saturday's 7-1 thumping of Ohio State. In addition, he scored a goal
at even strength, on the powerplay and shorthanded.
Heiminen
6M SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 15
W Basketball vs. Penn State
Friday, Jan. 16
M Swim/Diving at Purdue
W Swim/Diving hosts Michigan Invitational
Saturday, Jan. 17
W Swim/Diving hosts Michigan Invitational
M Tennis vs. Western Michigan
M Swim/Diving at Indiana
W Tennis vs. DePaul
M Basketball at Michigan State
W Gymnastics at Minnesota
M Gymnastics Stanford
Ice Hockey vs. NTDP Under-18 Team
Wrestling at Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals
M Track/Field at Eastern Michigan Invitational
W Track/Field Indiana Dual
Sunday, Jan. 18
M Tennis vs. DePaul
W Basketball at Michigan State
7 p.m.
5 p.m.
6 p.m.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
1 p.m.
2 p.m.
3:45 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
TONY DING/Daily
Freshmen Greg Seremet (right) and Eric Seremet are one of two pairs of brothers In
the Michigan roller hockey club.
where the program is, as Michigan
face off against teams it's had suc-
cess over in the past.
In the meantime, the Nguyen
brothers and Seremet brothers will
continue to practice and do what
brothers do.
"They horse around in practice,
wrestling around on the floor in
practice," senior captain John Mac-
Donald said.
Some things never change.
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
Big Ten foes force men to take third place
NFL Playoffs
29
St. Louis
By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Writer
CHICAGO - After last season, when they got
little to no time in the lineup, Geoff Corrigan and
Andre Hernandez were just happy to compete this
weekend. But they did much more than compete.
They carried the No. 4 Michigan men's gymnas-
tics team to third place, out of six teams, in the
Windy City Invitational.
Michigan, participating in its first meet of the
season, finished with a score of 214.100, just
behind No. 1 Ohio State (215.750) and No. 3 Illi-
nois (214.425). The Wolverines have won the elu-
sive Windy City Invitational just once during the
meet's 34-year history.
"We had a fairly decent hit percentage and we
showed that we are a pretty good team," coach
Kurt Golder said. "I think we probably looked
more controlled than even the teams that beat us,
and I feel good about that."
Redshirt freshman Hernandez competed for the
first time since Junior Nationals nearly two years
ago. But the rust didn't show. Hernandez placed
second in the all-around standings with a score of
53.5. He also placed second on the parallel bars
(9.000) and third on the high bar (9.400).
"I was very surprised and I felt really good
about how I did," Hernandez said. "It is great to
come back, and in my first meet, and hit in all six
events, and actually place in all-around and con-
tribute to the team. So I am really proud."
Corrigan, a junior who spent most of last sea-
son battling injury, placed fourth in the all-around
with a score of 53.4. Despite cutting some of the
difficulty, he had an impressive showing on floor
(9.400), earning second place.
"Last year it was my shoulder, and then my
knee," Corrigan said. "I am back and healthy,
and that feels really good to go out there and
hit."
The pressure was on Hernandez and Corrigan
right at the beginning. Michigan started on the
high bar and its first two competitors fell. Those
mistakes forced the rest of the Wolverines to step
up.
"We had two mistakes right from the get go,"
Golder said. "But the fact that the next four guys
went four up, four hits, was really great. You have
to be able to do that. That really put the pressure
on in the first event, and the guys really came
through."
Michigan pulled out an impressive score of
36.550 in its first rotation and led the competition
after two rotations. The Wolverines stumbled a bit
on vault and rings, scoring the worst of all six
teams in those events, 35.750 and 34.500 respec-
tively.
While the Wolverines faltered in the last couple
of rounds, Ohio State strived. It put together a
near perfect performance on the high bars in the
second-to-last rotation, sticking four consecutive
routines on its way to a meet-high score of
37.750.
Despite the mistakes, the Wolverines were
upbeat. The team competed Saturday with two of
its best gymnasts, junior captain Chris Gatti and
sophomore Gerry Signorelli, on the sideline due
to. injuries. Corrigan and Hernandez both expect
great things from Michigan once the team gets
back to full strength.
"I am feeling really confident in our team,"
Hernandez said. "We can only get better, and I
think we're on our way to winning a national
championship."
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" Baron Davis, league's most
underrated PG, has league's most
underrated team winning.
gymnasts in Nebraska
By Melanie Kobler
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's gymnastics
team started its season with a loss in
more ways than one yesterday in Lin-
coln, Neb. The No. 5 Wolverines lost to
No. 8 Nebraska by a score of 196.550
to 195.07, but perhaps the bigger blows
were the injuries to Lauren Mirkovich
and Jenny Deiley.
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said that
the team started shakily on the uneven
bars, but then performed better on the
vault before heading to its third event.
"It was a bit of a rocky start," Plocki
said. "(On the) floor routine is where we
had breakdowns. (Lauren) didn't finish
her routine, and it's always hard to go up
after someone that's been injured."
Mirkovich, a junior, injured her wrist
on the first tumbling pass of her routine.
She finished the pass but collapsed
when she attempted a second one. Then
Deiley injured her ankle and could not
perform, forcing freshman Clare Flan-
nery to step up.
"Poor Clare wasn't expecting to com-
pete and the next thing you know she's
competing right after someone who's
had an injury," Plocki said.
Not surprisingly, the Wolverines'
scores on the floor were not spectacular.
Mirkovich's incomplete routine earned
just a 6.150 and Flannery's a 9.375,
making the floor the lowest scoring
event for Michigan. But the team didn't
allow this to prevent some great per-
formances on the beam, the team's hard-
est and last event of the competition.
Senior co-captain Elise Ray led the
Wolverines with a 9.950 performance,
propelling her to second in the all-
around competition. Becca Clauson and
freshman Lindsay Bruck also scored
highly on the beams (9.900 and 9.925),
making it the Wolverines' best event of
the evening.
"It shows a lot of fight in this team to
come back and finish strong on balance
beam," Plocki said. "That fact picks my
spirits back up and gives me hope."
Plocki referred to the "bright spots"
of the evening, citing Calli Ryals' solid
third place in the all-around and new-
comer Bruck's "spectacular" perform-
ance in three of four events. And even
though the Wolverines didn't come
away with a win, getting the first meet
of the year out of the way was an
accomplishment in itself. Michigan can
look forward to two more matches on
the road to open the season.
"Having your first meet on the road,
it's kind of a double whammy," Plocki
said. "We've been attempting to prepare
for that. We had a lot of bright spots and
definitely some things we know we
need to work on."
Along with improvement in practice,
Michigan will also look for some posi-
tive answers from the doctors as they
assess the injuries to Deiley and
Mirkovich.
"We've got to keep out fingers
crossed that Lauren doesn't have a long-
term injury because we need her des-
perately on bars," Plocki said. "Right
now we've got to try and get Jenny and
Lauren healthy."
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