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." N O ml New England 1. San Antonio 26-11 "The Spurs welcome Ward, snap Pa- ers sevengame win streak. 2 2 Scr1a.e a 2 *Malkof brofhers wa.:o ov .:..............%>{Ct.... . ?~ii} 1 x':~hiW1}"t:i 3. Indiana 28-11 " Note to Carlisle and Bird: If you want to r appytstfor the rest of your lives, trade Artest. . 4 £ ...,ta 4{ te u 5. Detroit 2413 - "He was tired when he took his warm-ups off'- coach Brown on Darko's game shape Wednesday night. r 1 6. D enw..... 2. 7 Tennessee 14 Indianapolis 38 Kansas City 31 Philadelphia 20O Green Bay m 17 A ...men ose meetNewOrleans 22-15 " 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." . ^ir :, : Nn "S.: Y'' tY . i.'f ?S 2in °a .....................;,k,;? }. ::::;:$:..: h: :.;:i.:r :: ;?L:t:Y":?::;>.:?.:.: t:? 2. New Jersey 52 pts. " Look ready for another Stanley cup run. 4. Ottawa 53 pts. * From Alfredsson and Hossa to Lalime, it's all clicking in Ottawa. w g5. Vancuvmr 5 SFading, b*ut kep 6mmag ever Ave Iin d~vslinr 6. Toronto 57 pts. * Ed Belfour will get tired of being the only guy playing defense for the Maple Leafs. 8. St. Louis 50 pts. * They have remained competitive while fighting injuries all year. A 10. Boston 50 pts. 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