01 12A - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 20, 2004 Tendinitis keeps Taylor out By Ryan Sosin Daily Sports Writer Last season's most dominant Michigan pitcher, Drew Taylor, will remain out of action for a min- imum of three more weeks. The junior, who was a member of the All-Big Ten first team as a starting pitcher in 2003, has been suffering from tendinitis in his arm that forced the team to take him out three weeks ago. "It got to the point (the doctors) wanted him to shut down," Michi- gan coach Rich Maloney said. "He can't do anything right now until we get a release from the doctors." The team declined to be more specific on the nature of the injury. Even if Taylor starts throwing off the mound in three weeks, he faces the daunting challenge of rebuild- ing his arm strength before the end of the season. "It doesn't look good that we are going to be able to get him back (this year)," Maloney said. After lasting just 11 batters in the season opener against Florida, when he gave up four hits in his only inning of work, Taylor was pegged by Illinois-Chicago for seven runs. His command was clearly not there. "(During my) second start I real- ly felt it a lot," Taylor said. "After that, I knew it was something that had to be checked out." He hasn't pitched since. During his sophomore season, Taylor registered a 9-1 record with five complete games and a 3.97 ERA. After the season, Baseball America projected him to claim another spot on the All-Big Ten first team. Because he cannot throw right now, Taylor has been running to keep his legs and lower body in shape. While the Wolverines are on the diamond, he finds himself try- ing to keep his teammates up. "During games I'm just being into it, be as vocal as possible and trying be a good example (to my teammates)," Taylor said. In his absence, redshirt junior Jim Brauer, junior Michael Penn and sophomore Derek Feldkamp have tried to share the ace duties. "It's always frustrating when you are not playing," Taylor said. "But I'm not frustrated at all with the way the other guys are playing. It's been very exciting." Brauer was blowing fastballs past the Illini during his start on Saturday. Feldkamp, who is coming off of Big Ten co-Pitcher-of-the- Week honors, pitched his second- straight complete game Saturday, while Penn has shouldered the most innings of any Wolverine pitcher (46). "It hurts 'cause he was our best guy last year. But the other guys have been starting to pick it up for us," pitching coach John Lowery said. Until he receives the clearance to pitch, the Toronto native will con- tinue to cheer from the bench along the third base line at The Fish. ASHLEY HARPER/Daily Pitcher Drew Taylor - one of Michigan's most reliable starters last year - will miss at least three more weeks with an arm injury. The Junior went 9-1last season with a 3.97 ERA. Brannen, Willis head west to try for Olympic qualifications Wolverines will count on Olin at Big Tens By Phil Kofahl Daily Sports Writer Four months from now, they'll probably be walking into the Olympic stadium in Athens, wearing the col- ors of their homeland in front of a world audience. But right now, they're just trying to make it through finals. Junior Nate Brannen and sophomore Nick Willis of the Michigan men's track and field team are just months (and fractions of a second) away from being part of the 27th running of the modern summer Olympic games. Brannen and Willis have both red- shirted the Michigan outdoor season to concentrate solely on getting ready for Athens. Brannen is three tenths of a second off from qualifying for the Canadi- an team in the 800-meter run, while Willis is a mere tenth of a second away from qualifying in the 1,500- meter run for New Zealand. "It's every kid's dream to go to the Olympics," Bran- nen said. "It's always been a dream of mine. When I was in high school and I made the World Champi- onships, I really started to believe. I always saw 2008 as the goal, but when I broke the Canadian high school record, it hit me that 2004 was a real possibility." Brannen and Willis have been training together for the past month, but soon they'll begin to concentrate on their own events. The runners will take their shots at the Olympic qualifying standard this June when they travel out west to compete in the Prefontaine Classic and some other elite Oregon meets. If either doesn't make the standard while out West, he will have to travel to Europe for the last-chance meets. "We'd really like to get the times out of the way," Willis said. "Then we'll just get back to Ann Arbor and our familiar surroundings." Once Brannen has hit the standard, he will have to place fourth or better at the Canadian Track Cham- pionships. They won't be training alone though - they'll have plenty of help getting there. Former Olympians Kevin Sullivan and Paul McMullen, as well as U.S. Indoor 3,000-meter record holder Tim Broe will join them on Michigan's track to train for the Olympics themselves. Sullivan, a former Wolverine great, will try to reclaim his spot that he held on the 2000 Canadian team in the 1,500-meter run. McMullen, a fierce competitor of Sullivan's when he was at Eastern Michigan, will try to grab one of the three spots on the U.S. team in the 1,500-meter run. All these runners will be Ann Arbor for one reason - Ron Warhurst. The Michigan men's track and cross country coach has each runner's personal training planned until the first day of the Olympics, and he believes that Brannen's and Willis's trips to the Olympics are not a matter of if, but when. ASHLEY HARPER/Daily Reigning 800-meter NCAA Indoor track champion Nate Brannen hopes to compete for Canada In the Olympics. "There's no doubt that Nate will get his time within a month, Warhurst said. "And Nick is there already ... it's only a matter of time with these guys - each one is more than capable." Having such a strong training group at home gives Brannen and Willis a huge edge in their training. They don't have to travel to a training center and train with a new coach. They will get to live in their houses, train in a familiar environment and prepare for the biggest sporting event in the world. "What keeps me most motivated is knowing that 95 percent of the population (of New Zealand) will be watching me," Willis said. "Here's this little kid from Lower Hutt competing against the world. That's the real motivator." By Katie Niemeyer Daily Sports Writer Armed with strong leadership and a tight team bond, the Michi- gan women's golf team heads to Columbus on Friday for the Big Ten Tournament. After a disappointing sixth place last weekend at the Lady Boiler- maker Invitational, the Wolverines are geared up for a rematch with the Big Ten teams. Coach Kathy Teichert believes the Wolverines can be competitive with favorites Michigan State and Ohio State if every player can play well in every round. "There are so many teams that can be beat," Teichert said. "It all depends on who's hot that particular weekend. We can be hot. We just haven't put three solid rounds together. I feel like we have so much talent on our team that, when they can put it all together, nothing's going to stop them." To pull it all together at the Big Tens, this young Michigan team will need strong leadership from junior captain Laura Olin, both on and off the course. "We have an extremely young team playing, and so the freshmen and sophomores are still looking to me to lead them," Olin said. "I'm the one who says, 'Let's get fired up' before we play." Averaging 76.47 strokes per round, Olin has found herself at the top of the scoreboard twice this sea- son. She has led the Wolverines in scoring in 10 out of 11 tournaments so far. Olin will have to continue to be strong mentally and strike the ball consistently all weekend. "Every time she tees it up we're counting on her for her scores," Teichert said. "Her striking capabil- ity and the number of greens she hits are the best on the team." Olin can't win the tournament on her own; freshmen Brianna Broder- ick and Ali Stinson and sophomore Amy Schmucker will all have to step up their games this weekend. Teichert has asked a lot of these young players. With a season low of 73, Broder- ick averages 79.56 strokes per round. She is the only player who has topped Olin at all this season. Teichert believes that the 11 tourna- ments she's competed in have really helped her mentally. "I think that (Broderick's) confi- dence level has significantly increased," Teichert said. Stinson has played in every tour- nament and has broken 80 in 13 out of 32 rounds, finishing in the top 10 three times this season. "Ali's consistent," Teichert said. "She consistently hits the ball down the middle. I think her length has improved." Schmucker earned her best career finish at the Wolverine Invitational this season, placing third. She has averaged 78.28 strokes per round. As a sophomore, she must support Olin as a leader on the team. "Amy is a true competitor," Teichert said. "We know that we have to count onr her every time. She has the ability to shoot some really low numbers" All these girls say that their bonds with their teammates have reallymotivated them to improve this season. "We're a team," Broderick said. "Everything is great among us. The chemistry is fantastic. Coach Teichert has brought in a great bunch of girls." . 1 ASHLEY HARPER/Daily Nick Willis, right, needs to improve his 1,500-meter run time by one second to qualify for the Olympic trials. SIMMs Continued from Page MA Simms hopes that her 'little sister' - freshman Kiana Stringfield - willa follow in her footsteps. "As a captain, I've tried to help people stay focused," Simms said. "I've learned how to organize a group of girls that come from dif- ferent backgrounds and have differ- ent views and help them work together." While Simms is the first to praiseI teamwork, the most valuable thing she learned applies to the individual. "I've realized that, to be a good athlete, you can't wait for a coach to tell you what to do, you just have to do it yourself," she said. This Thursday, the team will par- ticipate in the Drake Relays. While the Wolverines did not attend this meet last year, the event has had a sold-out crowd of 18,000 people for the past 38 years - the longest streak in U.S. track history. Distance and spring relays are the main focus of this meet. The rest of the Wolver- ines will head to Pennsylvania for the Penn Relays. As for Simms's future, even with graduate school in the picture, she plans to keep running. "It's hard to say if I will compete next year, but I just can't imagine stopping," Simms said. Clarett, Williams out of NFL Draft NEW YORK (AP) - Maurice Clarett's bid to jump to the NFL was blocked yesterday by a federal appeals court that left open the possibility he could enter a supplemental draft. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold a lower-court decision to allow the former Ohio State star and other athletes, like Southern California's Mike Williams, to enter this weekend's draft. Players are barred from the NFL until three years after high school graduation under current league rules. The appeals court said it stayed the earlier ruling to safe- guard the NFL from harm and to ensure a more thorough review. Its final opinion will probably be issued after the draft, perhaps weeks from now. Any potential harm to Clarett would be lessened by the NFL's agreement to hold a supplemental draft if the appeals court later ruled in his favor, the court added. The ruling came on the same day Williams filed his own lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan, saying the NFL had issued conflicting statements about eligibility for the draft, thus causing him to sacrifice his college career. Williams hired an agent, which usually means a player cannot return to play in college. But Williams's college coach, Pete Carroll, said it was possible the wide receiver could return to school. "We'll continue to help our guy out, just like we did when he was making his decision," Carroll said. "Nothing definitive has been declared by the NCAA. Some steps would have to be taken for the players to get back into col- lege football." Although Clarett never announced he hired an agent, there have been reports that he did. He was never cleared by Ohio State or the NCAA to play after being suspended last year for accepting money from a family friend and for lying about it to NCAA and university investigators. NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard would not comment specifically on the Clarett case; but he said players who hire agents could be reinstated if the school petitions the organi- zation. "The individual facts of each case ultimately will deter- mine whether or not an athlete is reinstated," he said. NCAA president Myles Brand said if the NFL ultimately loses the case that graduation rates for football players could decrease significantly. "Not because of the small number that may be eligible to go to the NFL," he said. "But rather because of the literally thousands of wannabes who will give up concentrating on their studies, both in high school and college, for that one- in-a-million chance to get in the NFL. And they will be the losers." After more than an hour of arguments, though, the appeals court said the NFL showed it could win its case. League lawyer Jeff Pash said simply that the league was "pleased." Clarett's lawyer, Alan Milstein, did not return telephone messages asking for comment. Clarett led Ohio State to a national title as a freshman but was ruled ineligible as a sophomore. Williams declared for the draft after a lower court ruled in Clarett's favor. Seven others also declared for the draft after the initial ruling, but none is a prospect. U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled in Feb- ruary that Clarett should be allowed in the draft. She said the rule excluding him violates antitrust law and unjustly blocks a player from pursuing his livelihood. If a subsequent ruling makes Clarett eligible, the league could hold a supplemental draft, something it has done for players who entered the draft late since 1977, NFL lawyer Gregg A. Levy said. TONY DING/Daily Sophomore Amy Schmucker has been one of the Wolverines' most consistent performers this year, averaging under 79 strokes per round. y 5 .{i '4 : Ti} < '.1b .'tRpv. C Y i6: e Y Y5. $ ( b 5, % . p tr y , a;, c,', 3 4 ? ..2 s Finals Fitness . FrenzyY+ ~ of