I 14 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 Tanchon thankful for Supermom By Tyler Nagle For the Daily Gatorade's latest advertising ploy to prove itself as the one and only thirst quencher for athletes is a mystery of sorts. The company has created a commercial with various peo- ple thanking an unidentified woman. Coach- es, teammates, fans and even Michael Jordan all give praise. Most sports fans have probably seen it by now. And who doesn't blush and giggle a little bit when Nomar Garciaparra stares deep into the camera and says, "Thank you, beautiful." After all that suspense, it is revealed that the woman is U.S. women's soccer legend Mia Hamm. And while Hamm certainly deserves a great deal of credit for bringing women's soccer to the forefront, perhaps she's not alone. Take, for instance, the story of Michigan women's soccer player Laura Tanchon. Tanchon, a senior tri-captain, has a mystery woman of her own to thank. Tanchon's tale starts back in 1999 when she was a sophomore at Dana Hills High School in Laguna Niguel, Calif. In the mid- dIe of the soccer season, she fractured her ankle and was in a cast for several months. After a long wait, doctors informed her that she needed ankle surgery, leading to several more months of rehab. After so many soccer-less months, Tan- chon felt "frustrated and demoralized." "Soccer had been such a huge part of my life before the injury that I was worried if I didn't make a spectacular comeback, I'd be considered a failure in many peoples' eyes," she said. Such a tough injury and recovery forced Tanchon to make a terribly difficult decision - she quit her club soccer team and the sport she loved and decided to focus on her high school studies instead. Enter her own personal mystery woman - although her role in Tanchon's career doesn't start here. This was the same woman who, for years, had been signing Tanchon up for teams, taking her to practice and cheering her heart out at every chance she got. Thank you, soccer mom. Tanchon had countless trips to the doctors and rehab after her injury, but she never went alone. And she always needed help changing her bandages and ice, sometimes even in the middle of the night. Thank you, uncertified nurse. Tanchon was stubbornly saying she was not going to play soccer anymore, even after her ankle completely healed. For a girl whose life had been filled with the sport since she was eight years old, this was a huge and pos- sibly irrational decision. Thankfully, her mystery woman intervened. "She constantly told me that soccer was more than a sport, that it could possibly be an education," said Tanchon. Tanchon wasn't an easy sell. "I was stubborn at first, then after a few weeks of rehab I realized that she was right and that there was no way I was going to do all that work recovering not to play soccer again." After joining a local club team. Tanchon continued to recover as her mystery woman drove to and from the high school to get missed schoolwork. Thank you, level-headed guidance coun- selor. Since Tanchon got back on the field and eventually made her way to Ann Arbor, that same woman makes as many trips as possible from California to watch games, continuing to motivate the Wolverine midfielder. Thank you, cross-country traveler. Without her love, support and hard work, Michigan women's soccer would likely be without Tanchon, who coach Debbie Radem- acher calls "a leader and an extremely hard worker who leads by example." Thank you, Laura's mother. Thank you, Linda Tanchon. Linda's work has not gone unnoticed. Laura understands and appreciates every- thing her mother has done and tries to thank her the best way she knows how - on the field. "I play in an effort to pay her back and hopefully make her proud," Tanchon said. And while Gatorade may have left lesser known, yet equally important people like Linda Tanchon out of its commercial, it did get one thing right by asking, "Is it in you?" "It" was and is in Laura Tanchon - she just needed her mother to bring it out. RYAN WEINER/DAILY Senior tr-captain Laura Tanchon has her mom to thank for a successful soccer career. * MEN'S CRO5SS-CLJNTRY Incoming tandem gives hope to harriers By Ian Robinson For the Daily After losing three seniors last year, it would be expected that the Michigan men's cross-country team would decline. But this year's squad has done the opposite. Two reasons for the improvement are freshmen Mike Woods and Victor Gras. Woods - an Ottawa native - placed seventh in the 2003 World Junior Championships with a time of 3:42.49 in the 1500 meters. Gras - originally from France - placed fifth in the Footlocker Cross Country Championships in the 1,500 meters. Gras and Woods feel they have adjusted well to living at Michigan. They attribute their easy transition to attending a training camp with the rest of the team in northern Michigan before the season. In addition to training, Woods said that he enjoyed playing volley- ball and hanging out at the beach during the camp. The pair enjoys playing video games and listening to music. "(Woods) is a good friend. (We) live in the same hall and the fresh- men girls' track members are also on the floor. They make it like a family," Gras said. With Mike hailing from Canada and Victor from France, they often speak French together. "We say things to each other in French so that other people can't understand," Woods said. "Like when we see a good-looking girl." One part of college life that Gras has not yet grown accustomed to is the food. "Dorm food is not good," he said. Woods and Gras are excited about being on a strong team. "Most recruits will make the top seven, but on a great team like this, it will be tough," Gras said. With eight runners that have post- ed mile times under 4:06, Michigan is very deep. In cross-country, the top five runners count toward the team's score. "The team is as strong as its fifth man. If (Woods and Gras) are in the top seven, it will make us a strong team," coach Ron Warhurst said. The Wolverines are preparing for the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing this weekend. It will be the team's second meet of the season. The season opened on Sept. 4 at the EMU Open, where senior Nate Brannen led the way for Michigan with a seventh-place finish. In his debut at the EMU Open, Gras post- ed a 13th-place finish with a time of 26:49. Woods has not yet run a meet for Michigan. ALL-NYDE AMATEUR CONTEST TNRI T RE 10PM. LADIES COMPETE FOR THAT $300 1ST PRIZE! RECEIVE $25i JUST FOR ENTERING, CALL FOR DETAILS. W WW.DEJIAVUUCO I I 'W-! Y WW 1M 4M iAi Ar--'!'A" - IW IWOM 52 a!t'!i s -F 4M /A Lift'? "3"2 1 Yt I I E W: i = 1 I : [ C" t t E I : Lit / :J,'l 1 # _\ 'b I O AK F- W-, UlrAW-ft MC# A I 1 .0 a ww_ a xpwv - w R-_wnn-"Nw a a - AW.M-*.-,WCW a Ar. 0 a WN I I it