The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 31, 2005 - 7B
Tired Blue tops
unbeaten Bucks
Middleweights
carry Grapplers
By Anne Uible
Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS - The Ohio State
men's swimming and diving team was
rested, ready and hopeful as it tried to
finish out its schedule with an undefeat-
ed conference record. Michigan entered
Columbus after a long week of training,
a four-hour bus ride just moments before
the start of the meet and the desire to
beat a conference foe.
"We came (to Ohio State) tired from
training all week," senior captain Mike
Galindo said. "(Ohio State) rested all
week and a couple of them even shaved
for the meet, so they were probably more
ready for this meet than us. But we got
the win, which is all that matters."
The No.6 Michigan men's swimming
and diving team (5-0, 7-2) defeated No.
23 Ohio State (2-1, 9-1) on Saturday at
the Mike Peppe Aquatic Center with a
score of 125-118 in its final dual meet
of the season. While the score sug-
gests a closely fought battle between
the two conference rivals, Michigan
actually dominated the majority of the
swimming events throughout the meet,
allowing Ohio State to secure victories
in just two events.
"I think our team was pretty con-
fident throughout the whole meet,"
Galindo said. "Before the last relay, we
already had the meet won."
The Buckeyes earned their points in
the diving portion of the meet, where
they swept Michigan in both the one-
and three- meter events. Ohio State's
Mitch Richeson won both events with
a score of 381.52 in the one-meter and
329.40 in the three-meter.
While Michigan coach Bob Bow-
man was pleased to walk away with the
win and undefeated conference record,
he noted that his swimmers didn't per-
form as well as he had hoped.
"I don't think we swam all that well,"
Bowman said. "You always enjoy com-
ing up against a big rival like this, and
I'm glad we got the win. But I didn't
think we were particularly sharp. How-
ever, we're 5-0 in the Big Ten, so I
guess there's not much more I can ask
for going into the conference meet."
Bowman wasn't completely satis-
fied with the efforts of his team as a
whole, but he pointed to his long dis-
tance swimmers as exceptions at the
meet. The Wolverines proved to be the
most difficult for the Buckeyes in the
500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events
by sweeping the field in both races.
Junior Peter Vanderkaay secured the
win in the 1,000-yard freestyle with
a time of 9:30.53 just moments after
anchoring the winning 200-yard med-
ley relay. Bowman placed Vanderkaay
in back-to-back swims in order to cre-
ate an early point surge against the
Buckeyes.
"Having Peter swim two races like
that was really important," Bowman
said. "He is the kind of guy who can
make fast swims for us when we need
him, so I think it was a good challenge
for him."
Following the 1,000-yard freestyle,
senior Andrew Hurd won the 200-yard
freestyle in one of the closest races of
the afternoon.
Hurd kept a tight race with two
Ohio State swimmers throughout the
first two 50s, splitting a 23:83 and a
25:37 and wavering between second
and third place. Hurd quietly inched
up on Ohio State's Tommy Seay and
Marty Tomes in the fourth and final
50 and was able to make a final surge
off the wall for the last 25 yards of
the race. Hurd hit the wall in 1:40.23,
outtouching Seay for first place by
By Seth Gordon
Daily Sports Writer
TONY DING/Daily
Junior Peter Vanderkaay won back-to-back races in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-
yard medley relay.
0.25 of a second.
"I could tell it was close race because
(the Buckeye swimmers) were inching
up right beside me," Hurd said. "I knew
that I had more endurance than those
guys because I'm a distance swim-
mer and they are more sprint-oriented
swimmers. So I knew I had the speed
for that last 50."
While the race was exciting and got
the crowd energized, Hurd noted that it
and wasn't one of his most impressive
performances.
"It was a tough race and not one of
my best times," Hurd said. "We had just
finished a long bus ride, and I didn't get
warmed up well enough before swim-
ming, so I was struggling a bit. But I
managed to pull out the victory which
was nice."
With the conclusion of their dual
meet schedule, the Wolverines look
toward the Big Ten Championships
being held in Minneapolis in four
weeks. Without any competition in the
interim, the team plans on putting in
some quality training for the next two
weeks to allow enough time for a seri-
ous taper.
"It's nice to have a long break before
the (Big Ten) Championships," Hurd
said. "That way all we have to do is
concentrate on one thing and not have
to train for any other competition."
This time, Josh Weitzel didn't end his
team's winning streak. He ended Minne-
sota's hopes for a Big Ten championship.
The No. 7 Michigan wrestling team
(3-0 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) has relied
on its five nationally ranked middle-
weights to accumulate the majority of
its points this season.
On Friday night, Weitzel lost to No. 9
Brady Reinke of Wisconsin and snapped
a five-match streak by Michigan's mid-
dleweights in the Wolverines 23-16 win
over the Badgers in Madison.
But after the Wolverine middle-
weights - from No. 6 Josh Churella
at 141 pounds to No. 12 Nick Roy at
174 pounds - built an 18-10 lead over
No. 4. Minnesota yesterday, it was the
unranked Weitzel who pinned 184-
pounder Jeremy Larson to seal the win.
The 24-19 victory over the Golden
Gophers kept the Wolverines undefeat-
ed in the Big Ten dual season and set
up a showdown with No. 2 Illinois next
weekend at Cliff Keen Arena.
The fact that just eight days earlier Min-
nesota (0-2, 6-6) had won the final three
matches to come back from a 16-12 deficit
and beat Michigan at the National Duals in
Cleveland added to the drama. Weitzel had
lost the first of those three matches, 3-1 to
No.7 Roger Kish, who was forced to sit out
of yesterday's rematch due to injury.
Yesterday, Weitzel entered the second
period tied 2-2 and began in the down
position. The sophomore quickly escaped,
went on the offensive and took Larson
down to gain an advantage in the match.
Midway through the period, Weitzel
caught the freshman in a nearside cradle
and eventually got the pin with just eight
seconds remaining in the period.
"It was nice to get that pin," Michigan
coach Joe McFarland said. "Josh was using
that cradle a lot last year and has gotten
away from it a little bit. So, it was nice to
see him go back to it this year. He got a
nice pin for us, and it helped us a lot."
Weitzel's pin gave the Wolverines an
insurmountable 24-10 lead with only
two wrestlers left - even if Minnesota
earned falls in both matches, it could
only total 22 points.
Minnesota finished strong and
earned one fall when freshman Matt
Koz pinned senior Willie Breyer in the
197-pound match.
At heavyweight, No. 2 Cole Konrad
earned his second consecutive victory
over Michigan's No. 3 Greg Wagner, 7-
2. Konrad bested Wagner at the National
Duals 4-1 and evened his career record to
2-2 against the Wolverine heavyweight.
"I don't think Greg wrestled the kind
of match that he needed to wrestle,"
McFarland said. "He's not wrestling
this kid the way we want to see him
wrestle. He's got to get out and get a
little more aggressive and score early
in the match. He's not making the scor-
ing attempts that he needs to make."
Minnesota jumped to an early 10-0
lead with an opening win at 125 pounds
and a pin by No. 3 Mark Reiter at 133
pounds before running into Michigan's
core of middleweight wrestlers.
Sophomore Josh Churella got the Wol-
verines on the board with a win at 141
pounds before No. 7 Eric Tannenbaum
(149 pounds) and No. 4 Ryan Bertin (157
pounds) earned major decisions that gave
Michigan a narrow 11-10 lead.
No.2 Ryan Churella earned a 6-0 victory
over No. 10 Matt Nagel at 165 pounds, and
Roy triumphed 14-4 for a major decision
over Nik Lentz to push the lead to 18-10.
Then Weitzel stepped up and extended the
Michigan winning streak to six matches.
"I think Weitzel needed a win too,"
McFarland said. "He had a tough match
against Wisconsin on Friday, so it's really
nice to finish like this, especially for him."
Despite Weitzel's loss on Friday,
Michigan used a Wisconsin forfeit at
heavyweight and the five wins from its
middleweights to cruise past the Badgers.
The two conference wins for Michi-
gan set the stage for the biggest dual
match of the Big Ten season, at home
against Illinois next Sunday. With its
second conference loss, Minnesota is
now out of the running.
"I felt, for the most part, that the guys
were wrestling pretty good," McFarland
said. "It keeps us in position where we
can win the Big Ten dual season. We still
have some tough matches ahead of us
- the big one is going to be next week."
Illinois finished second at last week-
end's National Duals, after taking No. 1
Oklahoma State down to the wire in a 22-
15 loss in the championship match.
"We're going to have our hands full
with Illinois, but the good thing is that
it's in our own gym. Obviously, one of
our goals is to win the Big Ten dual sea-
son, and then, as we head into the tour-
naments, to do well in both the Big Ten
Championships and the NCAAs."
L -
e WOM ElnS TRtACK AND FtEmLpDt
Bue laps intr'astate competition
By Daniel Bromwich
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's track and field team has
been competing hard for almost two months. But
up until Saturday at the Michigan Invitational,
the results didn't matter. The team had competed
in four meets, including the season-opening intra-
squad scrimmage that were all non-scoring
The Wolverines won six events and claimed the
title, winning the meet with a total of 145 points.
They topped their closest competitor - intrastate
rival Eastern Michigan - by 24 points. The rest
of the field included Michigan State (96 points),
Central Michigan (94), Western Michigan (66) and
Detroit (4).
Individual winners included seniors Sierra Haus-
er-Price (200-meter), Anna Jones (800-meter) and
Lindsey Gallo (3,000-meter), junior Stephanie Linz
(high jump), and freshman Nicole Edwards (mile).
But the athlete that looked most impressive was
junior Theresa Feldkamp.
Feldkamp ran a dominant opening 1,200-meter
leg of the distance-medley relay. On just her second
lap around the track she was leading the competi-
tion by over 60 meters - and she didn't look back.
Feldkamp increased her lead to 100 meters on her
fifth lap and handed her teammates a lead that was
nearly impossible to lose. Sophomores Kiana Sprin-
field and Melissa Dunn and senior Andrea Parker
just widened the gap as the race progressed. On
Dunn's 800-meter leg, the Wolverines lapped the
Detroit team. And on Parker's leg - the last of the
race - the team lapped both the Eastern Michigan
and Western Michigan teams.
"Theresa has been running really well recently,"
distance coach Mike McGuire said. "Her first leg
of the relay was unbelievably impressive, especially
considering she had nobody to race against. She's
running strong and consistently, and we're excited
for the Big Ten meets."
Feldkamp's run was especially remarkable con-
sidering that she had never run a 1,200-meter race
before. A middle distance runner, Feldkamp has run
600m, 800m and mile races this season.
"I just felt really good, really relaxed," Feldkamp
said. "It was really slow at the start of the race, and
I just decided to go for it. It felt really easy, and it
gave me a lot of encouragement for the mile."
Junior Stephanie Linz claimed the top spot in the
high jump competition, leaping over a height of 5-
10. Linz was forced to come through under pres-
sure, as she failed to clear the bar until her third and
final try. Her main competition - Central Michigan
jumper Tamera Thomas - stayed with Linz until 5-
10, but was unable to clear the bar with her three
attempts. Michigan senior Jennifer Williams came
in third with a finishing height of 5-6.
The Wolverines swept the mile run, with fresh-
man Nicole Edwards beating out freshman team-
mate Alyson Kohlmeier for the win. Kohlmeier and
Edwards led the group the entire race, and Edwards
passed Kohlmeier on the final turn to take the win.
"The plan was for Aly to take the lead after the
first three laps, and we would try to run a 4:35,"
Edwards said. "She took it, but, by the time she did,
I was already tired, and I was just trying to stay with
her. It didn't feel as good as my last mile, but I'm
still happy with the way it turned out."
Edwards won the race with a time of 4:45.98,
Kohlmeier finished in 4:46.90 and sophomore Jack-
ie Gaydos completed the sweep in 4:52.02, edging
out Michigan State runner Lisa Senakiewich by .87
seconds.
The team was pleased with the win but expects
the competition to pick up next weekend at Notre
Dame. South Bend boasts a very fast track and some
very strong competition, the likes of which Michigan
has not seen yet this year. After the meet, McGuire
addressed the team and stressed the importance of
performing well next weekend.
"The competition will really pick up next week-
end and in these next couple of meets," McGuire
said. "This is what we've been working for. We've
been competing hard and staying focused, and we
have to make sure to carry that with us to these next
couple meets."
Tumblers' best falls short against Utah
By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Sports Writer
On Friday night, the Michigan
women's gymnastics team ventured
into the hostile Huntsman Center to
face No. 2 Utah.
Despite a big comeback in the third
rotation - which brought them within
less then a tenth of a point of the Utes
- the No. 3 Wolverines fell in a close
meet 196.875-196.525.
"Our confidence is way up there,"
sophomore Lindsey Bruck said after
the team's performance. "We had our
best team score of the season, and,
although we didn't win, everyone went
out there and hit the routine they know
how to do."
Michigan was down by 0.425 going
into the third rotation when the team
stepped up and had its best team score
on the floor exercise on the season.
With the exception of senior Elise Ray,
no gymnast scored under 9.800. Junior
Becca Clauson led the way, posting a
score of 9.875. The team effort brought
the Wolverines within 0.025.
Michigan started its final rotation
with a 9.300 on the beam by sopho-
more Carol McNamera but recovered
quickly thanks to timely performances
from senior Shanna Duggan and Clau-
son who scored a 9.800 and 9.850,
respectively. The Utes started their
final rotation with three unspectacu-
lar floor routines but strung together
three performances of 9.900 or better
to escape with a win at home.
"I was really proud of my athletes
for going in there and really being com-
pletely unaffected by that and going out
there and doing their job," Plocki said
of the team's performance in front of
more than 10,000 hostile fans.
The coach also added that she was
impressed with the team's ability to
go into a meet - home or away -
and remain focused regardless of the
opponent.
Junior Jennifer Deiley and Bruck
continued their impressive seasons
by finishing second (39.325) and third
(39.300), respectively, in the overall
competition. For Bruck it marks the
fourth time in all four meets she has
finished in the top three overall. Deiley
has finished in the top three in three of
the meets this season. Both scores were
season-bests for the two gymnasts.
"They've been doing great," Michigan
coach Bev Plocki said. "They've got-
ten better with each competition. That's
exactly what we need, is to continue to
build and continue to improve - hit-
ting the handstands and sticking the dis-
mounts and all the little things that help
you win national championships."
Deiley and Bruck also recorded
season-highs in individual events.
It was the first time she has competed in
the event this season. Ray is still recov-
ering from injuries in both shoulders,
which kept her from performing in the
all-around yet this season.
"She did a good vault, (but) it cer-
tainly was not the vault she's capable of
doing," Plocki said. "She hasn't vaulted
in better than a month. I think she was
pleased with it. I was pleased with it.
We know it's going to continue to get
bigger and stronger."
The Wolverines started the meet
with a fall by senior Lauren Mirkov-
ich on the uneven bars. But thanks to
the performances of Ray and Deiley,
Michigan was still within 0.025 after
one rotation.
The Wolverines then went to vault
and were led by Deiley with a score of
9.850. But Utah's strong performance
on bars during the second rotation
extended its lead to 0.425. That set up
Michigan's big comeback effort in the
second half of the meet.
The Wolverines remained confi-
dent despite the tough loss to Utah.
Both Bruck and Plocki agreed that the
team has more room to improve. There
is one area the team feels it needs to
work on most before next week's meet
against UCLA.
"Landings, landings and more land-
ings," Plocki said. "We are going to go
back to some of the basics."
The Wolverines will face the Bruins
on Friday at Crisler Arena at 7:30 p.m.
JEFF LEHNERT/ Daily
Sophomore Jeff Weitzel split this weekend, winning his match against Minnesota
yesterday after falling short against Wisconsin on Friday.
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