2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 7, 2005 Gallo paces 'M' for first-place finish By Daniel Levy Daily Sports Writer The final scores were announced over the loud speaker at the Indoor Track Building on Feb. 27. "In second place with 117.5 points ... Illinois. In first place with 130 points... Michigan." Players hugged, screamed, slapped high-fives and raised one finger to the air. Chants of 'The Victors' resonated throughout the building. The Wolverines had regained the championship they lost last year, and, for the third time in four years, the Michigan women's track and field team had won the Big Ten indoor title. "I was very happy that the strategy our coaches and I came up with worked this weekend," Michigan coach James Henry said. "We put together a winning team, and I am very proud of our results." Senior Lindsay Gallo propelled this return to the top with an impressive weekend. On Saturday, she took the track to compete in the 3,000-meter run. For most of the race, she hung with the pack. Gallo - along with Jaime Turilli and Cassie Hunt of Illinois - separated from the rest of the field, and, with 400 meters left, Gallo switched into high gear and pulled away for the victory. With one individual title already in hand, Gallo prepared for the mile run on Sunday. The race was no contest. Gallo again set the pace with Hunt and ,"the two pulled comfortably into the lead. Then, with 600 meters left, Gallo took off. With 400 ieters remaining, she appeared to be running in her own race as she extended the lead and kicked her way to another individual title. To cap off a remarkable weekend, Gallo was at it again in the 5,000-meter run just an hour later. Following her usual pattern of staying near the lead and then streaking to a late victory, Gallo again turned on the jets with 400 meters left and beat out Turilli and Hunt en route to her third individual title of the weekend. "My training is geared towards kicking at the end," Gallo said. "We work very hard so that I have that extra burst at the end of the race. I prepared hard and it worked out well this weekend" That may be the understatement of the year. Gallo's three titles contributed 30 of Michigan's 130 total team points. Adding to the accomplishment was the fact that it was her first time competing in the 5000-meter run all year. "I wasn't even sure that I would run the 5,000-meter," Gallo said. "We needed the points, so I ran the race. But I wasn't sure I could win until I got out there." Senior Sierra Hauser-Price had a stellar weekend as well. Hauser-Price pow- ered past the rest of the field in the 200-meter dash to edge out Penn State's Shana Cox for the title. Even more determination poured out in the 60-meter dash, where HauserPrice sprinted stride for stride with Ohio State's Jenna Harris. As they crossed the fin- ish line, each runner leaned their bodies forward and fell flat on their stomachs. Although Hauser-Price got the short end of the final results, her sprawling sec- ond place effort was an inspiring site to behold. "It was a great race, and I wanted to win very badly," Hauser-Price said. "It was very close, and I give lots of respect to Jenna Harris." Also turning in strong performances for the Wolverines were freshman Nich- ole Edwards and seniors Theresa Feldkamp and Stephanie Linz. Edwards ran 'a solid 600-meter dash, making a late push to win her heat, but ended up com- ing in second overall. Feldkamp ran second in the 800-meter run from start to finish and was never quite able to overtake Illinois' Carlene Robinson. In the high jump, Linz's height of 5-9 1/4 earned the Wolverines another second-place Athlete of the Week Name: Lindsay Gallo Team: Women's Track Hometown: Freehold, N.J. Class: Senior Why: Gallo led Michigan to a first-place finish in the Big Ten Championships two weekends ago. She raced past Jamie Turilli and Cassie Hunt of Illinois in the final 400 meters of the 3,000- meter run to take the victory. Gallo then took first place in the mile run but still was not finished. With the two individual titles in hand, Gallo finished the afternoon with another first-place fin- ish - in the 5,000-meter run. 'M' SCHEDULE Date Event 3/7 3/10 M Tennis vs. Rice M Basketballvs. Northwestern Big Ten Tournament 3/11 W Track/Field at the NCAA Championships 3/11 Baseball vs. New York Tech. 3/11 W Gymnastics at Georgia 3/11 Hockey vs. Notre Dame 3/11 M Track/Field at the NCAA Championships 3/11 W Swim/Diving at the NCAA Diving Zones 3/11 M Swim/Diving at the NCAA Diving Zones 3/11 M Golf at Conrad Rehling Invit. Location Ann Arbor Chicago Fayetteville, Ark. Beaumont, Texas Athens, Ga. Ann Arbor Fayetteville, Ark. West Lafayette" West Lafayette Tuscaloosa, Ala. Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Beaumont, Texas Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Beaumont, Texas Columbus. Time 9 a.m. 12 p.m. 11 a.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:35 p.m. TBA TBA TBA TBA 10 a.m. 1 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 11:30 a.m. 1 p.m: 3/12 3/12 3/12 3/12 3/12 M Tennis vs. Butler W Tennis vs. Marquette Baseball at Lamar M Tennisvs. Indiana State Hockey vs. Notre Dame 3/13 Baseball vs. Central Conn. State 3/13 M Gymnastics TONY DING/Daily Senior Undsay Gallo took home three individual titles and helped Michigan take first place. showing. Then, this Saturday at the Alex Wilson Invitational, fifth-year senior Andrea Parker failed to qualify for the mile, despite running the second best time of her career. No other Wolverine competed in the meet, which serves as one last chance at qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Gallo heads a list of six Wolverines headed for the NCAA Indoor Champi- onships. She will be a favorite in the mile run as well as an anchor to a strong distance medley relay team that also features Edwards, Feldkamp and Hauser- Price. Linz will be competing in the high jump while freshman Alyson Kohl- meier will join Gallo in the mile run. The championships will be held on March 11-12 in Fayetteville, Ark. Blue posts season- high, downs Iowa By H. Jose Bosch Daily Sports Writer Despite late run, tankers finish third By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Writer Sometimes the satisfaction resides not in how you finished but in how you got there. The same is true for No. 5 Michi- gan men's swimming and diving team. The Wolverines finished third in the Big Ten Championships last weekend behind Indiana and Minnesota at the University Aquatic Center in Minne- apolis. Minnesota took the Big Ten Championships for the.second consec- utive year with an overall team score of 720 while Michigan tallied a total of 482 points. After a slow start on Thursday, the Wolverines fell to sixth place overall in the standings, but, on Friday, they came back to the pool with a driven mindset to climb in the standings in order to make a push for the crown on Saturday. Junior Peter Vanderkaay started strong for the Wolverines with a vic- tory in the 400-yard individual med- ley. Junior Davis Tarwater also helped Michigan, finishing second in the 100- yard butterfly. After falling into sixth place after the initial 25 seconds, he rallied to touch the wall two-tenths of a second behind Northwestern's Kyle Bubolz. In Friday's last event, the Wolver- ines came through with a critical win in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of Peter Vanderkaay, Tarwa- ter, junior Chris DeJong and senior Andrew Hurd finished in 6:21.77, tak- ing first and propelling the Wolverines into fourth place to end the day. As competition on Saturday began, Michigan coach Bob Bowman felt con- fident in his team's ability to continue to climb in the standings and make a run at an overall team championship. "We woke up and knew that we had a chance to move into third-place in the standings, which is something that we really set as goal for the meet," Bow- man said. "And everyone came in pret- ty optimistic and focused," DeJong started the day off with his first individual victory of the weekend - in the 200-yard backstroke. Also placing in the 200-yard backstroke, freshman Dane Grenda took eighth place with a time of 1:47.01 to give the Wolverines a boost in their point total. While the day progressed, the Wolverines enjoyed excellent per- formances from their top swimmers. Peter Vanderkaay continued his strong swimming with a victory in the 1,650- yard freestyle and a time of 14:42.52. Then in the 200-yard butterfly, Tar- water won in 1:44.03 - a pool record - and freshman Alex Vanderkaay took third. However, the Wolverines' improved performance as the weekend winded down could not propel Michigan to an overall team championship. While dominating most of the long-distance events, the Wolverines struggled to place swimmers in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle and other sprinting events. Also, Michigan did not score any points in the 3-meter, 5-meter, 7- meter or 10-meter diving finals, which hurt its chances to overcome Indiana and Minnesota. Although third place may seem like a disappointment, Bowman - partici- pating in his first Big Ten Champion- ships - was pleased with his team's improvement performance from Thursday to Saturday. "We started off with some adver- sity on Thursday, but we were able to bounce back and finish really strongly," Bowman said. "We made a huge rise in the team scores, and I felt that we swam about as well as we could swim." As the Wolverines improved, Peter Vanderkaay remained a solid contribu- tor with three individual titles and one relay victory. With his impressive per- formance, Vanderkaay was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and made the All-Big Ten first team along with teammates DeJong, Hurd and Tarwa- ter. After Peter Vanderkaay, Bowman believed that Grenda had the best over- all performance during the weekend. He posted a career-best time in the prelimi- naries and a NCAA-consideration time in the finals of the 200-yard backstroke. Shadowing the team's progression over the Big Ten Championships, Hurd swam better in the latter part of the weekend. After a slow start on Thurs- day, Hurd swam well Friday with a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard free- style and a win in the 800-yard free- style relay. On Saturday, he placed fifth in the 1,650-yard freestyle and fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay. While the Wolverines improved during the Big Ten Championships, Bowman knows that the true Cham- pionships are yet to come: the NCAA Championships on March 24-26. "We're happy with what we did (in the Big Ten Championships), but one of things that we have to remember is that for us, and particularly our top performers, this is the meet to qualify for the NCAA Championships," Bow- man said. "That's what we've been focused on and that's what our main focus is going to be." Emotions weren't the only thing running high during Friday night's final home women's gymnastics meet. The scores were sky high as Mich- igan defeated Iowa 197.800-194.275 - the highest team score posted by any team in the nation this year. Michigan also tied or broke season or career records in 14 straight rou- tines through the first three events. The final home meet of the season started out on a teary-eyed note as fans and teammates bid farewell to the five departing seniors - Shan- na Duggan, Chelsea Kroll, Lau- ren Mirkovich, Elise Ray and Kara Rosella. But the tearful reflection soon turned into tenacity from the very first vault. "Senior night always seems to be just an emotional high for us," Mich- igan coach Bev Plocki said. "And I hope.that tradition continues because it's just fantastic." The events started out with a bang, as the vaulters had their best night of the season. Led by junior Jenny Dei- ley (9.95), Michigan compiled a team score of 49.475. But Mirkovich's vault - the first routine of the evening - set the tone for the rotation and the entire meet. When the senior finished her vault with a perfect landing, the crowd went wild and many fans stood up to cheer the California-native. "The way Lauren Mirkovich start- ed us out on vault - That was the best vault I have seen her do in her whole Michigan career," Plocki said. And to start the meet with that, I think was outstanding." The Wolverines controlled the meet from start to finish, not giving the Hawkeyes any room for error. In a complete sweep, Michigan placed in every single event and had the top- three all-around winners - Deiley (39.625), sophomore Lindsey Bruck (39.550) and Ray (39.525). The Wolverines had to calm down for the balance beam, an event that requires careful concentration and not reckless intensity. But Michigan's intensity went right back up during their floor routines. Each gymnast's routine was spirited and full of life - five of the six rou- tines scored a 9.90 or higher. And each performance by an underclassman seemed to be an extra special salute to their departing teammates. "Do it for the seniors," Deiley said of the night's theme. "If anything else do it for the seniors. This is their .last meet here." For Ray, the week leading up to the meet was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. "It was really tough," Ray said. "I'm really good at controlling my mind for competition. But I was a little bit all over the place mentally just because of a lot of nostalgia. I kept thinking, 'This is my last this and this is my last that,' and that wasn't helping. But I had fun times. Sad but fun." Before the meet, the Crisler Arena crowd watched a video montage on the scoreboard while the song "Time of Your Life" played on the stadium speakers,. On Friday night, the Wolver- ines made sure the five departing seniors would have the time of their lives in the final home meet of their careers. TONY DING/Daily Despite Junior Peter Vanderkaay's three individual titles and contributing to one relay victory, Michigan finished third in the Big Ten Championships. University of Wisconsin-Platteville Study Abroad Programs 0 .3 I. aches?? The Michigan HeadePain & Neurological Institute is seeking individuals 1 years of age and older to participate in a research trial on migraine headaches. MIKE HUI.SEBUS/Daily Senior Elise Ray helped Michigan notch a season-high total In its final home meet Friday against Iowa. x.. London, Fiji, Rome, Nagasaki, Seville f NAI You may qualify for this study to evaluate an investigational medication for migraine prevention if you: . Have a history of headaches for at least 6 months " Experience 4- 1 2 headaches per month * Are in good physical health " Are able to attend neriodic visits to our clinic University of Michigan 2005 LeaderShape II1stit~tte May 9-14 or August 22-27 At LeaderShape you will.... WANT TO COVER BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS? Courses in liberal arts and international business No prior knowledge of foreign language required Field trips . i I