Friday March 25, 200 sports. michigandaily. com sports@michigandaily.com POwiFRTSLIganBaIv 10 ICE HOCKEY ax- leers look to ' n .x, a ,"Q ac ' P e gds Y y y f g ° d .aa.. y ..........................~.......'..'o.4< e loss in By Ryan Sosin Daily Sports Writer When Michigan (23-3-2 CCHA, 30- 7-3 overall) left the ice following its November matchup with Wisconsin (16-9-3 WCHA, 23-13-4), the Kohl Center crowd taunted the then-No. 1 Wolverines with a chant of "overrated." Michi- gan coach Red Berenson agreed with the fans eval- uation. But the Michigan team that faltered in the College Hockey Showcase is rolling into the tourna- TONI Micign v at NCAA Time:8& \a And ment on a 14-game unbeaten streak. "I think we were looking too far ahead in the future when we were in Novem- ber, assuming that we would be in the position that we're in (now)," sopho- more T.J. Hensick said. "Once we real- ized that things aren't going to be given to us, then we went out and played 10 times better." In November, as Wisconsin handed Michigan a 3-1 loss, Hensick and senior Eric Nystrom were sitting a few hundred feet above ice level. Watching from the stands, the senior captain - who had been vomiting on the bench the night before - and the team's co-scoring lead- er sat helplessly as the Wolverines stum- bled to the lowest point of the season. "It (was) disappointing not to get in that game," Hensick said. "Especially a Big Ten rivalry like that. But you get a second chance, and, hopefully, I can come out and play hard." During that road swing, Michigan lost to Minnesota, 5-1, on olympic-sized ice before the loss to Wisconsin on a larger- than-usual surface. Aside from being at a vastly different point on the momen- tum scale, the Wolverines will not have tourney to overcome the spacing differences on Van Andel Arena's regulation ice. "It's nice to get them in Grand Rap- ids on smaller ice," Nystrom said. "But I have a feeling they'll be ready for us, and we'll be ready for them." Most of the Wolverines seemed thankful for the IGHT chance to face Ohio State Wisonn - the only other CCHA Regioa1s team in the tournament :.30p.m. - during the conference finals. eL0e a Despite the close 1-0 win over Notre Dame, Hensick said where the level of play was the only game up to par with the NCAA tournament. "(It will be) a battle," freshmen Chad Kolarik said. "That's how I would describe it, a battle. Maybe even a war. It's going to be much tougher than Ohio State and Alaska. We've got to be ready for anything." Adding to Michigan's drive during this year's playoff run are the memories of an early exit from last year's NCAA tournament. A quarterfinals loss to then-No. 4 Boston College marked the first time this year's seniors didn't play in the Frozen Four. "You never want to get too high and you never want to get too low," junior Al Montoya said. "Right now, we're at the point that we know what it takes. Last year was just a piece of the puzzle" "They've had a tough, tough sched- ule," Berenson said. "We've had tough games, but, on paper, the teams they've played are a lot better than the teams we've played. So, that's why I say they're a lot better than their record." The Wolverines skated in Grand Rap- ids yesterday and will get in a gameday skate before tonight's game. FOR MORE HOCKEY, SEE PAGE 12 TONY DING/Daily Junior Peter Vanderkaay placed first in the 500-yard freestyle yesterday, missing the American record by 1.07 seconds. Vanderkaay coasts to winin500 By Anne Uible Daily Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS - The smile said it all. Standing on the podium in front of his family, his friends and the swimming community, junior Peter Vanderkaay waved a number one above his head and accepted the first-place NCAA trophy for winning the 500-yard freestyle. Vanderkaay led the Michigan men's swimming and diving team to a ninth-place standing last night after claiming the freestyle on the first day of competition at the men's NCAA swimming championships in Minneapolis. In the morning prelims of the 500-yard free- style, Vanderkaay led his heat for the first two hundred yards of the race. Slowing down his pace for the final portion, Vanderkaay allowed Justin Mortimer of Minnesota to draft off of him and ultimately outtouch him by eight-hundreths of a second. "I tried to keep it smooth in prelims," Vanderkaay said. "I wanted to save up for the finals." His strategy worked. Vanderkaay opened up the first four laps of the 20-lap race in 47.52, the fastest 100-yards of the day. "I told him he has more speed than anyone else in the race and that he should take it out more aggressively and just keep going," coach Bob Bowman said. The field of eight swimmers tried to keep up with Vanderkaay for the next six laps, but they were unable to break the half-body lead that he had taken from his opponents. With 10 laps left in the race, Vanderkaay broke further away from the pack and created a two-body lead off second place Mortimer. "I tried to go out pretty smooth but not too slow," Vanderkaay said. "I just wanted to ham- mer that last half of the race." Turning into his final lap of the race, the crowd rose to its feet in encouragement of breaking the American record of 4:08.75 set by Michigan alum and Olympic great, Tom Dolan. Vanderkaay hit the wall and immediately looked around to the scoreboard to see his time. It was 4:09.82, just 1.07 seconds off. While Peter would have liked to have broken the record, he was far from being upset. "The race went exactly the way I wanted it to," Vanderkaay said. "I felt like I stuck to the game, plan, and I was happy with my time - it was my best time by a couple of seconds. I was trying to go for the record, though." Peter's parents, Robin and Mark Vanderkaay watched Peter win the 500-yard freestyle and couldn't help but be proud. They believed that winning the race will push him to do better over the next couple of days. "It going to pump him up," Mark Vanderkaay said. "I think it will pump up the rest of the kids on the team also. He's going to be pretty tough in the (200-yard freestyle) and the mile." While Bowman was pleased with the results of the first day of competition, he expects the team to get better everyday. "We're very strong in the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 100 specialty events, which are later in the weekend," Bowman said. "But I think a ninth-place standing is a great place to be after the first day. I think we did just as well as we could do. We had a lot of time drops and fast swims. That's what we came here to do. We just need the guys to be fast in the morning and faster at night for the next two days. It's a very simple game." Today the Wolverines will compete in the sec- ond day of preliminary action, starting at 12 p.m. and the finals begin at 7 p.m. A Outfielder heats up batting order By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Writer Something was wrong. During the middle of the 2004 softball season, senior outfielder Michelle Teschler began to feel pain in her right shoulder. She went to the doctor, but the pain did not subside. After trying to play in a couple of games, she was relegated to coming off the bench, primarily as a pinch- runner. Once the season ended, Teschler decided to get an MRI on her shoul- der. It turned out that she had torn a ligament and needed surgery. While recovering from sur- gery, Teschler was forced to sit out during summer and fall soft- ball workouts and games. In many cases, a player might have come back slowly - allowing time to work out the rust from sitting out an extended period of time - but Teschler took a different approach. "I was really rejuvenated," Tes- chler said. "I came into the season really, really excited. I just came back after my surgery this summer with the mentality that I have noth- ing to lose. I just go out everyday and work my hardest." Teschler's mindset has paid off so far. In the Wolverines' 28 games, she has started all but one and bat- ted .265 from the ninth spot. Last season, Teschler batted .169, and, after the surgery, no one could have expected her average to increase almost 100 points. "I didn't have any expectations," Teschler said. "I didn't really want to put anything out there. "I expected from myself just to try my hardest and work hard. My mentality is that that hard work will pay off." Alongside Teschler's positive atti- tude and work ethic, one of the big- gest reasons for her improvement rests in her assured demeanor. Mich- igan coach Carol Hutchins believes that Teschler is as upbeat as she's ever been. "She's hitting with confidence," Hutchins said. "She's a whole new player because she is a confident player. She's having good at-bats, she's putting the ball in play and she's turning . the lineup over which is the No. 9 hitter's job. She has made some things happen for us." When Teschler came to Michigan four years ago, she arrived with a bundle of awards. She was the No. 3 softball player in the state of Michi- gan during her junior and senior year and was on the Detroit News All-Metro first-team for three con- secutive seasons as well. But, in her first year at Michigan, Hutchins used Teschler mostly as a pinch-runner. She saw an increase in playing time her sophomore sea- son by starting in 16 games while appearing in a total of 34 games and batting .191. In her first three seasons, Tes- chler never batted higher than her .212 average her freshman season, but, with her newfound confidence, Teschler has exploded offensively this season. Crediting her work with hand-eye ILE PHUIO/Daily Senior outfielder Michelle Teschler has come back from shoulder surgery to play a critical role in the Wolverines' batting order. coordination drills, she is seeing the ball better than she ever had before. Her vision has allowed her to pick up pitch locations and start her swing earlier. Hutchins understands that Tes- chler's determination has helped her succeed, and she knows that she can trust Teschler at the plate and in the field. "She has maturity," Hutchins said. "She has gained confidence from the fact that she's been in there, day after day, playing. She came back deter- mined to get through her injury, and she's doing a nice job." While Teschler has improved offensively, she has also taken an active role in raising the spirits of some of her teammates after dis- heartening at-bats. "I try to lighten the mood," Tes- chler said. "I'll tell a joke or some- thing like that. I'm very willing to help my teammates out whenever, whether it's doing extra work or just encouragement or confidence - like saying nice things during the game or after the game." 'M NOTES Gjesdal takes first in steeplechase, qualifies for NCAA Regional If you don't know what the steeple- chase is, just ask Michigan junior Ana Gjesdal. Yesterday, Gjesdal took first place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla. Her time of 10:41.25 qualified her for the NCAA regional, smashing the standard by 10 seconds. Sophomore Laura Brosius placed sixth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:31.86 - a new personal best. On the field, the Wolverines com- peted in the hammer throw. Senior Ashley Eckel finished 10th, and fellow senior Tara Kennedy placed 14th. Both hit season bests with their throws. Action continues tomorrow and ends 0 0 Blue uses Shootout to prepare By Sara Livingston Daily Sports Writer With spring air sweeping through the open fairways, the No. 25 Michigan women's golf team teed off for the opening round of play at the Baylor Tapatio Springs Shootout in Boerne, Texas. The Wolverines had just one thing in mind - winning the tournament. Freshmen Isabelle Gendreau led the way for Michi- gan, shooting a 71 and finishing the day in first place. The Wolverines currently sit in second, six strokes behind leading Baylor and 13 strokes over par. While Gendreau has struggled in past tournaments, com- ing in 43rd at the UNLV Spring Invitational last weekend, coach Kathy Tiechert is confident that Gendreau will con- tinue her outstanding play through the weekend. "She's young, yet she is still a very experienced player so we're really happy with her," Tiechert said. "She is sitting in a great position right now and we are looking forward to seeing how she will do in the next couple of days. Hopefully, she will keep this pace." While Gendreau was the only player at the tournament to shoot under par, which was 72, sophomore Ali Stinson who had been performing especially well this season - winning the season opener Central District Clas- sics. She ended the round tied for 27th place after shooting an uncharacteristic 7-over-par. "There are still two more days of the tournament, and it's a very close race," Teichert said. "There is still a lot of golf out there to be played. We're just going to have to take one shot at a time and maintain our dedi- cation and focus and continue to execute our shots." While the Wolverines were happy to be out of the frigid Ann Arbor outdoors, they faced other problems in Texas. Due to the lack of precipitation, the greens were difficult and the fairways were rough. "The course isn't in as good of shape as we want- ed it to be," Teichert said. "It just isn't in as great of shape, so it's a little difficult to putt and play the greens. Yet, at the same time, it's the same conditions for everyone, and we just have to play with what we have. I'm not going to use the course or anything else as excuses." Tiechert wasted no time expressing her desires to' win this tournament and to start preparing her team for the Big Ten Championships, which Michigan will OV~4. .,.. <.4~. '*~>'4.>*. : .:.4&4:4:.:4., X44~ .4,.' '4 .~ A4~~.<.~ -.