The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 18, 2005 - 7B
Inconsistent
play dooms
Wolverines
By Billy Heisier
Daily Sports Writer
For avid golfers, April is the pinnacle of the year. The
sweet spring rains refresh the greens and fairways, keep-
ing them soft.and forgiving. The sun rises earlier and sets
later, making for extended practice and pleasure out on
the links. And for competitive golfers, the season is ripe
and new like the fruit from a budding tree.
But so far, the Michigan men's golf team has yet
to find its stride despite the improving weather. The
Wolverines finished up the Boilermaker Invitational
last weekend in West Lafayette in 10th place out of 12
teams with an overall score of 900. It was a disappoint-
ing showing for the Wolverines, especially because they
had three weeks to recover from an 1Ith-place finish out
of 20 teams at the Furman Intercollegiate in Greenville,
S.C. Michigan even had the opportunity to practice on
its home course in Ann Arbor - for the first time of
the season - under beautiful weather conditions. But
in West Lafayette, many of the shortcomings that have
plagued the Wolverines came back to haunt them.
Michigan's main frustration this past weekend was its
inconsistent play. The team did not have enough good
scores per round to ascend up the rankings. Sophomore
Matt McLaughlin shot a career-best 1-under 71 in the
final round but carded a 77 and 76 in the first two rounds,
respectively. And freshman Tim Schaetzel shot a 76 in
the first round and a 72 in the second round to lead all
Michigan players after the first day but finished the final
round with an 80. Schaetzel dropped down to the team's
fourth-best scorer.
"It seems like the same old song," coach Andrew Sapp
*M' holds off Iowa
to notch close win
Michigan junior Christian Vozza struggled with an overall score of 235 at the Boilermaker Invitational last weekend.
said. "We have a good round here and there with a bad
round here and there.... We had some good play through-
out the tournament, but we are just missing shooting that
decent score because we have to count a poor round. We
cannot count a 77 or 78. Those need to be 74s or 75s."
Adding to Michigan's woes was the disappointing
play of the team's best player, junior Christian Vozza. He
carded a frustrating 235 overall (78-80-77) and ended up
as the team's fifth-best scorer. But according to Sapp, this
should be no cause for alarm.
"Vozza's performance was quite surprising for me,"
Sapp said. "It was an uphill battle for us - as it would be
for any team - to stay competitive with our best player
scoring way below his potential. But he will recover
quickly from this off-weekend. Once he is done with
finals, he will be good to go."
But the fact that the best scores did not pile up
each round does not take away from McLaughlin
and Schaetzel's superb performances. With a score of
224, McLaughlin finished as Michigan's best overall
scorer and tied the second-best tournament finish of
his career. In addition, Schaetzel's 54-hole tournament
total of 228 was a career-best by one stroke. He tallied
a 229 at the Furman Intercollegiate.
With the next event in sight, the players will devote
a good deal of time to regaining their confidence and
strengthening their mindset. McLaughlin saw this week-
end that mental toughness boosted his performance,
and he believes that this could be a key ingredient to the
team's future success.
"I have been battling with my mental thoughts all sea-
son," McLaughlin said. "If we can just stay within our-
selves and focus more on the mental side of the round, I
think good things will happen."
By Sara Livingston
Daily Sports Writer
BELLEVILLE - It all comes down
to the final stretch, the last 500 meters of
the 2,000-meter race, where contests are
won and lost. For the first 1,500 meters,
nothing matters - the boats just stick to
their race plan and focus on maintain-
ing a steady speed. But once the crews
hit the bright orange buoy, the true race
begins. The rowers leave it all out on the
water, pouring everything they have left
into each and every stroke, in hopes of
outlasting their opponents and crossing
the finish line victorious.
Thanks to their heart and clutch
performances, the first varsity eight
of the No. 2 Michigan women's row-
ing team ended its 2005 regular sea-
son undefeated. In their morning race
on Saturday, the Wolverines had just
a four-seat lead over Iowa going into
the final stretch. The Hawkeyes battled
back and pulled within inches, gaining
speed just as the boats passed the fin-
ish line. The cheering immediately
ceased to a halt, as the eager parents
lining the shores of the Belleville
Lake were unsure as to who had won
the race. But the announcer confirmed
that the Wolverines had come out on
top and had defeated the Hawkeyes by
just 2.2 seconds.
"I think it was definitely a feeling of
'This is it. We need to pull it together
now,' " senior Sarah Trowbridge said.
"We have a shorter course (1,900 meters
as compared to the standard length of
2000 meters), and we were coming up
to the island where everybody is. We
needed to pull together, and we weren't
going to let them take this from us on
our home course. That was a big thing
for us, to make sure we didn't give it up
on'our home course."
Yet the Wolverines' afternoon com-
petition came at them just as strong.
It was deja vu for Michigan when the
first varsity eight boat was neck and
neck with No. 4 Wisconsin in the last
race of the day. Michigan increased
their lead from four seats to a full boat
in just 100 meters, but the Badgers
came soaring back in the race's final
moments and trailed the Wolverines
by one seat as the boats turned the
final corner of the course. But along
the turn the rowers knew it was the
perfect time to break away from Wis-
consin and begin their sprint toward
the finish. With just 200 meters to go,
the Wolverines held off the Badgers,
crossing the finish line exactly three
seconds before Wisconsin - 6:29.8
to 6:32.8.
"The last 500 is always huge, and,
to no surprise, it was big against Wis-
consin," senior coxswain Tara Medina
said. "I think that, for any crew, it's
just going to come down to who has
more heart. You are spending that first
1,500 meters full charge, and the crew
that keeps its boat speed consistent
from what it was at the beginning of
the race will be the crew that does that
better that will come out on top at the
end of the race.
"(The Badgers) have a lot of heart
when they row, and you can just feel
that. And it's great to go up against
them head to head. This time, we
really just stuck to our race plan and
left it all out there and came out with
a good win."
The race against Wisconsin was par-
ticularly important to the seven seniors
in the boat because it was their final
home regatta. Michigan will head to the
Big Ten Championships in Bloomington
in two weeks. The Wolverines recorded
a record number of fans for the event,
and they could see the sea of Maize and
Blue lining the peninsula around the
final leg of the race.
"We definitely had a little talk before
we went out about how this was our last
race on our home course and we don't
actually race here all that often. We do
have fans and supporters that always
come out, but we had more out today
than we normally do," senior Cristin
McCarty said. "We could hear them
coming around the point because it is
right by the last 500. However, Tara had
her cox box turned up really high, and
we couldn't hear exactly what the fans
were cheering. But it was still good to
know they were there."
The second varsity four boat also won
both its races against Wisconsin and
Michigan State, while the second varsity
eight continued to struggle. After beat-
ing Iowa, it lost to Wisconsin by seven
seconds, leaving coach Mark Rothstein
to question his current lineup.
"I was really pleased with our fours,"
Rothstein said. "Our first varsity four
made great improvement, and our sec-
ond varsity four won both races. So that
was definitely encouraging.
"However, we have some selection
issues that we need to look at. We may
look at some different lineups for our
second varsity eight, and that may be
something that we look over the net cou-
ple of weeks just to make sure that we
have the right people in the right boats."
* WOMEN'S TRpACK & BE L ch
Felkap paces Ble ith caeer hg
By Daniel Bromwich
Daily Sports Writer
Athletes are trained so that, when the
time comes for them to perform, they will
excel and compete at the highest possible
level. The mantra "Do your best" is word-
ed in different ways, but every athlete
has heard some variation of it at multiple
points in her career.
When an athlete does her best, she
usually comes out with a satisfying per-
formance. But last week, senior Theresa
Feldkamp's best was not good enough.
Feldkamp set a new personal-best in the
1,500-meter by over three seconds at the
Duke Invitational with a time of 4:30.29.
But she wasn't satisfied with her run. Feld-
kamp was disappointed by her inability to
break the NCAA regional qualifying time
of 4:27.80.
So with the team in Walnut, Calif., this
weekend for the Mt. SAC relays, Feld-
kamp decided that, if her best wasn't good
enough, she would just have to get better.
And she did just that, finishing 19th in the
1,500-meter run with a time of 4:25.90
and cutting almost five seconds off her
previous best performance.
"I thought my race went really well,"
Feldkamp said. "I'm happy to get the
regional mark, and I definitely ran a lot
better than I did at Duke. I know I can run
even faster than I did this time though."
With her performance, Feldkamp
became Michigan's third regional quali-
fier in the 1,500-meter, joining fifth-year
senior Lindsey Gallo and freshman
Nicole Edwards.
"I don't really know the reason why we
are running (the 1,500-meter) so well,"
coach Mike McGuire said. "The girls are
just starting to train really hard, and a lot
of the more talented runners like Theresa
are really expanding their range. They can
then excel at the 1,500-meters or another
race in addition to their specific event."
Like Feldkamp, fifth-year senior
Andrea Parker also experienced disap-
pointment while still setting a career best,
missing the regional qualifying time in
the 1,500-meter at the Florida Relays by
just 0.73 seconds. And just like Feldkamp,
Parker was able to qualify this weekend.
Parker finished eighth in the 5,000-meter
run with a time of 16:46.64 - almost 10
seconds faster than her previous best time
in the 5,000-meter.
"I thought I ran a good race, especially
considering the conditions," Parker said.
"There were 51 girls in the event, so, for
the first couple laps, there was a lot of
pushing and shoving and elbowing. I'm
happy with the time, and I'm happy to get
the standard, but I think I could have run
faster in better conditions."
The final day of the meet saw continued
success and more qualifying marks for the
Wolverines. Junior Katie Erdman looked
fully recovered from the stress fracture
in her foot that caused her to sit out the
season, and she destroyed her career-best
in the 800-meter, finishing in 2:05.98. She
fell short of Gallo's school record by just
2.18 seconds.
Gallo herself did not have her best week-
end, in part because she has been sick all
week. But with a time of 4:21.51, the cap-
tain was able to pull through and qualify
for the NCAA regional in the 1,500-meter
run for the second week in a row.
The runners were not the only Wol-
verines to qualify this weekend. Across
the country in Knoxville, Tenn., soph-
omore Bridgette Maynard broke the
regional qualifying standard in the dis-
cus with a throw of 158-6, good enough
for third place. Her throw was just four
inches short of her career-best in the
event, which she set last May at the
Jesse Owens Classic.
"The throw actually didn't feel very
good," Maynard said. "I wasn't even
going to check the distance, but (team-
mate) Amy (Bicknell) told me to check it
because she thought it looked pretty far.
She was right, but I still have a lot of work
to do with my footwork before I'm at the
point that I want to be at."
N MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Whitehead sets school record
By Ian Robinson
Daily Sports Writer
His meet did not start on a positive
note. The first jump of the preliminary
round was what sophomore triple jump-
er Michael Whitehead called "another
one of the bad ones." After a word with
assistant coach David Kaiser, White-
head took his second jump and posted a
decent distance of 50-9.
"My marks were on without any foul
trouble," Whitehead said. Since my marks
were on, I began carrying more speed into
the board."
The increased speed allowed White-
head to set a school outdoor record of 51-3
1/2 in the triple jump on Saturday at the
nonscoring Sun Angel Classic in Tempe,
Ariz. Whitehead's third-place jump bet-
tered his previous school record by two
and one-half inches.
Although he had hit the regional quali-
fying mark of 49-5 3/4 in the first two
meets of the season, Whitehead had not
been pleased with his performance thus
far. But he hopes that Saturday's perfor-
mance could be the turning point.
"In the first two meets, I was disap-
pointed," Whitehead said. "After (Sat-
urday), I am psyched about four big
upcoming events."
Whitehead's record highlighted a solid
team performance. The team earned nine
regional qualifying marks - two in the
field and seven on the track.
"Everyone performed well in the heat,
despite the fact that it is difficult for the
athletes to breathe when it is hot and dry,"
Warhurst said.
Junior high jumper Brad Miller earned
Michigan's other regional mark in the
field events with a jump of 6-10 3/4. Mill-
er's first career qualifying mark was one-
quarter of an inch short of his personal
best and earned him a fourth-place finish.
On the track, junior Andrew Ellerton
earned two regional qualifying times in
his outdoor season debut.
"During indoors, I struggled with minor
injuries and wasn't able to get good train-
ing in," Ellerton said. "This meet helped
me get back into racing shape."
In the 800-meter run, Ellerton finished
in second place with a time of 1:50.29,
nearly four seconds behind the winner,
Auburn All-American Sheridan Kirk.
"I wasn't happy, and I felt flat in the
800," Ellerton said. "I was lucky to get the
regional time."
Two hours after his second-place fin-
ish in the 800, Ellerton claimed sixth
place in the 1,500-meter run with a time
of 3:46.17.
"I was happy about my performance in
the 1,500," Ellerton said. "In the last 100
meters, I caught up to a lot of runners."
Ellerton was one of four Wolverines
to earn regional qualifying times in the
1,500-meter race. Freshman Michael
Woods paced the Wolverines with a sec-
ond-place finish. With 300 meters left he
moved into the lead but could not hold
on, and Aaron Aguayo of Arizona State
passed him. Woods's time of 3:44.52 was
0.48 seconds behind Aguayo.
Freshman Victor Gras earned the first
NCAA regional qualifying time of his
career with a ninth-place time of 3:46.75.
Junior Rondell Ruff was Michigan's
fourth regional qualifier in the 1,500 with
a 10th-place time of 3:47.09.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Seth Waits's
eighth-place time of 52.47 was also good
enough for an NCAA regional qualifier.
Sophomore Stann Waithe became the
first Wolverine sprinter to earn an NCAA
regional qualifying time this season with
a ninth-place time of 46.70 in the 400-
meter dash.
Despite the conditions at Sun Angel
Stadium, Warhurst wanted his athletes
to compete in many events. Eleven Wol-
verines competed in multiple events with
senior Nathan Taylor competing in four.
"We try to get a lot of work in (the
warm weather)," Warhurst said. It is more
than we would do at home."
As a whole, the coach said that he
believes that his athletes are where they
need to be with just three meets left until
the Big Ten Championships on May 13-15
"We are pleased with the progression,"
Warhurst said.
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