14 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Riley on verge of record s[',
By David Spielman
Daily Sports Writer
When the No. 8 Michigan field
hockey team records its next victory,
junior goalkeeper Beth Riley will
pick up her 36th career victory and
pass Katie Oaks to become the all-
time winningest goalie in the pro-
gram's history. Fittingly, the squad's
next chance to secure the record
for Riley is in Columbus against its
most despised rival - the Ohio State
Buckeyes.
"It is a big game, and we are always
excited to play them," Riley said.
In amassing her current tally of 35
wins, Riley has utilized both her skills
in the net and her ability to work within
the team structure.
In high school, she was a member of
the Tri-M Music Honor Society, where
she excelled at the cello. Though it may
be hard to imagine the link between
playing cello and goalie, Riley knows
it's there.
"You have to remain calm when
you play classical music, and you also
have to remain calm when you are
in high-pressure situations in goal,"
Riley said.
FRESHMEN
Continued from page 12
win," Bass said.
Early in the third quarter against
Eastern, Manningham made a high-
light-reel grab when he cut across
the middle and tipped Gutierrez's
throw to himself with his right
hand, racing 14 yards downfield in
the process. Against Notre Dame,
Manningham, who hails from War-
ren, Ohio, gave Michigan fans a
reason to cheer when he hauled in
Henne's late touchdown pass on
fourth down to bring the Wolver-
ines within seven points. Michi-
gan's quarterbacks are thrilled at
the opportunity to deliver the ball
to the talented twosome.
"The more guys that can contrib-
ute, the better we're going to be,"
Gutierrez said. "The young guys
are stepping in and doing a great
job. Every time I turned around,
one of them was making a play
or hustling downfield. They work
hard, they want to get better, (and)
they're improving every day in
practice. As you can see, they have
playmaking ability. So it's exciting
for the offense to see that."
Said Henne: "They're legiti-
mate. They're fast kids. They're out
there to make plays. Whenever you
put the ball in their hands, they're
going to .make the play and make
somebody miss."
The net-minder also understands
that just as it takes every instrument
in the orchestra to make a song sound
satisfactory, it takes every player on the
field to make a team successful.
"Each game is about the whole
team," Riley said. "It's not about who's
in goal or who scores the goals. It is
about what happened in the 70 minutes
that you play on the field. For a team to
win, you have to have people scoring
goals and people playing great defense.
So it relies on all the other people in
front of me."
Riley remains modest about her
achievements and also understands
that others have been instrumental to
her success.
"It is humbling to know that I am
compared to older girls like Katie
Oaks," Riley said. "It's quite an honor.
My freshman year, I stepped onto a
team that had Stephanie Johnson, Kris-
ti Gannon and April Fronzoni - all
those big names - and I was just a
little freshman. I learned a great deal
from them."
Riley's style of leadership fits with
her perspective on her achievements.
"Beth is a quiet leader, as she is not
nearly as verbose as her predecessors,"
Michigan coach Nancy Cox said.
But all of the evidence that Riley
is a soft-spoken classical music lover
is thrown into question when consid-
ering her nickname. Teammates refer
to Riley as "B-Rabbit," a reference
to Eminem's character in the film "8
Mile." While it may surprise some that
a cellist's moniker would be linked to
the foulmouthed freestylist, Riley's
presence and ability make her a force
similar to that of Marshall Mathers on
the mic.
In her 46 games for the Wolver-
ines, Riley has a miniscule 1.20 goals-
against average and has made a total of
170 saves in net.
With these sorts of numbers, Riley
leads loudly. Her team always knows it
has a proven anchor behind it.
Though Riley is always quick to
give her teammates credit for her stel-
lar record, her coaches and teammates
know that hgr work in net should not
be overlooked just because of her quiet
nature.
"She is a very humble, hardworking
young woman, and I think it's a great
testimony to her character considering
where she was when she started with us
and where she is now," Cox said.
JASON COOPER/Daily
Michigan goalkeeper Beth Riley recently picked up her 35th win of her career. She hopes to get No. 36 against rival Ohio State.
M WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Gall awaits her time to shine
I
By Nathan Sandals
For the Daily
Theresa Feldkamp
Katie Erdman
Nicole Edwards
Geena Gall
Even though none of these are house-
hold names, the first three of these women
are key members of the Michigan wom-
en's cross country team, the three-time
defending Big Ten champions. But accord-
ing to Michigan coach Mike McGuire, the
fourth name, Geena Gall, belongs in that
group as well.
Gall won't suit up for the Harriers this
season; she has already been redshirted.
Still, McGuire feels confident that by the
end of the 2006 cross country season Gall
will have earned her place among the
names mentioned above.
The fact that Gall is being redshirted
is the first common tie she has with Feld-
kamp, Erdman and Edwards.
"We have developed a pattern the past
few years of redshirting freshmen who
come from a middle-distance background
in high school," McGuire said. "Letting
the freshmen train in the fall of their first
year allows them to maintain through the
winter and spring track seasons and pro-
vides a great base for the rest of their col-
legiate careers."
Though she won't compete, Gall plans to
work hard this season so that she can live
up to the expectations of her coach and her
teammates. Most importantly, she wants to
contribute as much as possible to the team
during her career. The foundation for that
contribution begins now.
"I'm trying to make the adjustment to
more mileage as smoothly as possible,"
the Grand Blanc native said. "All five of
us true freshmen are working together
to make the transition easier. We all
live in West Quad and have a great time
hanging out and experiencing college
life."
Gall, who is still bothered by the knee
tendonitis that she began experiencing
this summer, returned to full team work-
outs on Monday. She expects to be 100
percent well before the start of the indoor
track season.
Returning to team workouts gives Gall
even more opportunity to learn from the
upperclassmen that McGuire groups her
with. Erdman is confident that Gall will
live up to the predictions.
"Geena has a lot of potential," Erdman
said. "It's a quality class of freshmen,
(and) they will accomplish a lot in their
time here."
Erdman followed the same path that is
currently laid out for Gall. She also red-
shirted her freshmen year after coming
to Michigan as an acclaimed high school
runner.
Gall arrives at Michigan highly
regarded nationally as a middle-distance
runner. She was a two-time indoor 800-
meter national champion in high school.
Gall only ran cross country for one year
in high school, but she showed that inex-
perience could not hold back her talent.
She ran the second-fastest time in her
high school conference's history and was
the regional champion in 2004.
McGuire knows that the freshman is
just a novice cross country runner. He also
knows that, with the guidance he offers,
as well as the leadership of upperclass-
men like Feldkamp, a novice can quickly
become a big contributor.
"I tell the girls that the four years can go
by really fast, but parts might feel like a
marathon," McGuire said. "As long as they
focus on the preparation and process, the
results they hope for will follow."
McGuire certainly knows what he's talk-
ing about. He ran both cross country and
track as a student athlete at Michigan in the
mid-1970s.
Gall is making sure she takes in all of
the advice McGuire and the upperclassmen
offer. She is ready to put in the amount of
time and effort necessary so that her name
fits with the others that McGuire readily
mentions her with.
6
I
True freshman wide receiver Mario Manningham has three
catches for 60 yards and a touchdown on the young season.
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