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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