2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 5, 2005 CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY Synchro newest club varsity sport Athlete of the Week Name: Peter Vanderkaay Hometown: Rochester Team: Men's swimming/diving Class: Senior By Katie Field Daily Sports Writer Water ballet it's not. There is much more to synchronized swimming than graceful turns in the water. Just ask sophomore Rochelle Ross, a co-captain of the Michigan Club Varsity Synchronized Swimming team, about what the sport requires of its athletes. "You need the strength of a water polo player, the grace of a ballerina and the endurance of a marathon runner all combined in one," she said. "We're known for holding our breath so basically it's like trying to run holding your breath." In a sport where waterproof makeup, underwater speakers, nose clips and Knox - unflavored gelatin that hardens into a makeshift swim cap - are the norm, it isn't surprising that synchro is considered by many to be a very unique sport. Performing in depths between 14 to 17 feet, synchro swimmers never touch the bottom of the pool. Instead they tread water by doing a move called the "eggbeater" and submerge in order to hoist each other in the air for complex lifts and flips. Because these performances are so strenuous, senior co-captain Cynthia Saw - who previously swam com- petitively before giving synchronized swimming a try - finds it to be more difficult than swimming laps, but also more enjoyable. "You use muscle groups that you never knew existed in your body," Saw said. "It's tiring and it really is a lot of work. But the time passes by a lot quicker because you are doing a lot more fun things. We listen to fun music. We have awesome routines. It's a lot more upbeat and friendly." For many synchro swimmers, working on the routine is the best part of practice because they get to use their creativity to select their music and moves. Routines can have anywhere from one swimmer to eight in the team category. Judges award scores based on technique, pre- sentation and creativity. But the routine is just half the competition. There is also the figures portion in which the swimmers must slowly perform stationary move- ments for the judges. At the end of the meet, figures and routine scores are combined for an overall score. Much like the two separate parts of synchro compe- titions, Michigan's synchronized swimming team has two distinct teams: the competitive team and the perfor- mance team. The competitive team consists of 11 girls and participates in meets at the national level - the most important of which, the Collegiate Nationals, will take place at Stanford in March. The performance team provides the unique opportunity for complete beginners to learn synchro and, for many, to advance later to the national level with the competitive team. Two former Michigan synchro swimmers, Becky Trombley Domegan and Stephanie Dionne Sherk, advanced through the program and now are head coaches for the team. Sherk uses the knowledge of the sport that she acquired throughout her years at Michigan to create a training program to prepare her swimmers for national competitions. "We have a weekly ballet class, and we also have a weekly pilates class," Sherk said of her team's cross training. "We have weekly weight training, and then we meet regularly for land drilling, which is mocking the moves that we do in the water on land." One of Michigan's first six women's varsity sports, synchronized swimming was demoted to club sport status when athletics converted to the NCAA from the IAAUS. In the past year, Michigan synchro has regained some of its ground. Once named a Michigan's newest club varsity sport, the team receives the benefits of varsity sports teams, including media representation and a bigger uniform budget. The team has come a long way in the pool over the last few years as well. In 1999, the team began its sea- son with all new swimmers except for one returnee. Since then, they have been focused on improving and rebuilding the strength of the team. Last year, Michigan advanced more in national ranking than any other team. Currently, it is No. 13 in the nation. Sherk is especially pleased with the success of her team and its new club varsity status. "It's really exciting for us to see how quickly that evo- lution happened," Sherk said. Why: Vanderkaay won the 1,650-yard freestyle event in the final day of the Texas Invitational. The senior's win was his first indi- vidual win of the weekend. He also swam on the Wolverines' 800- yard freestyle relay squad, which finished first with an NCAA qualifying time of 6:22.76. 'M' SCHEDULE Date Event 12/06 W Basketball vs. Maryland Eastern Shore 12/07 M Basketball vs. Delaware State 12/09 W Basketball at Washington 12/09 Wrestling vs. Nebraska 12/09 Ice Hockey vs. Nebraska-Omaha 12/10 M Basketball at South Florida 12/10 W Gymnastics vs. Maize and Blue Intrasquad 12/10 Ice Hockey vs. Nebraska-Omaha 12/11 Wrestling at Central Michigan Location Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Seattle Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Tampa, Fla. Ann Arbor Ann Arbor Mount Pleasant Time 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 10 p.m. 7 p.m. 9 p.m. 3 p.m. 4 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 2 p.m. 0i Trio of captains lead tankers against nation's best By Anne Uible Daily Sports Writer Captains lead by example, and Michigan men's swimming captains Peter Vanderkaay, Davis Tarwater and Chris DeJong clearly stand by this motto. The three seniors each won an individual event this weekend at the much-anticipated Texas Invitational. "Those three guys are just really great to have on this team," Michigan coach Bob Bow- man said. "They are great leaders both in and out of the pool. The freshmen are so lucky to have them to look up to."' The No. 4 Michigan men's swimming and diving team placed fourth this week- end in Austin. The meet featured top-10 teams such as No. 2 California, No. 5 Ari- zona and No. 6 Texas. "I think all of our goals were accomplished at the meet," Bowman said. "We had five peo- ple get (NCAA) 'A' qualifying standards. It also gave us a picture of what things are going well and what things we need to work on. It was a good report card for the middle of our season." The Wolverines opened up the first day of events by claiming seven top-eight finishes and earning the team 155 points. In typi- cal Michigan fashion, the Wolverines domi- nated the distance events. Senior co-captains Vanderkaay and DeJong and freshman Matt Patton all raced in the final heat of the 500- yard freestyle. After qualifying Thursday morning in the runner-up position behind Southern Cal's Ous Mellouli, Vanderkaay strategically put himself in the perfect posi- tion for the race. At the start of the champion- ship heat on Thursday night, Vanderkaay kept ahead of Mellouli for the first 100 yards and then Melloui began to inch up. The rest of the event featured four lead changes and although Vanderkaay held down the faster time in the final 50 yards of the event, Melloui managed to get his hand to the wall just .17 seconds ahead of Vanderkaay. "I was pleased with the time," Vanderkaay said. "Ous is a great racer and it's fun going head-to-head with him in big races. Anytime we race I always get some of my best times." Patton and DeJong placed sixth and sev- enth, respectively in the event to give the Wol- verines a huge point boost for the evening. In the event, Patton got the opportunity to race against his brother, Sean, who swims for Texas. Sean placed 71st with a time of 1:42.04.. "I was really happy with the event," Bow- man said. "Everyone really stepped it up for us and got it done." Patton got the opportunity to swim against his brother in the event On the second day of the invitational, the Wolverines climbed up into third place by passing California with 351 points on the board. Highlights from the night included one victory, four automatic NCAA-qualifying times and seven NCAA-consideration times. The 200-yard freestyle proved to be the night's most rewarding event for the Wolver- ines. With four of the top-six finishers from the 2005 NCAA Championships competing in the event, the battle for the title came down to NCAA title owner Simon Burnett from Arizona, the 2005 runner-up Vanderkaay and senior co-captain Tarwater. Burnett led the event for the first half of the race with Tarwater and Vanderkaay following close by. In the third 50 yards, Vanderkaay pulled himself ahead of Tarwater and made a run for the leader. Burnett found a way to pull ahead in the final 50 yards and out- touched Vanderkaay by .40. As consolation, Vanderkaay and Tarwater managed to record NCAA automatic times. "I was really happy with my race in the 200 free," Vanderkaay said. "I was really close to my best-ever time so it makes me confident that I can work towards that in the rest of the season." The night was put on ice by a victory from the 800-yard relay team of Tarwater, Vanderkaay, freshman Bobby Savulich and DeJong. The Wolverines relay earned the first-place finish by handily beating second place Southern Cal by nearly six seconds and earning an automatic NCAA time of 6:22.76. On the final night of the meet the Wolver- ines managed to secure three individual vic- tories but slipped into fourth place, a mere 12 points behind third-place Southern Cal. Vanderkaay opened up Saturday night by edging out rival Mellouli - who outtouched Vanderkaay in both the 500-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley over the weekend - in the 1,650-yard freestyle by nearly two seconds. "It meant a lot to get the win in that event," Vanderkaay said. "We always seem to go back and forth in winning events." DeJong and Tarwater later claimed their own individual victories in the 200-yard backstroke the 200-yard butterfly, respectively. The meet marked the Wolverines' final competition for the year as the team will not be in action until Jan. 13 when they take on Purdue. JUSTIN BASS/Daily Senior Chris DeJong took home a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke at the Texas Invitational. WANT TO GO TO ThE ALAMO BOWL FOR FREE*? JOIN DAILY SPORTS. Wrestlers hit jackpot in Vegas 0 U U By David VandeVusse Daily Sports Writer The Wolverines felt right at home in Las Vegas. The No. 3 Michigan wrestling team was at the top of its game last weekend, winning the team title at the Cliff Keen Invita- tional for the second straight year with a score of 145 points. Cornell remained within striking distance of Michigan after day one, but fell short and finished with 116 points. The tournament featured 50 teams -10 of which were nationally ranked entering the weekend. It's fitting that the Maize and Blue found success at an invita- tional named after former Michigan standout coach Cliff Keen and organized by members of the Churella family - a family rich in Wolverine wrestling tradition. Fifth-year senior Ryan Churella and his brother, redshirt sophomore Josh Churella, lived up to their family name by win- ning individual titles Saturday in the 161-pound and 141-pound classes, respectively. Fifth-year senior Greg Wagner and redshirt freshman Steve Luke also took first in the heavyweight and 157- pound classes. Ryan Churella and Wagner successfully defended their individual titles from last year's tournament. "I was happy with the team effort," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. "They were aggressive and tough and scored lots of points." Ryan Churella's performance earned him the accolade of most outstanding wrestler of the tournament. "It's definitely something I recognize and appreciate'"he said. "It's a kind of cool thing coming here and winning this tourna- ment that I grew up around and that my dad runs." Despite Churella's dominance, it was Luke who made the big- gest strides on Saturday. In his first tournament as a member of Michigan's starting lineup, he reeled off six straight victories, including a win in the finals over Alex Tirapelle from Illinois, the top-ranked wrestler nationally in the weight class. "My offense wasn't very good," Luke said. "But (Tirapelle) is a very defensive wrestler, and it was a very defensive match." Both Luke and Tirapelle made escapes for one point each during regulation, but neither could mount a takedown. In the first tiebreaker they once again traded points, setting up a 3-3 score heading into the second round. It soon became clear that the match would be decided on riding time rather STEVEN TAI/Daily Redshlrt senior Ryan Churella and his brother, Josh Churella, both claimed Individual titles over the weekend. than points. If Luke could make a quick escape, he would have a chance to win. Early in the second overtime, he did just that. "I knew I had to escape," Luke said. "Right when the whistle blew, I exploded. He slipped and I got away." Luke finished with a four-second advantage in riding time, winning the match and the individual title. "It was a big confidence builder for him," McFarland said. "He beat some of the best wrestlers in the country." All four Michigan competitors who made it to the finals emerged victorious. Redshirt sophomore Eric Tannenbaum also performed well, finishing fourth in the 149-pound class. "This is just a great start for us and a confidence booster as a team," McFarland said. "But we can't get full of ourselves as it's still early in the season." The Wolverines return to Ann Arbor to face No. 12 Nebraska on Friday. ,::: ., , t "