2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday -February 6, 2006
CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY
Club
Tae Kwon Do alive and well
Athlete of the Week
6
a
Name: Mike Woods
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Team: Track and Field
Class: Sophomore
By Julian Khaira
For the Daily
White. Yellow. Green. Blue. Red. Brown. It's a long
road to Black. For the members of the Michigan Tae
Kwon Do club, there's more to it than the color of the
belt they wear while they train.
For junior Mike Walsh, the club's vice presi-
dent - it took four years to rise the ranks of the
Tae Kwon Do hierarchy.
Walsh began studying Tae Kwon Do at age 12 and
obtained his first degree black belt at age 16. For him,
the study of Tae Kwon Do is an everlasting process of
learningnew techniques and forms.
"I actually found out about the club on the Internet,"
Walsh said. "And I've been involved ever since."
Tae Kwon Do is an ancient martial art form that
South Korean General Choi Hong Hi adopted and mod-
ernized in 1955. What makes Tae Kwon Do different
from other martial arts is that it is characterized pri-
marily by jump kicking and skillful footwork. The use
of lightning quickness and explosive force has helped
Tae Kwon Do quickly developed into one of the most
popular martial art forms.
The Michigan Tae Kwon Do Club - the oldest mar-
tial arts group at the University - is comprised of stu-
dents, faculty and staff. It is a subgroup of the University
of Michigan Tae Kwon Do network, which includes for-
mal classes and the University's Tae Kwon Do team.
The purpose of the club is clear: to teach and promote
the art of self-defense to the community. To do this, the
club focuses on promoting the two major aspects of Tae
Kwon Do: sparring and the instruction of forms.
Grand Master Hwa Chong - former head of the
United States National Team and, since 1968, head
instructor of the Michigan Tae Kwon Do club - is con-
sidered as a pioneer for the club. He served as president
of the United States Tae Kwon Do Union before joining
the Department of Kinesiology. Chong has watched the
club grow and prosper during the past four decades.
Walsh is the first to acknowledge just how
much Chong has done to promote and establish a
successful club.
"We are very fortunate to have Grand Master Chong,"
Walsh said. "He brings so much of his knowledge and
experience to the club on a nightly basis."
Currently, the Tae Kwon Do club is working on par-
ticipating in more tournaments and events. The club has
already made its mark on the local scene and is looking
to become more competitive at the national level.
"We are hoping to make it to the college nation-
al championships this year," Walsh said. "It is an
exciting time for us."
One quality that helps the Tae Kwon Do club run so
well is the fact that each member has a chance to drill
with all other members. The training includes a con-
stant rotation, so that even the most inexperienced white
belt student has a chance to spar with a black belt officer
during each session.
If you're interested in learning this Korean art of
self-defense, you can stop by room 2275 in the CCRB
on Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 7 to 9 pm. and
begin walking the path towards a black belt.
'Classic' title
Why: Woods ran the nation's fastest 3,000-meter time, of
7:52.27, winning the event at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend.
The time topped his previous personal best by more than five sec-
onds.
'M' SCHEDULE
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
Tumblers take home 9th
Date Event
2/7 Ice Hockey at Western Michigan
2/9 M Basketball vs. Ohio State
2/10 Ice Hockey vs. Lake Superior State
W Basketball vs. Ohio State
M Track and Field
at Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup
W Track and Field
at Tyson Invitational
M Tennis vs. Louisiana State
Water Polo vs. Santa Cruz
at Slug Invitational
2/11 W Track and Field
Water Polo at Stanford
at Stanford Invitational
M Gymnastics vs. Minnesota
Water Polo vs. San Jose State
at Stanford Invitational
W Gymnastics vs. Utah
Ice Hockey vs. Lake Superior State
M Track and Field
at Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup
2/12 Water Polo vs. Southern Cal
at Stanford Invitational
M Tennis at Alabama
Wrestling at Ohio State
Water Polo Championship Round
at Stanford Invitational
Location
Kalamazoo
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor
State College
Fayetteville, Ark.
Ann Arbor
Santa Cruz, Calif.
Fayetteville, Ark.
Palo Alto, Calif.
Ann Arbor
Palo Alto, Calif.
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor
State College
Palo Alto, Calif.
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Columbus
Palo Alto, Calif.
Time
7:35 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:35 p.m.
7 p.m.
11 a.m.
6 p.m.
7 p.m.
11 am.
12p.m.
7 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7:35 p.m.
11:30 a.m.
1 p.m.
1 p.m.
0
By Katie Field
Daily Sports Writer
MOUNT PLEASANT -The Michi-
gan Army National Guard was there.
No. 4 Michigan, Michigan State,
Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan
and the host of the evening, Central
Michigan, were also present at the
State of Michigan Classic.
On Friday, the battle for the in-state
title was waged as guards escorted the
teams to their events at Rose Arena.
The women's gymnastic team fought
for landings and hit their best routines to
claim the top spot, and it certainly wasn't
the first time. Friday marked their ninth
State of Michigan Classic win.
With a team score of 196.375, Michi-
gan placed well ahead of the second- place
Spartans, who scored 193.525. The Chip-
pewas came in third with a team score of
192.425. High honors went to senior Jenny
Deiley, who was the all-around winner,
and freshman Tatjana Thuener-Rego,
who - in her first all-around competition
- landed in second place.
Even though Thuener-Rego was par-
ticipating in her first all-around compe-
tition, she displayed the composure of a
seasoned veteran.
"I was really nervous," she said. "It
was hard, but I think I'll get used to it.
I was just happy to be competing all-
around. It meant a lot to me."
The classic followed Olympic rotation
orders, which meant the five teams com-
pleted each of the four events and had one
bye round. The format is similar to that
of the Big Ten Championship, making it
a valuable experience for Michigan.
The Wolverines were assigned to
the beam for the first rotation. They
advanced to their second rotation - the
floor routine - without scoring any
falls on the beam. Frequently, they
paused during routines to regain their
balance and fight to stay on the beam.
Michigan earned its lowest beam score
of the season (48.550).
On the floor, Michigan gained the
momentum it needed for the rest of the
meet. Deiley, Thuener-Rego and senior
Becca Clauson all pulled in scores of
9.925. Junior Lindsay Bruck scored a
season best with a 9.875.
Following a break on the third rota-
tion, the Wolverines came back strong
in the fourth to score a solid 48.950 on
the vault. Sophomore Katie Lieberman
pitched in with an impressive 9.825. A
pair of 9.875s from Thuener-Rego and
Deiley helped place Michigan comfort-
ably in the lead going into the final rota-
tion, the uneven bars.
Freshman Becky Bernard was back
in the lineup in her second collegiate
competition, scoring a 9.850 on a heal-
ing fractured foot. Deiley posted a 9.900
along with senior Lauren Mirkovich. The
two tied for first place on bars. The Wol-
verines closed out the competition with a
season- high bar score of 49.375.
Even though the Wolverines returned
to the tallest tier on the podium during
the awards ceremony, those who wit-
nessed their rough start to the meet must
have breathed sighs of relief.
Deiley noted how the work the team
put in since its last meet helped it come
back after its rough start.
"We improved some of the things we
needed to from last week," Deiley said.
"We didn't start off very strong, but we
definitely picked up from there"
From Michigan coach Bev Plocki's
perspective, the team's ability to move
past mistakes is one of its biggest assets.
"The thing that I was the most
impressed with was that we didn't have
great warm-ups, and yet the team still
really dug down deep and was able to
get themselves mentally and physically
where they needed to be to compete,"
Plocki said. "I think that's a sign of a
really strong team. If things aren't nec-
essarily going as smoothly as you would
like and you can still get it together, that
is the sign of a real competitor, and that is
what I saw in my team tonight."
0 MEN'S TENNIS
Doublespoint proves
critical for Netters
N MEN'S GYMNASTICS
Individuality supported by the team
By Colt Rosensweig
Daily Sports Writer
For the first time this season, the
members of the Michigan men's gym-
nastics team competed as individuals.
But that didn't stop them from excel-
ling at the Las Vegas Winter Cup.
The Winter Cup determines which
14 gymnasts will compete for the U.S.
national team. The top six all-around
finishers make the squad, along with six
others chosen on the basis of points given
according to their finishes in individual
events.. Wednesday, the Men's Program
Committee will name the final two gym-
nasts during a conference call.
"(Our goals) were to represent Mich-
igan, do a real good job, and improve
consistency in competition," Michigan
coach Kurt Golder said. "I think we did
a pretty good job of that. I feel pretty
good about it."
Facing some of the best gymnasts in
the nation - including former Olym-
pians Brett McClure and Jason Gatson
- seniors Gerry Signorelli and Luke
Bottke, freshman Joe Catrambone
and alum Eddie Umphrey advanced to
Saturday's final competition. The Cup
began with 84 gymnasts - just 42
moved on to the finals.
The Wolverines were not intimidated
by the quality of their opponents. Signo-
relli has trained with McClure and Gat-
son, and he, Bottke and Umphrey are all
Winter Cup veterans. Even the fresh-
men, Golder felt, were more inspired
than unsettled by competing on the
same level as former Olympians.
Signorelli led the Wolverines, finish-
ing 9th in the all-around competition
with a score of 84.4, his highest career
national finish. Catrambone finished
21st, scoring 80.4, despite some incon-
sistency. According to Golder, this
speaks well to the freshman's future
potential. Bottke competed in his two
specialties, tying for 12th on the vault
and seventh on the floor exercise.
"The person who I'm most proud of is
Luke Bottke," Golder said. "He stuck his
vault the first day. He was a two-event
guy, and he made the finals in those two
events. He did a very good job."
The Wolverines enthusiastically
encouraged their teammates unwaver-
ingly, even though they did not com-
pete as a team. Even former Wolverine
Geoff Corrigan, competing for Team
Chevron, was loudly supported.
"There were more Michigan guys
cheering for Geoff, who is compet-
ing now for another team, than guys
from his own team," Golder said. "All
the Michigan guys were going, 'Yeah,
Geoff! Good job! Way to go!' and all
that. And (from) all his present team-
mates - not a peep."
In addition to competing on an
individual basis, the Wolverines had
to deal with another new scoring sys-
tem. Starting this year, the Interna-
tional Federation of Gymnastics is
using a different scoring code at all
"elite level" events. Gymnasts are
given credit for their routine's con-
tent, difficulty and execution, and can
score higher than a ten. The Winter
Cup was the first men's event to use
the new system, and though it didn't
seem to affect Michigan's perfor-
mance, it was still confusing.
"We're using (the new system's) dif-
ficulty table in the NCAA but not their
execution scores," Golder said. "It's a
different experience. As a coach, you
know 9.5 is good, and 9.2 is pretty good.
But there, if you get a 13 or a 14 you've
got no clue. It's bizarre. Scores like 15
or 14, it just seems like Wacko-Land."
Both the solid showing at the Win-
ter Cup and the quality workouts by
the Wolverines who stayed home have
Golder more optimistic than usual
about the upcoming home meet against
Minnesota.
"I'm pretty psyched about it," Gold-
er said. "I think we'll do really well
against them. I'm hoping we do."
By Lisa Gentile
For the Daily
Winning the doubles point took some
of the pressure off of the men's tennis
team both Friday and Sunday.
Friday, the team used the point to their
advantage and defeated No. 37 Rice 5-2.
According to Michigan coach Bruce Ber-
que, after last year's 5-2 loss to Rice, "it
was nice to turn the tables:" But Sunday
the team was not as lucky and fell to No.
7 Virginia, 6-1.
"The score of 6-1 really didn't indicate
how close the match was, and it really
could have gone either way," Berque said.
"(Virginia) was just a point or two better
than us. It turned a lot of close matches
into close loses."
In one of the close matches, the doubles
point for the Wolverines (4-1) came down
to co-captain Brain Hung and sophomore
Matko Maravic's doubles match. The
No. 1 duo was tied 5-5 with Virginia and
proceeded to win the next three games to
finish off 8-5 against Cavalier Somdev
Devvarman and Treat Huey.
"We were down a couple of match
points," Hung said. "But, we were able to
sort of hang in there with the match, which
definitely helped the whole team."
At No. 3 singles, co-captain Ryan
Heller came back from a 3-6 first set
to win 6-3 in his second set against
Virginia's Rylan Rizza. But he lost 6-
7 in the final match-set.
Hung felt winning the doubles
point on both Friday and Sunday was
very crucial for the team, because it
gave Michigan confidence going into
the singles matches.
Heller agreed, saying how winning the
doubles point takes some of the pressure
off the rest of the team. He explained that
against such a highly-ranked team like
Virginia, the single matches will be tough,
so it's important to win the doubles point.
"Every team point counts for us,"
Hung said. "So knowing we have one
point, although it's only one out of seven
for us ... is good."
Both Hung and Heller felt that the team
improved after the matches this weekend.
"I think on Friday we took one step
forward;' Heller said. "And I think even
in this match (on Sunday), even though
we lost it, we took a step forward as well.
And, I think it definitely made us believe
that we could beat some top teams and
gave us confidence."
The team will face off against No. 10
Louisiana State this Friday at the Uni-
versity Tennis Center. Berque, Hung and
Heller all stressed the importance of both
matches this weekend in preparing the
team for playing the Tigers.
"(The team) knows they have another
opportunity on Friday night to play a top-
10 team, when we play Louisiana State,'
Berque said. "This time, it's going to be
home, and it's also a team we lost to 5-2 last
year, so we can work on this week and try
and turn that score around like we did with
Rice. LSU is a very strong team and our
guys will be excited for the challenge."
40
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