6B -The Michigan Dail - SportsMonday - February 6, 2006 0 WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD Erdman outpaces nation in 800 0 MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD Woods, Whitehead stand out for Blue By Chris Herring Daily Sports Writer SOUTH BEND - This weekend, Katie Erd- man's performance at Notre Dame was compa- rable to Leonardo DiCaprio's role in "Catch Me If You Can." Well, sort of. Like DiCaprio, Erdman got out. in front early, forcing her competition to "catch" her. Unlike DiCaprio, the All-Ameri- can didn't have to hide her identity or escape imprison- ment. Also different from DiCaprio, Erdman evaded her competition by fend- ing off Minnesota's pesky Heather Doriden to win the event. And in this situation, the reward couldn't have been Erdman more worth it. Erdman's time of 2:04.21 was not only fast enough to claim the best half-mile time at the meet. It also marked the NCAA's fastest 800-meter time in the nation this season as well. Erdman felt having the fastest time in the coun- try was a bonus, and that she would have been sat- isfied with the time regardless of where it stood in relation to others. "It was a good race, but it would have been a good race even if (the run) was the sixth-fastest time in the country," Erdman said. "It was a big improvement from what I've run this season." Though she led the race from start to finish, Doriden gave Erdman all she could handle. The Minnesota freshman turned it on down the home- stretch and missed Erdman by just .09 seconds. Erdman's time automatically qualified her for nationals and was just one of many solid Michigan performances in the non-scoring event. To put her performance in perspective, Erd- man's time was so fast that Dorniden, the run- ner-up in the 800-meter, now holds the country's second-fastest time in the event. Freshman Geena Gall, who came in third place, finished in 2:05.23, and her time stands as the nation's fourth fastest. Michigan's distance medley relay team, com- posed of Erdman, sophomores Laura Glynn and Nicole Edwards and Gall, also emerged victorious, clocking in at 11:06.10 - nearly four seconds better than the next-closest team. The team's time was also fast enough to be an automatic qualifying time, securing a spot at nationals. Junior Rebecca Walter, who won the 5,000-meter run, also hit the automatic mark for nationals with a time of 16:08.91. "I'm happy about (qualifying)," Walter said. "I've been a spectator a few times at nationals, so I really wanted to be there. Now that I have that done, I can just worry about training." Even though the team won just three events, there were plenty more worth mentioning. Sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier picked up a provi- sional qualification for nationals, finishing second behind Walter in the 5,000-meter run at 16:13.35. Edwards took second place in the mile run with a time of 4:41.21. Her time wasn't quite good enough to win, but it is the nation's third fastest mile so far this season. She also met the provisional qualify- ing time for the nationals. "I'm so excited that I ran so fast," said Edwards. "The (DMR) was my main focus for the weekend. Doubling in the mile, I was relaxed today, because I knew the race would be a test for me to see how well I could hold up, and it went really well." Junior Chanelle Campbell took second place in the 300-meter dash with a time of 40.65, about a second and a half behind Illinois' Yvonne Mensah. Despite the fact that the 4x400-meter relay team came in third place behind Western Michigan and Illinois, it broke a school record by finishing with a time of 3:41.90. Freshman Amber Hay, Campbell, Gall, and Erdman com- prised the team. The results Michigan put together were hoped for, but they weren't necessarily expected. "The performances we put up were much bet- ter than anticipated," Michigan coach James Henry said. "But our overall goal for every athlete is to improve - no matter whether you are at the top, the bottom, or the middle - you have to improve. We have a very good team, but we just need to stay focused. If we continue to do that, everything else will take care of itself." By Jeremy Davidson Daily Sports Writer Michigan track and field coach Ron Warhurst said the philosophy of the men's track team is to win races - not to run for time. But this weekend at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, soph- omore Mike Woods did both. Woods ran a personal best in the 3000-meter race and took first place in the meet, earning the fastest time this year in the nation with 7:52.27. Woods's showing at Notre Dame this weekend trumped his previous best performance - which had earned him a Canadian junior record - by five seconds. After the mile mark, a little more than halfway through the race, Woods was in third, behind Notre Dame's Kurt Ben- niger and Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky. At the start of the final lap, Woods put himself 10 meters ahead of Benniger and headed into the final turn of the race. As he approached the final stretch, Woods was furiously pursued by Benniger. I "Coming around the corner, I knew Kurt was coming up on me, and I heard (Warhurst) yelling 'Keep your arms up, keep your arms up! Keep relaxed!' and I guess it paid off in the end." In the end, Woods managed to pull out a clutch finish, winning by .01 seconds. "Michael kept relaxed, held his form, and kept his lead through the finish," Warhurst said. Said Woods: "It was very exciting. I've been in this sport a couple of years now, and I've been on the other side of that one-hundredth of a second. I think this is the first time I've been on the winning side, and it feels really good" This weekend, freshman Michael Whitehead, who sat out last week's meet in Boston due to sickness, made his debut performance in the triple jump this week- end. Whitehead jumped 15.64 meters, earning him second place in the event. The approach to the sand pit at Notre Dame is about 16 feet shorter than the traditional length. Whitehead said the shorter distance threw off his rhythm, but in the end, he was beaten fairly. "Overall, I can't say I was disappointed with the way things went, but I hope that things will get better," Whitehead said. Whitehead, a Philadelphia native, said that at next week's meet at Penn State, he will have several advantages over the meet at Notre Dame. For starters, Whitehead said the run at Penn State will be the full length. But perhaps more importantly, his parents, grandparents and sister will be at the meet to cheer him on, which he said will get his adrenaline pumping. "It's going to be off the chain," White- head said, "Hopefully, I will get the indoor record." Warhurst said he too is looking forward to seeing the team grow and improve at the meet next week. "We are trying to get a little bit better every week;' Warhurst said. WOMEN'S TENNIS Cocky fans stifle 'M' effort By Dan Feldman Daily Sports Writer Saturday was a miserable day for the women's tennis team. Irked by boisterous South Carolina fans, No. 35 Michigan was downed 6-1 by the 24th-ranked Gamecocks. "People kept yelling 'Cocks, cocks, cocks,' " Michigan senior Nina Yaftali said. "(It was) so loud, so crude. They should have just said big hen. My oppo- nent would grunt it (along with the fans). It was just a cockfest. Do you think Mich- igan should change their mascot to shock teams? It's (not against the rules). It's just supporting the team. We yell 'Go Big Blue' and they say 'Go Big Cock'. See,it's the exact same ... The cock yelling was resonating throughout the tennis center. We got cockblocked." But the team didn't dwell on the loss. Michigan stayed confident and turned things around yesterday, beating No. 31 Maryland - a team that beat South Caro- lina on Friday - 4-3. The win moves the Wolverines' record to 2-2 in the dual match season. Michigan lost the doubles point for the third straight match, but for the first time this season, it was able to overcome that setback. Junior Kara Delicata and sopho- more Allie Shafner lost 8-0 in the No. 1 doubles match. Senior Debra Streifler and freshman Chisako Sugiyama won in the No.2 match 8-3 before freshman Lindsey Howard and Yaftali fell 8-5 at No. 3. But Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt still believed in her team. "We went into the singles lineup pretty confidently," Ritt said. "I believed we would come through. I have confidence in every player. I knew it would be a battle, but I knew we would come through in the end. I always think that. You really have to have confidence in your team, and work to instill that confidence in your players." The players responded to their coach's faith. Sugiyama opened singles play with a 6-0, 6-2 win in the No. 5 singles match. Yaftali then fell 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 before Streifler knotted things back up with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) win at No. 3. After junior Elizabeth Exon won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4, Delicata's 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 loss re-tied the match. But Shafner came through for Michigan, winning 6-4, 7-5 at No. 6, to propel the Wolverines to the victory. "We have to give the players a lot of credit because after a tough match (Satur- day), they came back and played a tough match," Ritt said. "I'm proud of them for 6 0 At Ernst & Young you'll get the on-the-job training you need to succeed on your own. We know you're new to the work force. That's why we've created an environment that's conducive to personal and professional growth and success. At Ernst &Young we're offering an opportunity to learn from some of the best talent in the industry. If you're looking for a great start, look for us on campus. Or visit us on the Web at eyxcorn/us/careers. We won't steer you wrong. I l I