2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 13, 2006

CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY
Fruitful friendships from runnn

Atlet oitan ieu
Athlete of the Week

Name: Kara Delicata
Hometown: La Salle, Ontario

Team: Women's Tennis
Class: Junior

By Daniel Greenblatt
For The Daily
It is probably the best form of cardiovascular
activity out there. In addition, it is social by
nature and often results in long-lasting friend-
ships. What is this maryelous activity, you ask?
Running.
The'MRun club at Michigan partakes in this
glorious recreational endeavor six days a week.
Led by seniors Aaron Metler and Greg Haapala,
along with sophomores Thomas Briley and Paul
Johnson, the club keeps members in top physical
shape and develops strong friendships.
"With the accumulation of a structured train-
ing program, frequent races, team apparel and
dedicated members of all abilities, a foundation
has been established for friendships and memo-
ries that will last a lifetime," Briley said.
This can clearly be seen in the persistence and
perseverance of the runners. A large group of
twenty familiar faces comes to every run. More-
over, team camaraderie is abundant.
Even though running is an individual sport,
the members show tremendous support for one
another.
The club is composed mainly of veteran run-

ners - many of whom competed in high school
- with a few recreational runners as well. But
there are still a handful of newcomers.
MRun runs along many routes, the Bird Hills
trail being the most common.
This trail is a beautiful excursion along the
Huron River. Members are all given maps of the
routes just in case they fall behind or get lost.
Exploring Ann Arbor on foot, MRun has dis-
covered numerous parks and other new places to
exercise.
"It's amazing how many parks there are around
here," Riley said.
The club is competitive and participates in
many races throughout the season. In fact, MRun
won the Midwest Club Competition.
On April 1, it is hosting the Club Tournament
in Ann Arbor, where many club teams from
around the Midwest will be present. It has also
competed in some varsity-level events.
Although a much higher level of competi-
tion exists in the tournament, MRun still enjoys
being part of such an event.
Through effective training, the members have
experienced tremendous improvement. They
engage in many intense workouts, including
intervals such as 20x400 meter repeats, fartlek

(where the group speeds up at random points
throughout the run), tempo runs (runs at near
race pace), mile repeats and hill repeats. One
of the favorites is running repeats up Harvard
Street a 250-meter behemoth of a hill.
Through all this hard work, there have been
outstanding results among every member of the
team.
The club is thankful to the training program
that Briley (or Trainer Tom, as they call him)
carries out. There is no doubt Trainer Tom's
program has proved beneficial for the club.
"Tom has implemented a training program
that has guided everybody to an elevated level,"
Haapala said.
The runners have also experienced several
adventures. On Halloween night, the group got
lost and ended up finding their way after nine
miles of detours.
Outstanding race times, exhausting workouts,
memorable excursions and meaningful friend-
ships are all phrases that can be applied to the
MRun club. Stretching together before and after
each run, talking about various topics including
the length of a team member's shorts and the
results of a basketball game, the team is truly a
well-defined community.

Why: The junior helped Michigan to a decisive 7-0 victory over
Marquette. Delicata was victorious at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-1. The
La Salle, Ontario native also teamed with Debra Streifler for an
8-2 victory at No. 1 doubles.

M' Schedule
Date Event Location Time
3/13- M Golf Mobile, Ala. TBA
3/14 @ South Alabama Spring Classic
3/15 Softball @ UCLA Los Angeles, Calif. 9 p.m.
3/16- W Swimming/Diving @ NCAA Athens, Ga. TBA
3/18 Championships
W Tennis vs. Western Michigan Ann Arbor 6 p.m.
3/16- Softball @ Judi Garman Classic Fullerton, Calif. TBA
3/19
3/16- Wrestling Oklahoma City,^ TBA
3/18 @ NCAA Championships Okla.
3/16 Men's Basketball vs. UTEP/ Ann Arbor 7 p.m.
Llpscomb
3/17-r M Track & Field Conway, S.C. TBA
3/1.8 @ Shamrck'Invitationali
3/17- Baseball Rock Hill, S.C. TBA
3/19 @ Coca-Cola Classic
3/17 Men's Tennis vs. Michigan State Ann Arbor 6P.M.
Ice Hockey vs. Michigan State Detroit 8:30 p.m.
W Gymnalstics vs.: Michigan Ann Arbor.... .3 p~m.
State
Water Polo vs. Indiana Ann Arbor 7:30 p.m.
3/18- Wat Polo Ann Arbor TBA
3/1.9 0 Wolvine*'Invitational
3/18 Ice Hockey in CCHA Champi- Detroit TBA
onship/Third-place game
3/19 W Tennis @ Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 12 p.m.
M Tennis @ Harvard Cambridge, Mass. 12 p.m.
3/19- M Golf Pinehurst, N.C. TBA
3/20 @ Pinehurst Intercollegiate

40

Senior banks success on hard work

By Robert Kaitz
Daily Sports Writer

Athletes love nothing better than
saving their best performance for last.
Whether its winning a championship
or just giving it their cliched 110%,
athletes want to know that they left
with no regrets.
For fifth-year senior wrestler Willie
Breyer, finishing his final collegiate sea-
son on a high note would salvage what
has been a disappointing individual
year. After qualifying for Nationals with
a thrilling fourth-place performance in
the Big Ten Tournament, Breyer is in
the process of fulfilling this goal.
The Oxford native compiled a
solid 7-4 dual meet record last year,
and he hoped to continue his perfor-
mance as a senior.
"My goal coming into the season was
to start all year," Breyer said.
But adversity caught up to him, as
injuries coupled with the emergence
of redshirt freshman Casey White in
the 197-pound weight class prevented
Breyer from ever getting into a groove
during the season.
Like Breyer, White also suffered
from injuries, and the two gritted out
this season. It was unclear who would
represent the Wolverines in their
weight class at the Big Ten Champion-
ships. Just one day before the tourna-
ment began in Bloomington, Michigan

coach Joe McFarland decided Breyer
would wrestle because he was the
healthier of the two.
His tournament began on a distinc-
tively down note.
Wisconsin's Dallas Herbst quickly
pinned the unranked Breyer just two
minutes into the match.
"(At that moment,) I had never been
more down in my career," Breyer said.
"It was almost like I wanted to quit."
Others also noticed the dejection.
"I saw a very long look on his face,
and Id didn't want to see it," McFarland
said. "There was a lot of wrestling left.".
Common sports wisdom says
after a disappointing loss, the most
beneficial thing is to get right back
on the mat. Unfortunately for Brey-
ea, he had a seven-hour break before
his next meet.
While Breyer sat gloomily awaiting
another defeat, the coaches got together
and motivated him to finish well.
"(Assistant coach Kirk) Trost and
McFarland gave me good speeches and
told me not to hold my head down and
finish my career strong," Breyer said.
But it was up to him to respond to the
advice. And he certainly did.
First, he pinned Minnesota's Mitch
Kuhlmann at 2:26 of the first period.
Then, he won two more matches, includ-
ing a surprising victory over Purdue's
fifth-ranked Nathan Moore.
"We were all so excited about

EUGENE ROBERTSON/Daily
Fifth-year senior Willie Breyer has rebounded from a rough start to an Indivdual season.

his comeback after the first loss,"
McFarland said.
Although Breyer lost the match for
third place, he still fulfilled his goal of
qualifying for the NCAA Champion-
ships in Oklahoma City, where he will
join eight other Wolverines.
"I can't believe after being so down
and out that I was able to get fourth
place," Breyer said. "It's funny that

I can't wait to start practicing for
(Nationals)."
Practice will do him good, since the
event will feature the nation's top wres-
tlers. It bodes well for Breyer that he has
already succeeded in the deepest wres-
tling conference. If he wants to save his
best for last, then lots of hard work is in
order. That is something he is definitely
willing to do.

BUCKEYES
Continued from page 1B
that's what they're going to have at
Big Tens and the NCAAs."
In the words of freshman Joe
Catrambone, Michigan gave Ohio
State "a run for (its) money." After
four rotations, the Wolverines had a
two-tenths lead. But Michigan ran
into trouble on parallel bars and high
bar. The final two gymnasts on high
bar missed their big release skills,
leading to substantial deductions and
allowing Ohio State to hang on to its
1.6-point lead.
"It's always very important to win,
but if you lose a close one, and you
feel like you did a good job, it's a lot
more acceptable, a lot more tolerable,"
Golder said. "We could have done bet-
ter - we kind of gave it away on high
bar at the end. I think we're in the
right place we need to be heading into
the Big Tens."
The Wolverines won two of four
individual events and had the top three
finishers in the all-around competition:
freshmen Ralph Rosso, Catrambone
and senior Gerry Signorelli. Signo-
relli, in his final home meet, won both
the floor exercise (9.40) and the all-
around title.
"It feels good," Signorelli said.
"It's always pleasing (to win the all-
around). It's too bad the team didn't
get a win, but we still have the two
biggest meets ahead of us."
The meet was especially significant

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for senior Luke Bottke. Bottke has
made more memories, at Cliff Keen
Arena than most, having competed
there for his entire gymnastics career.
The Saginaw native participated in
an annual junior meet at Michigan's
arena for nine years before becoming
a Wolverine.
"For me it hasn't sunk in yet,
because I'm so focused on the postsea-
son and championships, but it's great
to go out on a high note," Bottke said.
"We didn't come away with a win, but
it was a much better performance than
we've been having."
The whole team seemed to step up
their performances for the seniors'
special night. Catrambone gave his
usual strong showing, winning the
high bar competition (9.55) and the
Newt Loken award. Senior Derek
Croad, whose opportunities to com-
pete this year have been limited, put
up a solid 9.0 on the vault. And junior
Andrew Elkind, who has had a some-
what difficult year, posted a career-
high 9.2 score'on the high bar and tied
junior Aaron Rakes for second on still
'rings with a 9.1, an encouraging sign
for the future.
"I think the other guys rallied
around (the seniors)," Golder said.
"(Assistant coach) Scott (Vetere) talk-
ed to them and what he said was: 'All
the rest of you guys, give these seniors
something to be proud of. Give them a
way to go out on a good note.' I think
that was the perfect thing to say."
In two weeks, the Wolverines travel to
Iowa for Big Ten Championships.
6M9NOTES
Sophomore Lee dives
her way into NCAA
Championships
Divers took center stage this weekend
as the Michigan women's diving team
competed in the NCAA Zone C Div-
ing Championships in Columbus - a
regional meet that chooses which divers
may compete in NCAA Championships
next weekend. Sophomore Elyse Lee
earned a trip to the championships in the
one-meter springboard.
Lee's best performances of the three-
day competition came on the spring-
board,withher fifth-placescore of549.50
in the one-meter. Lee also finished 11th
on the three-meter springboard and 18th
on the three-meter platform. She will be
the first Wolverine diver in two years to
compete in NCAA Championships.
Just 11 divers from the Zone meet
will compete in the Championship meet,
which begins this Thursday.
Howard leads divers
but fails to qualify for
NCAA Championships
Junior diver Kyle Howard com-
peted at the NCAA Zone C Diving
Championships in Columbus. How-
ard qualified for the finals in both
the three-meter springboard and 10-
me+er nimtfre m u aiedtomve

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