6B - Monday, October 23, 2006

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Freshmen make most of
opportunity as Harriers
rest up before title race


By CHRIS MESZAROS
For the Daily
For most athletes, it's a dream to
make an impressive debut.
In the Eastern Michigan Clas-
sic, three Michigan freshmen made
that dream a reality.
Three Wolverine freshmen
ran unattached in their collegiate
debut. Jennie Biewald, who took
fourth place overall with a time of
18:21, led the trio. Rachel Severin
and Alysha Valencia also finished
in the top 10 with times of 18:24 and
18:37, respectively.
"We came outcand ran hard today
and came away with seven or eight
lifetime bests today" McGuire said.
While most of the Wolverines sat
out the Eastern Michigan Classic, a
non-scoring event, several of their
younger teammates logged impres-
sive marks in what most would call
an exhibition meet.

Anna Willard, a new transfer
student, also ran for Michigan and
finished in second place.
"Anna, who has outdoor eligibil-
ity, had a good benchmark for her
fall progress," McGuire said.
Sophomore Natasha Luppov led
the four eligible Wolverines, who
ran the event by finishing in sixth
place(18:28). SophomoreLisaCanty
(18:46) and sophomore Lisa Mont-
gomery (18:48) finished eighth and
ninth, respectively.
Canty and Montgomery
improved from their marks at the
Wolverine Open, where each fin-
ished in the top 15.
"Overall, it was great dayto run,"
McGuire said. "It was kind of nice
for the kids to come out here and
see the fruits of their labor as far as
the progress they've made."
Montgomery trimmed 1:22 from
her posting at the Wolverine Open
and Canty cut her time by 37 sec-

onds.
"It was a perfect day to run,"
McGuire said. "Great fall Michigan
conditions led to them to running
quite a bit faster."
The Wolverines are looking to
bounce back next week at the Big
Ten Championships from a disap-
pointing outing last week at the
NCAA Pre-Nationals. Out of a
field of 37 teams, Michigan tied for
second place with Wisconsin and
finished 59 points behind North
Carolina State, who they beat ear-
lier in the season.
"We feel we can shore things
up," McGuire said. "But we feel
there is a challenge at hand with
three other teams contending."
No. 3 Michigan will face stiff
competition from Big 10 rivals
Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illi-
nois. The Wolverines look to win
their fifth straight conference title
next Sunday.

ALEX DZoADOSZ/DAILY
Holding its own amongst stiff competition yesterday, Michigan feels toad aboat its starting pit for this season.

Buoyed by varsity eight, Youth movement: Blue's
Blue moves past collision collection of runners gains
By MIRGIM JUSUFI and ran into a buoy." But Michigan shouldn't worry
DailySports Writer Hitting a buoy on your way about either performance,
-"g three miles upstream on the because the world s largest
A g ah t1 1 - ht ulA n -


irower nas to ovet ie"Dg
show."
You're at the largest row-
ing event in the world. Up to
300,000 people come for the
two-day spectacle and they're
watching you go toe-to-toe, or
bow-to-bow, against the best
teams in the country. What more
could a rower want?
How about a better perfor-
mance?
That's what the Michigan
women's varsity-four wanted
yesterday after its lackluster
performance at the 42nd annual
Head of the Charles regatta in
Cambridge, Mass. The Wolver-
ines placed 16th out of 20 in the
Championship Fours.
"The results were not what
we were hoping for," Michi-
gan coach Mark Rothstein said.
"The fours had some problems

caries iver aoes not ne p
speed up the boat, and neither
did the 10-second penalty added
to Michigan's time, knocking
them back four places.
But it wasn't all bad for the
Wolverines on Sunday. Michi-
gan's varsity-eight finished 13th
out of 45 boats in the Champi-
onship Eights with a mark of
16:40.
"The eights ran very well,"
Rothstein said. "I think our time
was okay at this point of the sea-
son, but we still finished 13th,
so we still have a lot of work to
do."
Even though the 13th-place
finish was not what Michigan
rowers expected, just six sec-
onds separated them from sixth
place in a field that included
such rowing powerhouses as
Yale and Princeton.

regatta also includes many non-
collegiate teams. Among colle-
giate crews, both the fours and
eights finished ninth. And as big
as the Head of the Charles regat-
ta is, coach Rothstein knows
that rowing championships are
won in the spring, not the fall.
"(The Head of the Charles) is
really not that important at this
point of the year," Rothstein
said. "But it does give us a sense
of where we are starting from.
There were a lot of the best
teams in the country there and
now we know where we match
up. Also it gives our athletes an
opportunity to compete in front
of a large crowd, something they
don't get to do very often."
The Wolverines don't hit the
water again until Sunday, Nov. 5,
at the American Heritage River
Fall Classic in Wyandotte.

By CHRIS MESZAROS
For the Daily
It was "Back to the Future" for
much of the men's cross country
team.
With most of the team sitting
out the Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity Classic on Friday, three of
the younger runners got valuable
experience in this' non-scoring
meet. It was an opportunity for
the Michigan coaches and spec-
tators to view the future of the
men's cross country team.
Freshman Ciaran O'Lionaird
and sophomore Mark Pokora
both had very strong showings,
finishing in the top 10. O'Lionaird
posted an admirable time of 32:19
while Pokora followed his team-
mate with a time of 33:01. The
pair finished in fifth and 10th
place, respectively.
Freshman Mike Luginbill
made his debut this season, fin-
ishing 45th overall with a mark
of 35:49.
Michigan head coach Ron War-
hurst said he was pleased with
what he saw from his younger
runners.
"It was a good, good experi-
ence for everyone in the meet,"
Warhurst said. "Everyone ran
(his) hardest today."
It was a perfectfall day for cross
country with the runners enjoy-
ing cool temperatures. The meet
allowed the runners a chance to
improve upon their results from
the Michigan Open, which was
run on the same course.
O'Lionaird improved his time
by 44 seconds from his previous
run, while Pokora also improved,
moving from a 26th place finish
in the Michigan Open to a 10th
place finish on Friday.
Both runners ran extremely
hard in the non-scoring meet
and, even though it was an exhi-
bition, spectators could sense
that it meant something special
for those that competed.
"It was a low-key situation
that gave some of these younger

4

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Sophomoroe Mark Pokora took advantage of his chance to run and finished in the t

guys a chance to run." Warhurst
said.
The younger Wolverines were
aided by their teammates on the
sideline in what ended up as a
spirited competition.
Sophomore Lex Williams, who
led the Wolverines with a sev-
enth-place finish at the NCAA
Pre-Nationals last week, did not
compete, along with most of his
teammates. They instead rested
for the Big-Ten Championships

[ O iLLuiNiuM EM

scheduled for next Sunday.
Lastyear,the Wolverines finished
a distant sixth place in the Big Ten
Championships and look to improve
uponthatmarkthisyear.
Warhurst understands the
fierce competition that the Wol-
verines face but said his squad is
up for the challenge.
"We've been training hard all
week and are looking to run a lot
better than last year," Warhurst
said.
CHECK OUT
DAILY SPORTS'
BLOG "THE
GAME" AT
MICHIGANDAILY.
COM FOR DAILY
UPDATES.
ALSO CHECK
OUT THE BLOG
DURING HOCKEY
AND FOOTBALL
GAMES FOR LIVE
UPDATES AND IN-
GAME ANALYSIS.

d

The 1922 silent classic by F.W. MURNAU will feature a
live orchestra conducted by renowned silent film
composer GILLIAN ANDERSON.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27 AT 8:00 PM -
Se a
General admission seatino at regular Iic et prices, at thedoor only Reserved
Premium seating 520 $15 for members Reserved tickets available on ine at

Application deadline is Friday, October 27.
Get details on how to apply at
www.umalumni.com/students.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Uniting the Leaders and Best

I