8 - Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Caldwell makes art, on and off the mat *
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
Sophomore Kent Caldwell does
something that no other male
gymnast in the world does.
But listening to him talk about
his signature skill, you could be
excused for thinking it's not that
big a deal.
Ironically, the quad - four com-
plete twists in the air on floor
exercise - is a natural progres-
sion from the trouble he had 0
landing three and a half twists
during his senior year of high
school.
"I tried a three-and-a-half, and
I just sat it down, landed short,"
Caldwell said. "Then I figured if
I was landing at that angle for a
three-and-a-half, if I finished the
four (twists), then I'd be standing
up. It's easier to save."
Caldwell, who was named to the
12-member preseason All-Big Ten
team, was required to have the
skill evaluated by judges before
he could use it in competition - it
wasn't even included in the Code
of Points. He performs the quad
in his first floor pass in every
meet, and with each repeti-
tion, it improves.
"I've tried to do triple fulls,
so one less twist than (Caldwell),
and I can't even come close to
doing it," said fellow sophomore
Scott Bregman - another floor
standout who took second place in
the event at the Jan. 13 Windy City
Invitational. "Four is unbelievable.
(It's comparable to) maybe dif-
ferential calculus, just something
ridiculous, when people can do it
whenever they want."
As if excelling in gymnastics
isn't impressive enough, Caldwell
is also artistically gifted. Both art
and gymnastics have been his pas-
sions since he was about 5 years
old. He will graduate with a degree
in art (along with neuroscience),
and is also involved with WeRead,
a student publishing group.
All the books the group pub-
lishes are written, illustrated,
submitted and edited by Michi-
gan students. WeRead has a part-
nership with a small publishing
company that prints 500 copies
of the winning book, chosen each
year. The books are then donated
to Detroit schools to build their
library collections.
Last year, Caldwell illustrated a
book written by another student.
This year, he is the program's lead
illustrator.
One of his abstract paintings
even hangs in his teammates'
house. But Caldwell is one of the
last people who would let that go
to his head.
"I'm humbled by it," Caldwell
said. "I think it's cool that they
appreciate it enough to put
- is also something of a mediator
on the team.
"As a person, I feel like he's real-
ly good at being a moderator and
being neutral," Bregman said. "If
people are having impulsive reac-
tions to something, he can calm
you down, listen to both sides,
and kind of make you see from the
other point of view."
Caldwell's season began well,
with a solid performance at the
Windy City Invitational followed
up by a record-breaking rou-
tine against Iowa (9.7). And
with every meet, he should
give new meaning to artis-
tic gymnastics.
01
P0
Photo courtesy of Kentcaldwell
Sophomore Kent Caldwell expresses himself in other ways than simply through gymnastics, While being the only -
gymnast in the world to complete four full twists in the airon the floor exercise, he is also the lead illustrator for the
student publishing group WeRead and will graduate with a degree inart.
Sauer makes statement in sweep.
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By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Writer
FAIRBANKS - It's said that you should pay
attention to the writing on the wall.
But for Michigan goalie Billy Sauer, it's all
about the writing on the glove.
The sophomore netminder inscribed a few
key phrases onhis glove atthe beginningof the
season that act as constant reminders when
he's on the ice.
"Watch the puck."
"Square."
"Depth."
"It's just kind of something I live by," Sauer
said. "I think most goalies, that's the first thing
they get away from if things aren't going well.
I'm trying to keep it simple, so that's been the
biggest change."
It took awhile, but the improvement has
been evident. He's allowed two or fewer goals
in the past five games after posting a 4.75 goals
against average in the final eight games of
2006.
This weekend, Sauer continued that trend
as he allowed just two goals in each game of a
weekend sweep that carried special meaning
for the Walworth, N.Y., native.
By sweeping Alaska on the larger, Olympic-
sized ice at the Carlson Center, Sauer exacted
revenge two-fold.
He defeated the team that last season, dealt
him his first career loss. And he handled the
angles on the spacious rink like a grizzled vet-
eran.
"It was kind of a personal thing for me,"
Sauer said. "So to really come out here and
have a good weekend was a good confidence
booster."
Last year, Sauer traveled into the Carlson
Center in late October as the freshman goalie
for the top-ranked Wolverines, playing on the
bigger surface for the first time. The Nanooks
put four goals behind Sauer. Michigan coach
Red Berenson chose to play Noah Ruden in net
the next night after Sauer's poor performance.
This year was different, and Alaska coach
Tavis MacMillan noted a dramatic change in
Sauer's play.
"This was as solid as I've seen Billy Sauer,"
MacMillan said after Friday night's game,
where Sauer stopped 29-of-31 shots. "He
looked like a much more mature goaltender
tonight. He's handling his rebounds, taking
the angle on the first shot. I thought he was
much sharper."
Overall, Sauer blocked 61-of-65 shots he
faced this weekend. Of the few pucks that
found their way into the Michigan net, it's
tough to blame Sauer for any of them.
"To win back-to-back games and play solid
in goal, only give up two goals (a game), in a
tough building, this was a good statement for
Billy Sauer," Berenson said.
Before this weekend, Sauer's last game on
Olympic-sized sheet was an 8-2 drubbing at
the hands of No. 1 Minnesota (Nov. 25).
Unlike that game, where Sauer had just one
practice on the larger rink before the puck
dropped, the Wolverines traveled to Alaska on
Wednesday morning, giving him three practic-
es at the Carlson Center before Friday's game.
Both Sauer and Berenson pointed to the extra
ice time as the primary difference between the
Minnesota game and the Alaska series.
Following Saturday's win, the buzzword
outside the Michigan locker room was confi-
dence.
"Obviously, when you put together games
like this, your confidence is going to grow,"
Sauer said.
But the key for Sauer is still controlling
what's in his head and focusing on the funda-
mentals written on his glove.
I
,i
MEN'S .A sTALL
Sophomore Smith surprises
squad with scoring on Saturday
By DANIEL LEVY
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan found something in
the second half of its 71-55 winover
Purdue Saturday at Crisler Arena.
or better yet, someone.
His name?
Jerret Smith.
The sophomore guard sparked
the Wolverines with eight points
and three assists during a 19-7 run
midway through the second half
Smith's outburst turned an uneasy
34-28 Michigan lead into an 18-
point landslide victory. He broke
Purdue's spirits, and the Boiler-
makers couldn't believe the source
of the contributions.
"He played really well tonight,
and that's to his credit," Purdue
guard Chris Kramer said. "When
we played him at Mackey, he didn't
play that well. ... We have to give
that respect now next time we play
him."
Smith started off distributing
the ball for three early assists. He
found senior captain Lester Abram
once and senior guard Dion Harris
twice, all for 3-pointers.
With Michigan leading by 50,
Smith decided to display his scor-
ing abilities.
The sophomore started off by
going coast-to-coast for an easy lay-
up.
on the next possession, Smith
found the ball in his hands with the
shot clock winding down. With-
out panicking, the Romulus native
calmly worked himself into the
paintand showed offhispostmove.s
with a baby hook for two more.
Smith capped his run with back-
to-back jumpers. One came off a
feed from Harris, the other a tran-
sition pull-up after a block by senior
Brent Petway. Two late free throws
gave him a finalstatcline of i1points,
seven assists and six rebounds.
After the game, Smith couldn't
put his finger on the reason for the
production.
"I'm just trying to go out there,
have fun and play my game," said
Smith, who entered the game aver-
aging just four points, three assists
and two rebounds per contest. "I
couldn't really tell you (the reason
behind the outburst). I don't want
to judge just one game."
Smith was reserved in the locker
room after the game. He spent most
of the time crediting his teammates
and his ownhard work in practice
for his breakout game.
But other players weren't so
quick to dismiss Smith's efforts and
how much he means to the Wolver-
ines.
"It changes our whole team
(when Smith brings that effort),"
senior Courtney Sims said. "When
he plays like that we can beat any-
body in the country."
Added Petway: "Just being able
to hit his shots, take his shots when
he gets them and finding other
people when he gets into the lane
... We're gonna need that from him
the whole season."
The Wolverines need Smith to
continue to be effective when he's
on the floor, because it makes them
extremely difficult to defend.
As a freshman last year, Smith
had his share of growing pains.
With superstar Daniel Horton
shouldering most of the ballhan-
dling duties at the time, Michigan
could afford to let Smith learn from
his mistakes during games.
This season Smith is the second
option at point guard. His minutes
are up, and his ability to run the
offense and give Harris a chance to
catch his breath are vital to Michi-
gan's success.
On Saturday, Smith had arguably
the best game of his young career.
He grew more confident with each
possession, which wasn't lost on
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker,
who raved about his sophomore
point guard's development after
the win.
\"It was obvious that he had an
energy and a bounce about him
(Saturday) that was very positive,"
Amaker said. "It looked like he
really grew up (Saturday)."
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