8A - Thursday, March 15, 2007 . The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 8A - Thursday, March 15, 2007 I. The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom E iMpES SWIMMING/DIVING ' 'pursues ersonal gals Blue hopes to save season at NCAAs a By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK Daily Sports Writer It was 4:52 p.m. as the Michigan swimmers left the pool deck in Ann Arbor for the final time this season. Today, they hope to be walk- ing away from a different pool as winners - or at least faster swim- mers. Both Michigan coach Bob Bow- manand his team maintainthey're not looking for a specific team fin- ish at the NCAA Championships, which run today through Satur- day. Instead, the Wolverines are focused on continuing to improve personal-best times. But swimming in the home pool of the team which prevented Michigan from earning its first Big Ten championship in four years will surely motivate the 12th-ranked Wolverines to out- swim their competition. With a high finish this weekend, the underclassman-dominated team can solidify its status as a serious national championship contender for the future. Last year, led by then-seniors Davis Tarwater and Peter Vanderkaay's NCAA titles, Michi- gan scored 209 points to finish in eighth place as the highest-scor- ing Big Ten team. With 12 invited athletes this season, Michigan is sending one of the largest contingents to the meet, outnumbered or equaled by just six schools. Of those six, two defeated Michigan during the regular season - Florida and California - and one, Minnesota, is the new Big Ten champion after last month's four-point conference meet victory. "I'm pleasantly surprised at the number (of invited Michigan ath- letes)," Bowman said. "When you lose the major performers like we did last year, to be able to come back with such a big squad, that speaks a lot for us. I think that of the 12, only two swam in the meet last year. If you look at the ages of the people who are swimming, we have by far the youngest team there." The Wolverines will send four freshmen, six sophomores and two juniors to this weekend's meet. Freshman Chris Brady swam an automatic qualifying time in the 100-yard butterfly at the Big Ten meet to guarantee his first NCAA appearance and said that his cur- rent times have surpassed his pre- season expectations. "I was definitely hoping for a relay and, maybe, an individual event," Brady said of his NCAA potential as a freshman. "But to get the automatic cut, I had to drop almost two seconds from my best time. I did, and I'm just happy to be going." Junior Alex Vanderkaayis seed- ed first in both the 400-yard indi- vidual medley and the 200-yard butterfly, while sophomore Matt Patton is seeded fifth in the 500- yard freestyle and 1,650-yard free- style. The 800-yard freestyle relay of sophomore Bobby Savulich, Patton, sophomore Sal Barba and Vanderkaay is also seeded fifth. With solid times in the pre- liminaries and appearances in the NCAA finals, Michigan's swim- mers could have the opportunity to equal or better last year's finish - an exciting situation, since all of Michigan's NCAA swimmers will stillbe wearing the maize and blue next season. "To be anywhere near what we got last year at NCAAs, points- wise, with (athletes who are) half as young, would be awesome," said sophomore Curtis Dauw, who will compete in three individual events this weekend. "That's really a tes- tament to where we're going with our depth and our youth. Every- thing's really going in the right direction." En rctl In aIap'an ccm pr+ hw rtiv'+cou~rs~ c~gtian by Mvarch 31 and ag-t a $100 r~bat : Matrt youzr prcg ram r-ninAnnr Arbcr rnc1 finishI- in youer hormntcowri! By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN Daily Sports Writer If you're a fan of consistency, then the Michigan wrestling squad is the team for you. The Wolverines consistently lost their dual meets this sea- son, posting just two victories. An eighth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships followed up Michigan's 10 losses this season. But even if you're a fan of con- sistency, it may be too late to start following the team. The NCAA Championships are the lone event left on No. 23 Michigan's sched- ule. And that's not all. "We're going to finish top-five (at Nationals)," fifth-year senior Nick Roy said. Confused? "The only reason we didn't do well (atBigTens)wasbecause alot of teams were really well-rounded and every one of their wrestlers scored points," Roy said. "Not every one of our wrestlers scored points, which was our downfall." Michigan finished 11.5 points behind third-place Iowa. Going into the last weekend of the season, the Wolverines finally have a chance to prove they're better than their record. Michi- gan has wrestlers qualified in five of the 10 weight classes, four of whom are seeded in the top four. With a bigger playing field, the SEMINOLES From page 5A It provided fans and team- mates a glimpse into the future of Michigan basketball. Whether that future includes Amaker is any- HARRIS From page 5A kept to his humble ways when asked about an intended spending spree after signingwith a team. "I'll put it all in the bank and take careofmymomanddad,"Harrissaid withasmile."Imightbuyalittlesmall car orsomething.Nothingbig." Harris'schoice of transportation ROSSO From page 5A with fellow sophomore and New Jersey native Joe Catrambone. The two went on recruitingtrips to several of the same schools, com- paring experiences. Michigan was the only trip they went on together - and the only school where they found no negatives. "We knew we wanted to end up at the same school together, which was kind of easy because we are the same year, from the same place," Catrambone said. "We love the (Michigan) campus. (The gym- nasts) made us feel like we were already a part of the team when we got here, as opposed to the other schools." But despite being with his good friend, as well as Cherry Hill, N. J., native Elkind, Rosso still had a difficult transition to make in his freshmanyear. Like mostcollegiate gymnasts,he wastheunquestioned top dog at his home gym, the one Wolverines benefit tremendously. The squads with the most top- ranked wrestlers do the best in such large tournaments. And not many other teams are as top-heavy talent wise as the Wolverines. It was just a lack of depth that hindered them throughout the season. "At Nationals, we have four guys ranked in the top-four," Roy said. "Those are huge points. Those are ridiculously huge points. If we have four guys finish in the top four and if I (get) All- America (honors), we're definitely going to finish in the top-three. That just doesn't happen with a lot of teams." Co-captain Eric Tannenbaum, who suffered his first loss of the season in the Big Ten Champion- ship, knows the key to finishing the season well is relaxation. You can't get caught up in the hoopla of the tournament. "The entire tournament is just unbelievably mentally draining," Tannenbaum said. "I just try to stay out of watching other peoples matches until the tournament is really over, until after my last match. It's a long tournament." But the Wolverines have at least one thing to help them relax - they are finally compet- ing in a format conducive to their strengths. or at least in the one place they haven't disappointed this year. body's guess. "I've never really had a coach be fired," Sims said. "We aren't wor- ried about that because he's not. We're just going to do what we can do to prove to everybody that he's a good coach.... We're going to pull it out for him." may not mirror the way he plays the game, but it does his demeanor. Aweekbeforethecombinebegan, Harris returned to Grand Rapids to relax with his family and friends. He said it was a chance to get some of mom's home cooking and take his mind off of football for awhile. But as much as Harris enjoys time back at home, he might have to cancel any family time sched- uled for Sundays. guy everyone else wanted to be. In college, with so few men's gymnas- tics programs, each team is packed with such top-caliber competitors. Now in his second year, Rosso has it all figured out. The team is everything, with any individual accolades coming in a distant sec- ond. His quiet confidence is appar- ent with every set, and outside the gym he provides a calm, supportive presence for his teammates. "He used to just float by on his clean routines," Elkind said. "Now he's got some big skills and big strength skills in each set, and he does them real well." Like his teammates, Rosso has also bottled up the terrible feeling of missing NCAA team finals last year, dedicating himself to making this season different. "(Last year) was pretty motivat- ing because you get this feeling in your stomach, where you're like, 'I never want this to happen again,' " Rosso said. "It makes you work that much harder to make sure it - 3 D0 KAP-T f icy p t_ ca rn/ r b, It '"Tercet narn e% arm rcgimtmrcd tr."cterrn rrKs of Lf-tmir resp+ :ctiva owners. y-T 3'si r3 fter mppiics aniy to enrollments far f.aMAT, GRE, LSRT. MCAT, £7RT, CDR-F, and RCRT CEasaraarn Cac.srs . Cisisas - 5 Caur-se4s. 15-, 25-. ard 35-"^ k4r P'rivrerte Tutoring 3- ra3s-rza rris. Prmrniurn C7niin® Caura ms. t~SAT icxtrmme. GMRT Rdvancerd, and Rcimir$.lions Consulting F-acieages in t"t 50 UnitOd Statma, the C3istrfct e f Columbia, and F'uerta f=tics. and in Calgary, Edmonton, Montrftml, Ctt , 'f oron#a, V.ancouvcxr, and Victoria, Canada. 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