2B - November 3, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com I
The Athletic
Department's
presidential
hopefuls
"He was interested in politics tactically, as he might
be in a football game - who was ahead, who was
behind, who was gaining. Politics was like sports."
DAVID HALBERSTAM
on famed Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee
0
I
ven sports can't seem to
steer clear of politics any-
more.
Tonight, just
hours before
the polls open
across the
country, both
presidential
candidates will
participate in
one-on-one NATE
interviews via SANDALS
satellite with
ESPN's Chris
Berman dur-
ing the halftime of Monday Night
Football.
Democratic nominee Barack
Obama and Republican nominee
John McCain don't have a back-
ground in sports. They can't break
down game film or solve one of the
state of Michigan's biggest prob-
lems: the Lions.
But with the line between sports
and politics blurring more and
more, why not just mesh the two
entirely? So I asked myself, which
current Michigan coaches, athletes
and administrators would makethe
best U.S. President?
Remember, this isn't entirely out
of the ordinary. President Gerald
Ford was abigname on campus dur-
inghis time at Michigan as the start-
ing center onthe football team.
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
BILL MARTIN
Martin is the very model of a
chief executive, and that's what a
president is, right? Worried about
the financial crisis? So was former
University President Lee'Bollinger
when the Athletic Department was
bleeding money in the late 90s. So
Bollinger hired Martin, the best
businessman in town. Today, the
Athletic Department is turning
profits. If Martin can turn things
around on - South State Street,
reducing the national debt should
be easy.
SOFTBALL COACH
CAROL HUTCHINS
To put it simply, Hutchins is a
winner - the winningest coach
in Michigan sports history, to be
exact, with more than 1,000 vic-
tories in her career. She has also
broken down barriers, making her
2005 team the first softball National
Champion from east of the Missis-
sippi River. Hutchins is an intense
motivator and isn't afraid to tell it
like it is. Imagine that - an honest
politician.
FOOTBALL COACH
RICH RODRIGUEZ
If you're looking for a change
candidate, Rich Rodriguez is your
man. Even though he's young,
Rodriguez has already changed the
world of college football with his
spread offense.
Rodriguez is taking Michigan in
a whole new direction, for better or
worse. If he can change the culture
in tradition-rich Schembechler
Hall, he shouldn't have any prob-
lems turning Congress into a well-
oiled machine.
GOLFER ASHLEY BAUER
Bauerisalreadybuildingupallthe
tools to be a great president. She's in
the business school and was a 2008
Academic All-Big Ten honoree. On
top of that, Bauer is a great golfer,
and because so many of the world's
most important business decisions
get worked out on the golf course,
her skills could come in handy.
HOCKEY COACH
RED BERENSON
Berenson has the perfect back-
ground to be president. He took a
proud prtfgram that had fallen on
hard times and built it back up to
greatness. Sound familiar? Just one
problem: the Constitution says the
president has to be a "natural-born
citizen." Berenson hails from Can-
ada, which makes him ineligible to
seek the highest office inthe United
States.
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
DAVID MOOSMAN
Moosman is an intelligent
student of the game and, by all
accounts, excellent in the class-
room. He has stepped up asa leader
on an inexperienced offensive line
and is taking a larger role within
the Athletic Department as one of
twostudent-athleterepresentatives
on the Advisory Board on Intercol-
legiate Athletics. Building name
recognition shouldn't be a problem.
President Moosman has a nice ring
to it, don'tyou think?
None of these names will appear
on your ballot tomorrow. But if
sports and politics keep mixing at
this rate, they could someday.
-Sandals hopes that readers
will vote tomorrow. Infact, vot-
ing is mandatory for readers of
this column. He can be reached
at nsandals@umich.edu
cHRIS DZOMBAK/Daily
Junior Sean McNamara was the top individual performer for the Wolverines, finishing in sixth place. Michigan finished in second place behind Big Ten power Wisconsin
HOME, (BITTER)
SWEET HOME
'comes just short of ending the
Bad gers' Big Ten dominance
I
Wisconsin wins
conference-record
10th straight Big
Ten title
By FELIX CARREON
Daily Sports Writer
With temperatures in the 40s
and moderate wind gusts, the
weather may not have been ideal
for a golf game - but they were
prime conditions for the No. 9
Michigan men's cross country
team to host the Big Ten Champi-
onships yesterday at the Univer-
sity of Michigan Golf Course in
front of over 2,000 fans.
The Wolverines placed sec-
ond (57) behind Wisconsin (40)
in a meet that was close until
the finish line. Minnesota's Has-
san Mead finished the difficgilt
8,000-meter first overall (24:26).
Michigan believed that the
home-field advantage would be
critical to end Wisconsin's domi-
nance in the Big Ten for the last
decade.
The Badgers have been
crowned conference champions
every year since 1999.
Many cross country alums
attended the race, hoping to see
Michigan win its first title since
1998, the year before the Badgers
started their Big Ten winning
streak.
Redshirt junior Sean McNa-
mara paced the Wolverines with
a sixth-place finish (24:48), earn-
ing him All-Big Ten first-team
honors.
Behind McNamara were senior
Justin Switzer in tenth (24:53),
redshirt sophomore Ciaran
O'Lionaird (24:56) and sopho-
more Craig Forys, who finished
11th and 12th, respectively.
"I'm disappointed in the score,
but I'm not disappointed with
the team," Warhurst said. "We
thought we had a shot and came
up a little short. It doesn't take
away with the way the kids per-
formed in the race."
The Wolverines started the
meet in a tight pack. The first
mile's slow pace indicated the
difficulty of the course, which
Warhurst described as one of the
toughest in the nation. It features
many rolling hills and forces
runners to alter their strategies,
especially those who excel on
flatter routes.
At 5,000 meters, Michigan
started to pull away from the rest
of the field. With 2,000 meters to
go, the Wolverines had three run-
ners in the top eight and seven in
the top 15. It seemed the Wolver-
ines had secured the Big Ten title
and ended Wisconsin's reign.
"We were really keying off
Wisconsin," McNamara said.
"Last year, we were the hunted
- this year we wanted to be the
hunter."
But Wisconsin closed the gap
within the final two kilometers to
capture a conference-record 10th
straight Big Ten title.
The Badgers' Landon Peacock
pulled away from the field at
6,000 meters and his teammates
followed his lead.
The Wolverines finished with
four in the top 15. However,
Michigan needed a strong perfor-
mance from senior and co-captain
Lex Williams in order to have a
chance at passing the Badgers
for the title. Williams finished a
disappointing 47th place (25:39),
after suffering several small inju-
ries.
The Wolverines will face their
next test Nov. 15 at NCAA Region-
als, aiming to qualify for Nation-
als on Nov. 24.
"We're not going to kill each
other at regionals," Warhurst
said. "Our goal is to advance to
Nationals."
Tauro steps up for Blue at Big Tens
Injured Kohlmeier, Edwards don't have big impact in conference meet
4
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By KATIE FIELD tling a recurring ankle problem,
Daily Sports Writer Kohlmeier donned a walking cast
instead of her racing spikes Sun-
In the void left by two of the day.
Michigan women's cross country The absence of Kohlmeier was
team's three senior captains, a new compounded by an uncharacter-
leader fought her way into the spot- istically shaky performance from
light at the Big Ten cross country Edwards. Although she had eyed
championships. the Big Ten Championship title all
Sophomore Danielle Tauro season long, Edwards watched her
attained All-Big Ten second team dream disintegrate shortly after
honors Sunday at the University of the gun went off at the start of the
Michigan Golf Course, placing13th race.
overall and leading the No. 8 Mich- "I knew she was in trouble two
igan women's cross country team K into the race," McGuire said.
to a fifth-place finish (116 points). "The race was in control of her, she
Tauro ran her best race ever as a wasn't in control of the race."
Wolverine (21:19). She improved on Edwards seemed to fold under
her 51st place finish at last year's the pressure to win asa senior lead-
conference championship, where er, and it ultimately cost her the
the Wolverines finished third. championship. Influenced by the
"Tauro is going to step up as our high energy and excitement sur-
leader of the future," Michigan rounding the course, the front pack
coach Mike McGuire said. ran an adrenaline-fueled opening
Though Tauro was the bright kilometer. Edwards, unable to get
spot for the Wolverines, Michigan into her usually easy and strong
finished fifth and posted its worst strides, came in a disappointing
Big Ten finish in seven years. 24th place (21:36).
Without the typically strong "It definitely was such a big
performances of redshirt senior thing for her," McGuire said. "She's
tri-captains Nicole Edwards and on the end of her career with us and
Aly Kohlmeier, Michigan's former she's at home. I mean it's all of this
two-time Big Ten Championship ... look at this atmosphere. I thought
winners, the Wolverines struggled that they were running a little bit
to keep pace with the fast field. Bat- too hard three, four minutes into
Field hockey ends regular season
on four-game skid
I
I
cHRIS DZOMBAK/Dal
Sophomore Danielle Tauro took 13th place in her best-ever collegiate race.
The Michigan field hockey team
couldn't muster much offense this
weekend,falling3-2to Miami (Ohio)
onFridayand 3-0toIowayesterday.
The Wolverines (3-3 Big Ten, 8-11
overall) didn't record a shot on goal
in the second period of Sunday's
contest, and they were outshot by
the ninth-ranked Hawkeyes 14-2.
Sophomores Meredith Way and
KellyFitzpatrickwerethe only Wol-
verines to test the opposing goalie
with shots.
Michigan has now been held
scoreless for three consecutive
halves of play.
Redshirt junior goaltender Paige
Pickett stopped seven shots while
allowing the three tallies in Sunday's
loss.
The Wolverines end the regu-
lar season with a four-game losing
streak, but they hope to right their
ship headinginto postseason play.
The Big Ten Tournament begins
ThursdayinBloomington.
the race. It justhappens. If you're in
this long enough things can come
up. If anybody can bounce back off
of this, it's Nicole Edwards."
The Wolverines' fifth-place fin-
ish shows just how much the two
senior tri-captains were missed.
No. 7 Minnesota won the meet (63),
followed closely by No. 16 Wiscon-
sin (67) and No. 9 Michigan State
(83).
With the top seven finishing
teams at the meet ranked within
the top 21 nationally, the Big Ten is
a tough conference to run in.
The Wolverines had a specific
plan to reclaim the conference
title, clustering their top five run-
ners together so they came into
the chute within 36 seconds. But
without a front-running athlete in
contention for the individual title,
Michigan lost ground.
Cross country is a sport in which
one teammate can have the best
day of their career and another can
come crashingdown.
"It's bittersweet," Tauro said. "I
know that everyone gave their best
efforts, soI cannotexpectanything
more, and I can't be disappointed.
I am definitely happy with my per-
formance, and alot of girls stepped
itup. Obviously, everyoneisentitled
to their day and a few girls didn'tdo
as well as they normally would."
After this year, all but one run-
ner who raced on the 2006 Big
Ten Championship team will have
graduated. Michigan's legacy of
five consecutive Big Ten Champi-
onship titles will be something the
team has heard about, but not expe-
rienced personally.
"When I was a freshman, they
won and I got to see it," redshirt
junior Kelly Sampson said. "I don't
know what it feels like to win."
Tauro envisions what a returnto
the top of the Big Ten podium will
take.
"It's going to be up to the young
girls to rally the troops and get
everyone motivated and use every
race as a growing and learning
experience," she said.