The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
November 3, 2008 - 3B
Top-ranked Longhorns prove too much for Blue
Former Michigan
swimmer propels
Texas to big win
By RYAN A. PODGES
Daily Sports Writer
When the No. 4 Michigan men's
swimming and diving team took on
No 1. Texas on Halloween, Michi-
ganvolunteer coach Jon Urbanchek
stood on one side of the deck dressed
in his cowboy costume.
On the other side, former Michi-
gan swimmer Scott Spann waited
for the meet to start wearing his
new orange Texas swim cap.
After training with the Wolver-
ines for the last two years, it was
Spann's first appearance at Can-
ham Natatorium as a Longhorn
since transferring from Michigan
to Texas in the spring.
For the Wolverines, Urbanchek's
outfit was a joke, but there was
nothing funny about watching
their former teammate compete as
a rival and win the 100- and 200-
yard breaststrokes events. Texas
won the meet 221.5-166.5.
Michigan senior co-captain Matt
Patton didn't talk to Spann, and
although he wishes him well, he
admitted it's hard for him to sup-
port someone that left his team.
"It's a tough pill to swallow," he
said. "If he was still at Michigan,
we might have won the meet and
it's really hard to look at things that
way."
The two-day competition includ-
ed three teams, Michigan, Texas
and No. 14 Indiana. Michigan (1-0
Big Ten, 2-1 overall) split the dou-
in the right direction this week-
end," he said. "Texas came in here
this weekend and I guarantee you,
they did not expect the meet to be
that close. We're making the kind
of progress we want to and teams
around the country are going to
start recognizing who we are.".
The meet was the second for the
Wolverines with of new head coach
Mike Bottom. Michigan won itsfirst
meet of the season two weeks ago
defeating then-No.4 Florida. Going
over the results as his team warmed
down, Bottom said he was proud of
the waythe teamswam. He said the
swimmers are beginning to look
past some Big Ten teams and should
remain focused on competing with
the nation's most elite teams.
"The Indiana meet turned out
to be not much of a battle," he said.
"This team doesn't believe they're
as good as I think they are, and yet
every meet they're more of believ-
ers. I think they're still forming
an identity at this point I don't
think they do see themselves as the
fourth-ranked team in the country.
They see themselves as a team on
the move."
Spann's departure from Michi-
gan left a big gap for the Wolverines
to fill in breaststroke events. Bottom
was particularly impressed with
the performance ofsophomoreNeal
Kennedy, who was not a breaststro-
ker before this season, but finished
just 0.38 seconds behind Spann in
the 100-yard breaststroke.
Texas gained its biggest point
advantage over Michigan in the
diving events. Senior Kyle Schroed-
er was the highest-placing Wolver-
ine, finishing fourth in the platform
competition and the one- and
three-meter springboard events.
The Longhorns captured two of the
top three scores in all three events.
Sophomore Tyler Clary and
junior Andr4 Schultz both had a
strong meet winning three events
each. Clary won the 400-yard indi-
vidual medley and tied twice for
first, once with Texas swimmer
Ricky Berens in the 200-yard indi-
vidual medley and then again in the
200-yard backstroke with Schultz.
In addition to the 200-yard back-
stroke, Schultz won the 100-yard
backstroke and the 200-yard free-
style.
Schultz said he felt the team has
more energy to put into their races
than last year under former coach
Bob Bowman. He pointed to the
kind of training the team is doing
with Bottom as the difference.
"I'm swimming way faster atthis
point in the season than last year,
so I'm really happy," he said. "Mike
(Bottom) said we wouldn't be in
better shape, we'd just be in differ-
ent shape, and that's exactly how
I feel. We're not as tired and beat
down as we were with Bob (Bow-
man). We're still tired, but we can
put a lot more into our races."
Clary is optimistic about the
Wolverines' future, but he empha-
sized that the team cannot be sat-
isfied with just keeping the meet
close.
"We were happy we stuck with
Texas," he said. "And at this point,
we're going from a Big Ten team to
an NCAA team. But we need to we
keep getting sharper technically
and focus on competing with the
top teams so we can reach our goal
of finishing in the top three or five
at the NCAA championships."
ALLISON GHAMAN/Daily
Senior co-captin Matt Patton expressed disappointment following Michigan's 221.5-166.5 loss to No.1 Texas.
ble-dual meet with the loss against
the Longhorns, and an easy vic-
tory over Indiana. The Wolverines
crushed the Hoosiers 227-151 in
their first Big Ten meet of the sea-
son. Texas also defeated Indiana.
But while the score indicated
that Michigan lost to Texas, you
could barely tell by talking to the
Wolverines. On the pool deck after
the meet, Patton was visibly dis-
appointed by the loss, but was far
more encouraged than upset by his
team's performance.
"We definitely made a big jump
' M' falters at home against two top-10 teams
By FELIX CARREON
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's swim-
ming and diving team saw orange.
In front of a large Longhorn fan
base at Canham Natatorium Friday,
the 16th-ranked Wolverines fell to
No. 4 Texas and No. 9 Indiana.
Michigan started the meet
strong, winning the 200-yard free-
style relay. The team of junior Mar-
garet Kelly, sophomore Natasha
Moodie, senior Hannah Smith and
freshman Alexa Mehesan raced
past the opposition in a time of
1:32.54.
But the Wolverines couldn't
match the pace set by Texas and
Indiana in most of the remaining
events. Michigan was blown out
against both teams in the double-
dual meet, losing 225-165 to the
Longhorns and 232-157 to the Hoo-
siers.
Though the Wolverines strug-
gled to win races, they took many
positives from the meet.
"We had a lot of season-best
times today," Michigan coach Jim
Richardson said.
The Wolverines were over-
matched from the start, competing
against several athletes who par-
ticipated in the Summer Olympics
in Beijing, China.
Kelly bested the field in the 400-
yard individual medley with an
NCAA consideration time of 4:15.73.
She also competed in the 200-yard
individual medley where she fin-
ished second (2:01.25) alongside
teammate senior Payton Johnson
who finishedthird (2:04.80). Olym-
pian Kathleen Hersey of Texas, a
freshman, claimed the event with a
blistering 1:58.37.
"It's really a good opportunity
for us because we're able to step it
up against some of the best in the
country," Kelly said.
Smith also had a solid perfor-
mance this weekend after miss-
ing four days of practice with a
fever. In addition to helping the
200-yard freestyle relay to victory,
she placed second in the 200-yard
backstroke(1:59.09), third in the
100-yard backstroke(55.51) and
contributed to the 400-yard free-
style relay that went stroke for
stroke with Texas until the final
50 yards, at which point the Long-
horns pulled away.
Richardson expressed concern
over the lack at depth in breast-
stroke. The Wolverines' best in the
stroke, senior Christine Nichols,
was out with a strained leg muscle.
Four veteran breaststrokers gradu-
ated last year and the coachingstaff
did not emphasize it in recruiting.
Kelly, filling in for Nichols, had a
solid performance in the 100-yard
breaststroke with a third-place fin-
ish (1:04.69).
"A lot is going to hinge on the
breaststroke legs," Richardson said.
"I don't wantto pull Margaret Kelly
off of events she's reallyexceptional
in and swim her in an event that's
not one of her best."
Indiana diver and Olympian
Christina Loukas dominated both
the one-meter and three-meter
events. Freshman Amanda Lohm-
an posted Michigan's best per-
formance in both events with a
fifth-place finishes.
Though the its lone victory has
come against Toledo, Michigan (0-2
Big Ten, 1-5 Overall) remains confi-
dent after showing promise against
some of the bestteams in the nation
and competing against some the
best talent in the world.
"By the time we swim at Texas
A&M (in three weeks), we'll prob-
ably have swum against seven out
of the top 10 teams in the country,"
Richardson said. "We're not going
to see much faster swimming than
what we've seen here and what
we'll see there."
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Hagelin's flexibility key in Michigan's 6-1 win
Sophomore fills in at
center, sets pace on
both ends of ice
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Editor
Carl Hagelin wasn't one of the
nine different Wolverines to tally
a point in the Michigan hockey
team's 6-1 victory over Ohio State
on Saturday.
Instead, , the NOTEBOOK
stat that said the
most about the sophomore's night
was blocked shots. He notched four,
two more than any other skater on
the ice. And he did it while shifting
from left wing to center to fill in for
sophomore Matt Rust, who was an
injured scratch Saturday because
he had "his bell rung" in the series'
opener on Friday, Michigan coach
Red Berenson said.
Hagelin, whom Berenson regu-
larly describes as one of the team's
hardest workers, transitioned into
the position seamlessly, playing a
large part in what Berenson called
BUCKEYES
From page 1B
Caporusso and senior forward Tim
Miller on Friday. The trio gave
Berenson plenty of incentives to
keep the line together, combining for
a 7-6-13 line on the weekend.
Caporusso netted his seventh and
eighth goals of the season Saturday,
both power play tallies from the bot-
tom of the right circle. Miller scored
a goal in each of this weekend's
games.
Berenson said multiple times last
week that Palushaj will play well no
matter who his line-mates are, and
the Northville native's four-point
Michigan's "best team effort of the
season thus far."
From the game's start, Hagelin's
effort set the tone on both ends of
the ice.
In the Wolverines' offensive sys-
tem, the center comes back on the
defensive end and plays more of a
two-way game than do the wing-
ers do.
"I thought Carl was terrific,"
Berenson said. "You watched
him go back and lug the puck
out of our zone. He was good on
faceoffs, (and) he was good on the
forecheck."
Last season, Hagelin subbed in
at center when Rust broke his fib-
ula before the CCHA playoffs and
lit the lamp twice against Nebras-
ka-Omaha in the first round of the
tournament. He was named one of
the three stars of the game both
nights of that series against the
Mavericks.
And while Hagelin didn't score
from the center position Saturday,
his impact on the offensive end of
the ice was clear. His linemates
both scored their first goal of the
season during Michigan's season-
weekend illustrated as much. And
no matter how they get the puck,
Palushaj and Caporusso have two of
the better shots on the team.
"(Louie's) in the right place at the
right time," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said Saturday. "Several of
his goals have been rebounds and
loose pucks. You saw a little bit of
everything (Saturday)."
Both Berenson and Caporusso
said the Wolverines gave their best
effort of the season Saturday night,
and the scoreboard certainly reflect-
ed that. But Caporusso indicated
that Ohio State's lack of intensity
Saturday was also a big reason the
score became so lopsided.
"I think when the score is 6-1,
high six-goal outburst.
"He really makes everything
easy," senior Travis Turnbull,
Hagelin's right wing said.
A KILLER KILL: Last week, Bos-
ton University shelled the Wolver-
ines with five power-play goals in
one game.
In its entire series against the
Buckeyes, Michigan's penalty-kill
unit let in just two.
"Our penalty kill was a major
factor and the reason why we
played so well," sophomore top-
line center Louie Caporusso said.
But the unit didn't just prevent
goals - it also notched one of its
own a man down.
Freshman David Wohlberg,
who has seen time on the second,
third and fourth lines this season,
sparked the Wolverines with his
first goal of the year by wrapping
a puck right between the Buckeye
goalie's right skate and post. The
score ignited a four-minute, three-
goal run in the middle of the sec-
ond period.
"I have a lot of confidence in
Wohlly," Berenson said. "I see him
growing every week and I trust
(points) don't mean as much," Capo-
russo said Saturday. "It's good for
guys who were able to get a couple
of points and get a bunch of confi-
dence, but you've got to be ready for
the nextgame."
Indeed, the Buckeyes played
a more competitive game in the
Wolverines' 4-3 victory Friday
night. While the game was tied at
three after two periods, Ohio State
dominated the first 40 minutes of
play. The Buckeyes had a lot of suc-
cess forcing turnovers and putting
relentless pressure on senior goalie
Billy Sauer, who faced 29 shots in the
first two frames.
"We were definitely not in sync
(in the first two periods), whether
him out there to do the right thing
on the PK and on faceoffs and in
our zone."
The shorthanded lamp lighter
was the Wolverines' first of the
year.
"REF, YOU SUCK!": The- cheer,
which reverberates throughout
Yost Ice Arena after any ques-
tionable call, was heard quite fre-
quently Saturday night.
After an opening period with
just three combined penalties, it
looked like new referees showed
up for the second and third frames.
In the final 40 minutes, 29 penal-
ties were called for a total of 56
minutes, not including sophomore
defenseman Tristin Llewellyn's
10-minute misconduct for getting
in a scuffle after the whistle.
As a result, the game had very
little flow after the opening peri-
od, as the Wolverines capitalized
on isolated chances to blow open
the game.
"It wasn't like the game was
taking any shape," Berenson said.
"The score was, but the game
wasn't. I'm at a loss, like a lot of
coaches, at some of the penalties."
it was the execution or the effort or
the second effort," Berenson said
Friday. "But this is second effort
hockey. If you get one or two play-
ers thatcaren't giving a second effort,
then it shows."
Michigan definitely appeared to
be the more aggressive team Satur-
day, registering a number of big hits
and consistently winning battles for
the puck alongthe boards. The Wol-
verines played much more often in
Ohio State's zone Saturday, and reg-
istered far too many scoring chances
for Heeter to withstand.
"That was the key, to play all 60
minutes," Caporusso said Saturday.
"I don't think our team had done
that up until today."
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