The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, January 15, 2009 -5A

Mitera finally discusses knee

By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily Sports Editor
Mark Mitera skated Friday for the
first time since sustaining a bad knee
injury on Oct. 9, but his real home-
coming was in the locker room.
Just over three months since the
Michigan senior captain suffered a
torn left anterior cruciate ligament
in the team's season opener, he put
on his equipment, laced up his skates
and grabbed a stick.
Though he'd spent time in the
locker room for team meetings, put-
ting on pads there was special.
"Just seeing him in the locker
room with his gear on, it's a big
morale boost," junior acting captain
Chris Summers said. "He's been
with us off the ice as much as he
can be, and that part of his situation
with the injury didn't really change.
It's great seeing him on the ice."
SEASON OPENER: 38.8 SECONDS
LEFT, FIRST PERIOD
Near the end of the first period
of the season-opening game, Mitera
and St. Lawrence junior forward
Augie DiMarzo collided. Both play-
ers were sent sprawling to the ice.
The defenseman didn'treturn to the
contest, and MRI results confirmed
what many feared.
"(Mitera) doesn't go down for
nothing,"senior Tim Miller said after
the game. "When I saw his face as he
limped off the ice, it scared me."
The initial diagnosis was difficult
for Mitera, a 2006 first-round NHL
draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks.
Doctors gave him a three-to-six-
month timeframe for returning to
the ice if he underwent surgery.
"When I first heard the news, I
pretty much wrote myself off for the
season, given a timeline like that,"
Mitera said.
Even with such a serious injury,

n JEREMY CHO/Daily
Senior Adam Harris is eager to avenge last April's loss to Ohio State in The Dual.
Michigan- Ohio
State riRvalr is
revisited on track

By ROGER SAUERHAFT
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan men's track and field
coach Fred LaPlante isn't sure
whenhis teambeganits countdown
for "The Dual" against Ohio State,
but he thinks he remembers the
number being as high as 120 days
at one point.
This Saturday, Ohio State
LaPlante will
lead the 17th- at Michigan
ranked Wol- 
achp:.
vernes against Ohio State 1-0;
the Buckeyes in Michigan 0-0
The Dual at the When' Satur-
Indoor Track day 12 RM.
Building - a
meet the team Where' U/M
has had circled Indoor Track
for months.
. Michigan is TV/Radio: n/a
20-3 all-time
against Ohio State in indoor meets,
but LaPlante said this year's Buck-
eyes are a very strong team.
"The rivalry type of competi-
tion is great, and it's amazing how
athletes just come out of the wood-
work," LaPlante said. "There's
always someone you wouldn't
expect to do something who does
really well. It's about right now, not
what you did last year. It's about
right now."
The Michigan-Ohio State rival-
ry isn't new for LaPlante - but the
side he roots for is. The first-year
Wolverine head coach admits that
during his childhood in Toledo, he
was "one of those Ohio State peo-
ple" who loved to hate Michigan.
Dual meets between schools are
rare, with only other one on this
year's schedule on April 11 against
Ohio State in Columbus. Prior to
last year's revival of the now-annu-
al event, The Dual hadn't taken
place since 1993.
"You have to get that extra inch,
you have to make that third jump,"
LaPlante said. "Your key is that
you can't allow yourself to mental-
ly break under any circumstances.
It's willpower."
Given the magnitude of the
meet, fifth-year All-America
sprinter Dan Harmsen doesn't
expect willpower to be much of an
issue for the Wolverines.

He said the members of the
team who also play on the foot-
ball team have expressed great
enthusiasm for this weekend
after last November's game in
Columbus. The two-sport ath-
letes include sophomore sprinter
Troy Woolfolk, redshirt fresh-
man thrower Vince Helmuth,
freshman thrower Mike Martin
and freshman sprinter Michael
Shaw.
"Losingthepastfourorfiveyears,
they have a little more juice us their
tank for this meet," Harmsen said.
"The rivalry stems from footfall,
and we're carrying it onto the track.
It's goingnto he a hot meet."
Ohio State makes the trek up to
Ann Arbor after winning its first
meet, the Rev. Mike Hout Invita-
tional, at Capital University Open-
er on January 10.
Although Michigan won hand-
ily 90-72 in last year's Dual, the
Buckeyes took the outdoor match-;
up 110-93 last April in Columbus.
Senior All-American sprinter
Adam Harris won the 60-meter,
the 200-meter and the long jump
in last year's indoor Dual victory,
but he still feels a chip on his shoul-
der after the outdoor loss to the
Buckeyes.
"We're not thinking about any-
thing besides this meet," Harris
said. "I'm not thinking about Big
Tens or anything.yet. We want to
get our pennant back."
The Wolverines aren't going
into the weekend with an entirely
healthy lineup. Unable to com-
pete in the Dual due to injuries
are senior All-American sprinter
Mike Barnes and junior pole vault-
er Chris Baldwin. Junior captain
Frank Shotwell and redshirtjunior
Lex Williams are.questionable.
But LaPlante said he feels a per-
sonnel shuffle tests him more as a
coach.
"I loved baseball growing up, so
I like the idea of strategy - who's
going to be in your lineup and
who's going to run what events,"
LaPlante said. "Maybe some guys
are injured and can't run. You put
someone else in.
"But they're the athletes, and
they're the ones who are going to
score."

he still faced many options: red- maintained an optimistic approach Steve Kampfer, who was rehabbing
shirting and returning for a fifth to the unfortunate injury. a fractured skull, and the two often
season, signing with Anaheim "He's handled it well," Berenson watched the team practice from the
and rehabilitating there, playing said. "He's been very supportive of standstogether.
through the injury with a brace or the team, very positive about his sit- . Kampfer returned to the ice in
getting surgery immediately. uation. He's handled it like a pro." December, much faster than expect-
Miteraopted togoundertheknife, Mitera's rehabilitationbegan just ed, and Miterasoon followed suit.
and on Nov. 6, surgeons performed days after the surgery. He started off
ACL reconstructive surgery. riding a stationarybike and eventu- A MONTH AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Michigan coach Red Berenson ally moved on to weight training. He Mitera said he felt "rock-solid"
and teammates said the senior often biked with junior defenseman
See MITERA, Page 8A

For third time in 11 months, Rodriguez
gives 'U' students chance to join team

By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
ManagingEditor
At this time last year, the idea
of a Michigan football open tryout
was a novelty.
But by now, it's become tradition
- and for the third time in11months,
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez
and his staff will be searching for
athletes who worried more about
college applications than letters of
intent in high school.
The last two tryouts, held in
February and September, included
footwork stations, position drills,
timed 40-yard runs and gassers.
Friday's tryout will be 30 minutes
shorter than in the past.
Wide receiver and defensive
back prospects were in high sup-
ply during both workouts. But
Rodriguez said in both February
and September that he was dis-
appointed by the number of "big
guys," potential offensive and
defensive linemen.
Two months after Rodriguez
took the Michigan head coaching
job, he held the first open tryout
in program history. Sixty-five ath-
letes tried out, and 12 were invited
back for additional evaluation.
Four athletes - redshirt fresh-
man cornerback Tony Anderson,
redshirt sophomore cornerback
Bobby Centlivre, redshirt sopho-

more linebacker Mike Fish and
redshirt sophomore safety Nick
Koenigsknecht - made this year's
fall roster.
This September, three days after
Michigan's season-opening loss to
Utah, 28 students came to Schem-
bechler Hall at 6:00 a.m. for their
shot to wear the maize and blue.
Five athletes earned spots on the
initial list, and freshman defensive
back Matt Cavanaugh, redshirt
freshman linebacker Russ Furrha
and redshirt freshman defensive
lineman Dominique Ware made
the fall roster.
"We showed up to practice not
knowing what to expect at all, so
we just went in and basically did
what we were told," Cavanaugh
said. "There was a lot of intimida-
tion from not being on the team
to going into everything 100 per-
cent."
Cavanaugh said current person-
al goals for himself and the other
walk-ons range from moving up to
the first line of the scout team to
getting on the field during a game
on special teams.
And in just two semesters,
one of Rodriguez's walk-ons has
accomplished both. As a fresh-
man, Anderson worked out at the
CCRB four to five times per week
for about four months prior to last
February's tryout. After Anderson

made the team and finished spring
practice, Rodriguez named Ander-
son the walk-on with the most
potential to see the field.
And he did, playing on special
teams in the last five games of the
season after making his Wolverine
debut against Michigan State.
Anderson's success motivated
his friend Ware to also try out, a
camaraderie that extends to both
groups of 2008 walk-ons.
"A lot of the walk-ons from the
last tryouts, they are legit on the
team -they have respect from the
trainers, coaches and other play-
ers, even," Cavanaugh said. "Most
of them do, not all of them do. But
those guys, they know what we're
goingthrough and they know what
we're thinking."
Rodriguez also knows what
they're thinking. While in col-
lege, he walked onto the football
team at West Virginia after turn-
ing down football and basketball
scholarships atother schools.
"I was lucky - all I wanted was
for them to give me a good .look,"
Rodriguez said after February's
tryout, explaining his walk-on
experience. "I had one year to
make it, because if I didn't make
it, I would have had to transfer
because I didn't have the money.
But I got a scholarship after the
first year, so it worked out fine."

tryouts as a coach at both West
Virginia and Michigan, Rodriguez
is still just as eager to talk about
the potential of Michigan's undis-
covered varsity athletes.
"It's been beneficial," Rodriguez
said after last February's tryout.
"To me, it gives a guy a chance to
chase a dream, and what's wrong
with that?"

Internship Fair
Thursday, January 22nd
12noon-4pm at The Michigan Union
Meet with organizations targeting
UM students.
Registration on-site the day of the event.
Check-out participating organizations at
www,.careercenter.umichedu
Quick Tips
Dress professionally
Bring your resume
Check the Fair website f'r mov eips
because.-sometimes your pasion pursues you!

Multicultural
Career Fair
Wednesday, January 21st
2-6pm at The Michigan Union
Discuss full-time job & internship
opportunities with organizations from
across the country!
Registration on-site the day of the fair.
See our website for a list of participating
organizations.
Quick Tips
Dress professionally
Bring yourresume
Check the Fairwebsite for moretps
cnw ed with PerrioCOmanY

Summer 2009 in Paris
A large selection of undergraduate, credit-bearing courses
" One 7-Week Summer Term " Two French Immersion Sessions
. International Studies . The Arts
Email: summer@a up.edu www.aup.edu

Forme.inarioncntc

Formore information contact as at:
3200 SAB
034)7647460
wwwcareunceter.umicb edu

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The Career Centel
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