8 -- Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

8 - Tuesday, February 25, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
Tobel closes home
meet with a bang

Tourney picture shifts into focus

By CLAIRE KIT?
Daily Sports Writ
For some athletes,
the last puck or dun
last ball may mean a
than just the end of
Many college athlet
participated in their sp
childhood, and as som
end for seniors, the t
away from a life of o
athletics canbe abigad
However, for fifth-ye
women's track and field
Kiley Tobel, adjusting
much the issue - it's m
finishing her

senior season
with a bang.
"This year
for me is the
icing on the
cake," she
said "I'vehad
a great career
so far, but
there is still
unfinished
business for
me. I want to

gr
far
sti

NER rest of the seniors on the team.
er "It's hard at times," she said.
"It makes me sad because this is
shooting something I've put so much time
king the and energy into that it has basi-
lot more cally become a part of who Iam.
a season. I know it's a great opportunity
es have to be here competing for a fifth
ort since year, so I just want to soak it all
e seasons in and be as positive as Ican."
ransition However, for those who bal-
rganized ance academic success and
justment. athletic achievement, the tran-
ar senior sition to a life without sports
J captain, may not be so difficult after all.
isn't so A Brain, Behavior, and Cog-
ore about nitive Science major, Tobel has
applied to two
physical ther-
apy schools
"I've had a recently, and
has already
eat career SO been accepted
to Eastern
,but there is Michigan.
"The next
11 unfinished phase is
going to be
business." different, but
grad school is
something I've
been set on for
m, I want a couple of years now," she said.
dual, and "It's a huge relief, especially
trip back going into the outdoor season,
a great knowing that my future plans
are set."
on't want Among the nine first-place
of myself finishes secured by Michigan
ng goals, on Saturday, Tobel rounded
'day and out the final field event of the
ikes." day by clearing a height of 3.98
nd, the meters in the pole vault. After
in their a successful indoor season, it's
et of the safe to say that Michigan is in a
ilverston good position to compete for a
to the Big Ten championship.
g events, "There's a lot of promise on
for their our team," Tobel said. "We have
obel had a lot of talent, but we have still
her own a long way to go to reach our
brought goals so we have to keep that
in perspective and know that
ligibility, every single day is a building
ak for the block for the next day."

By LEV FACHER
Daily Sparta Writer
The Michigan women's
basketball team has had its ups
and downs this season, having
defeated ranked opponents on
the road and having lost to teams
in the bottom half of the Big
Ten standings by double digits.
But ultimately, the extremes
seem to have evened out, as the
Wolverines will likely enter next
week's Big Ten Tournament
squarely in the middle of the
pack seeding-wise.
With that much established,
this week presents a chance to
examine where Michigan will
enter the tournament.
The Wolverines do have
one remaining Big Ten game
- they travel to State College
on Saturday to face first-place
Penn State - the game likely
won't have a significant bearing
on either team's positioning in
the tournament. Meanwhile,
Nebraska's victory over Penn
State on Monday night means
the Cornhuskers hold the head-
to-head tiebreaker over the
Nittany Lions. That puts them
in the Big Ten driver's seat,
making them a shoe-in to enter
the tournament as the league's
top seed.
Minnesota's
loss to Big Ten Women's
Michigan State Basketball
on Monday Standings
night means1
Michigan 1. Pent State
has officially 2. Nebraska
clinched 3. Michigan
sixth place in 4. Purdue
the Big Ten, 5. lowa
even though 6. Michigan
both could 7. Minnesota
finish 8-8 in 8. Indiana
conference 9. Ohio State
play. With 10. Northwestern
only one game 11. Wisconsin
remaining, the 12. Illinois
Wolverines
can't pass
fifth-place Iowa, whose record
stands at 9-5.
Michigan and Minnesota

ALLISON FARRAND/Dallt
Michigan women's basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico and the Wolverines sit sixth heading Into the Big Ten Tournament.

win a Big Ten
championship as a teat
to win one as an indivi
I'd like to make another
to nationals and have
performancethere.
"Overall, though, I d
to get too far ahead(
when it comes to setti
so I'm taking it day by
learning frommy mista
This past weeke
Wolverines competed
last indoor track me
regular season, the S
Invitational. Prior
start of the running
seniors were honored
individual careers. T
a chance to reflect on
time, which naturally
an air of nostalgia.
In her last season of e
Tobel felt she could spe

split a pair of regular-season
contests, rendering that
tiebreaker moot, and the next
step inthe tiebreakingprocedure
compares each involved team's
record with teams at the top
of the conference standings. It
takes until fourth-place Purdue
to find a discrepancy in win
percentage - the Wolverines
split the season series, while
Minnesota lost its only game
against the Boilermakers.
Michigan's most likely
first-round opponent is
Northwestern, though Ohio
State and Wisconsin remain
slim possibilities.
If the Wolverines face the
Wildcats or Badgers, they'll
have the season's track record in
their favor. Wisconsin is one of
just two schools Michigan has
beaten twice this season, having
played home-and-home series

against five Big Ten opponents
in total. The Wolverines
beat Northwestern, 70-68,
in Evanston on Feb. 6 in the
season's lone meeting between
the two teams.
Should the Wolverines
advance to the second round,
trouble awaits them regardless
of their seed. The No. 6 seed
matches up against the No. 3
seed, and Penn State, Nebraska
and Michigan State remain
the Big Ten frontrunners. The
Wolverines are 0-3 against that
group, and would be 0-4 with
a loss to the Nittany Lions on
Saturday.
Entering the tournament
as a No. 6 seed means that
Michigan's first tournament
game will tip off at roughly
9 p.m. Eastern on Big Ten
Network, 25 minutes after the
conclusion of a scheduled 6:30

p.m. game between the No. 7
and No. 10 seeds.
Inconvenient travel
itineraries have plagued the
Wolverines throughout the
season, but the tables will
be turned in Indianapolis.
Michigan plays just one game
in the 10 days leading up to the
Big Ten Tournament, and the
Wolverines are one of the only
Big Ten teams with the luxury
of playing in the tournament
over spring break.
The breather is a refreshing
change of pace from a schedule
that forced Michigan to playfour
games in 10 days, more than any
other team in the conference, but
the advantage doesn't do much
- things aren't much worse for
either prospective first-round
opponent, as Northwestern
plays just twice in that stretch,
and Wisconsin plays only once.

ICE HOCKEY
Without Bennett, pairings shuffled once again

By ERIN LENNON
Daily Sports Writer
On Friday, the question was
who would fill in on defense.
On Saturday, it was who would
sit out.
But in each of the No. 14
Michigan hockey team's two
games against Penn State, the
defense was questionable. And
after a series split, it has little by
way of answers.
After an egregious loss on
Friday, Michigan coach Red
Berenson chose to address
the defense first, inserting
forward-turned-defenseman
Andrew Sinelli on a line with
junior forward Phil Di Giuseppe
and sophomore Boo Nieves in
place of junior Alex Guptill.
And with the previous night's
disappointment in mind, the
Wolverines got off to a strong

Early in Saturday's game, injury, and will be evaluated
Berenson's pick turned out to be again next week. He added that
a good one, but for reasons he the injury is not as serious as
hadn't anticipated. originally anticipated, and that
Midway through the first it's not expected to be season-
frame, senior defenseman Mac ending.
Bennett lay flat on his back, his "It's hard when you're a
gloves and stick scattered by player and you're injured and
his side. After a few minutes of you're a captain, to feel like
uneasy silence, the captain - you're as much a part of the
the heart of his unit, the penalty team as you were before you got
kill and this team - skated off hurt," Berenson said.
the ice, clutching his left arm to On Friday, Sinelli and
his side. freshman defenseman Michael
He was taken to the hospital Downing both served an
for X-rays after being evaluated NCAA-sanctioned one-game
in the locker room. suspension for their hits in a
"It was good that we had series against No. 2 Minnesota.
Sinelli dressed, and he jumped Meanwhile, freshman Kevin
back on defense," Berenson Lohan made his first appearance
said. "I wish it wouldn't have since suffering a knee injury,
happened at all, but at least we nearly four months ago.
had six 'D' dressed." Without two of its steadiest
Berenson announced Monday defensemen, the unit may not
that Bennett is listed as week- have been at full force, but the
to-week with an upper body Wolverines couldn't get out of

first gear on the defensive end.
Costly, and often
embarrassing, turnovers from
both forwards and defensemen,
seniors and freshmen, allowed
the Nittany Lions to fire 44 shots
at freshman goaltender Zach

package. Kevin Lohan had
played well enough to earn
a second starting nod, and
Downing and Sinelli - who
moved back to fill in for Lohan
in November - were available to
play. It was the first time since

Nagelvoort, Lohan's injury
five of which that the unit
found twine "He brings a was fully in
and secured tact.
Michigan's certain energy to But without
fourth their captain,
straight loss in the rink and guys and Sinelli
overtime - its filling in his
second loss to feed off that." place, the
Penn State. Wolverines
"S was held the
surprised that high-volume-
we did as well (in the first half shooting Nittany Lions to just
of the season) as quick as we 20 shots and two goals. The
did, with such a young team, defense was not impenetrable,
and with the changeover when and questions about next
Racine got hurt, and then Lohan weekend's pairings resurfaced
got hurt," Berenson said. "But I as soon as Bennett hit the ice.
thought our team held up really There is one certainty:
well. We got off to a tough start Michigan will be without its
in the second half. leader for its matchup with Ohio
"We have to straighten it out State, a team that nearly toppled
and get on the right track." the then-hot Wolverines twice
Saturday, then, was supposed in December. The question now
to feature the complete, healthy is less about who to replace

Bennet's talent on the ice with,
and more about how this team
will respond without his effort
on and off of it.
"I think they're as ready as
they've ever been to pick up
some of the slack," Berenson
said.
Though the captain will
attend daily team meetings,
Michigan will rely on forward
alternate captains Derek De
Blois and Andrew Copp during
the game.
"He brings a certain energy to
the rink and guys feed off that,
so it's different not having our
leader," Copp said. "But at the
same time, when one guy goes
down, the next guy steps up.
He's movingthe baton on down,
so we gotta pick it up and make
up for his absence."
And if nothing else, Bennett
will lead via other modes of
communication.
"Congrats on the win," he
wrote in a group text message to
his team Saturday. "I heard you
guys dominated pretty much.
I didn't get to watch, but I was
following on Twitter."

Philosophy, Politics & Economics
Applications are now being accepted for the Undergraduate Program
Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)
Deadline is March 14, 2014. Visit
www.lsa.umich.edulppe
for more Information

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