Tuesday
April 29, 2003
michigandaily.com
sportsdesk@umich.edu
able O1t ja d
SPORTS
16.
'M' Tumblers
finish strong
By Michael Nisson
Daily Sports Editor
All good dreams must come to an end, and for the injury-
plagued Michigan women't gymnastics team, that end was one to
be proud of.
The Wolverines placed fifth in the NCAA Super Six Team Finals
with a score of 196.050. The fifth place finish is the seventh top-five
finish nationally in school history. UCLA, who edged Michigan in a
dual meet earlier in the season, won the event with a score of
197.825.
After beginning with a 49.075 on the balance beam in the first rota-
tion, the Wolverines nailed down a solid floor routine in the third rota-
tion, earning a score of 49.225. Junior Calli Ryals paced Michigan in
both events with scores of 9.875 and 9.900 respectively.
After the third rotation was completed, UCLA held the top spot, but
the next four teams were all within six-tenths of a point of the Bruins.
The Wolverines were one of those teams, and Michigan held to fourth
place with a score of 98.200.
Michigan's hopes of bringing home the school's first national cham-
pionship came crashing down after the team posted a 48.950 on vault
in the fourth rotation. The score was the only vault mark below 49.000
in the meet. Michigan finished the meet with an even worse score of
48.800 on uneven bars.
Even though the team did not close the meet out well, Michigan
coach Bev Plocki was still upbeat about her team's performance.
"I'm extremely pleased," Plocki said. "I would have liked to have
finished a little stronger on our last event, but we hit the first 18 rou-
tines before we came to bars. We weren't quite as polished as we could
have been, but that's a lot of pressure."
The fact that the Wolverines even managed to get to the Super Six is
a testament to the hard-work and determination the gymnasts have put
in this year. Plocki noted that she asked the team before the meet how
many people had actually competed in a Super Six, and of the four ath-
letes.that raised their hands, two were injured, including junior team
captain and former Olympian Elise Ray.
"We've had a season (of) ups and downs this year," Ryals said. "This
Baseball can't
disrupt Farrell's
151-pitch game
By Gennaro Filice
Daily Sports Editor
120 -For a starting pitcher in Major League baseball, this
is the magic number. The number that calls for one final
mound meeting with the skipper. The number that ultimately
hands the ball over to the bullpen. 120 is the maximum num-
ber of pitches that most big-league managers will ordinarily
let their starting hurler throw. But in college baseball - the
land of aluminum bats, double-digit scoreboards, and there-
fore depleted pitching staffs - sometimes a 120-pitch per-
formance can fall short of sufficient, and a manager will have
to expand on the 120-pitch rule.
On Sunday, according to Michigan coach Rich Maloney,
Penn State manager Joe Hindelang did just that with starting
pitcher Jim Farrell.
"We felt like truthfully, if we had gotten into their 'pen,
they didn't have anything - I think they were done cooked,"
Maloney said.
Unfortunately for Maloney, his Wolverines (9-9 Big Ten,
21-18 overall) never did get past Farrell, who pitched the
complete game in the Nittany Lions' (10-10, 16-21) 6-4 victo-
ry that split the weekend series. Farrell surrendered only six
hits and four runs against a potent Wolverine offense, while
hurling 151 pitches.
"(Farrell) gave their team a championship effort," Maloney
See BASEBALL, Page 20
Junior Calli Ryals was one of the bright spots for the gymnasts team
this weekend, earning a top-five finish in the floor exercise at NCAAs.
whole season has been a challenge for us. A lot of girls who hadn't
competed on certain events had to step it up and that was a big chal-
lenge for us. I think having a young team is just going to make us
stronger for years to come because we have a young team that got a lot
of experience out of this year."
With Janessa Grieco being the lone senior graduating this year, the
Wolverines should be a familiar bunch next season, and that has Plocki
chomping at the bit.
"We've already been talking about how awesome next year is going
to seem because of how much some of these athletes have grown this
year," Plocki said. "Lots of them have developed in ways that they may
not have if we had been healthy."
Plocki has turned Michigan into a gymnastics powerhouse during
her career, and there's no reason to think that the Wolverines won't be
in a familiar position when spring rolls around next year.
Polo falls short
of Final Four
By Ellen McGarrity
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's water polo team may have lost its
ticket to the Final Four this weekend, but no one can say its
season was lost. In just its third year competing with varsity
status, this group of Wolverines has blown away most of the
East Coast teams.
Unfortunately, they could not blow away No. 17 Brown in
the Eastern Championships. They came up short in a heart-
breaking 5-4 loss. Michigan traveled to Boston this past
weekend entering the event as the top seed. Last year, the
team was in the same position and won, giving them an auto-
matic berth to the Final Four. But this year, after the loss to
Brown on the first day of competition, the Wolverines had to
eventualy settle for third overall.
"In a situation where you don't get as far as you want to get,
the important thing is that you don't stumble too badly," Michi-
gan coach Matt Anderson said. "By winning third place, we
were able to prove that we are still a very good team."
On Saturday, the tournament started off well when Michi-
gan defeated Bucknell 14-2. Michigan expected the game
against Brown to have a similar ending, but Brown proved it
See'WATEi PoLQ, Page 1.
4
4
.4