16 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 12, 2003 Brannen, Waits shine at Len Paddock Invitational. 4 By Ellen McGarrity Daily Sports Writer It's amazing what a little competition can do for one's time on the track. It was the final baton handoff in the 4x400-meter relay of the Len Paddock Invitational, and by the time Nate Bran- nen grabbed hold of the baton, he was barely in third place. The sophomore was 90 feet from the second-place run- ner and even farther from the runner in the lead --normally distances impossi- ble to make up. It's easy when a runner is in this situation to just give up and accept their position, but Brannen obvi- ously wasn't ready to accept his. Instead, he flew around the track for the anchor leg of the race as cheers arose from his teammates and the hometown crowd, trying to close the gap between himself and the second place runner. Although Brannen ended the race still in third, he did what many runners The Adobe®Acrobat® family would never attempt. In fact, he nearly took second for the relay team with his fast lap of 47.7. "Nate's time in the mile relay was very impressive," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "He almost caught the (second place) guy, but he was coming from about thirty yards behind. That was a great finish for him." In addition to Brannen's speedy time in the relay, he cut a second off his time in the 800-meter run, finishing in 1:49.18. Brannen currently holds the NCAA 800-meter indoor track title and plans to capture the outdoor title in the event as well. While the team didn't add any more NCAA regional qualifying times to the 20 they already have, two individuals came close. Sophomore Nick VanderPloeg was just three inches from qualifying with his discus throw of 164'-9". The throw was a nersonal best for the Grand Rapids native and fifteen inches farther than his prior best. Another standout in the invitational was sophomore Seth Waits. Waits also just missed a qualifying time in the 400- meter hurdles. His finish of 52.88 was fast enough to claim first, but a couple hundredths of a second from the NCAA standard. But Waits stressed that the race was not a disappointment. The hurdler knows he has another chance next weekend in the Big Ten Championships to improve on his time. "Coach (Warhurst) and I have been working on getting my steps between the hurdles consistent," Waits said. "You just can't be scared of it - it's a daunt- ing-looking thing with all those hurdles. I mean, it's a hard race even without the hurdles. You just have to be aggressive and keep your momentum throughout." It was questionable if Waits would find his rhythm in this race after he tripped a bit on the first hurdle, but by the end of the race he had taken the lead by a sizeable distance. Waits also took second in the 400- meter dash, establishing Michigan's 4 4 Sophomore Seth Waits barely missed a NCAA qualifying time in the 400 hurdles Saturday with a mark of 52.88. Waits will get another chance this weekend. fastest outdoor time in the event this Michigan finished tenth, so the team season. looks to progress considerably. The Wolverines will head to Min- "We're going to improve," Warhurst neapolis this weekend for the Big Ten said. "There's only one way to go and Championships. Last year at Big Tens, that's up." 4 Hauser-Price captures three wins By Mustafizur Choudhury Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's track and field team displayed its talent and skill this past weekend, as the Wolverines competed in their final home meet of the season at the Len Paddock Invitational at Ferry Field. "We were able to get some good competition," Michigan coach James Henry said. "We came out unharmed, as far as injuries go." On the field, April Phillips put on another record-breaking performance as she continues to push the limits of her throw- ing ability. The senior made the best of her final home meet as a Wolverine by breaking her own school record in the ham- mer throw with a toss of 199'-3". With that mark, Phillips is now the overall leader in the Big Ten and the Mideast Region. She wrapped up the first day of competition with another event victory, launching the shot-puta distance of 51'-8 12". Junior Melissa Bickett wrote her own name in the Michi- gan record books by setting a new Ferry Field record in the discus throw with a toss of 178'-1". On the second and final day of competition, sophomore Sierra Hauser-Price seemed unstoppable, as she sprinted to three event victories. Hauser-Price got things started with a win in the 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line at 11.66 and later helped the 4x100-meter relay team finish first with a time of 45.36. She ended the day with a victory in the 200- meter dash, clocking in atla personal-best time of 23.66. "Sierra is going into the Big Ten's on a high note," Henry said. "She's going to be someone to be reckoned with." Michigan used this non-scoring meet to prepare for this week's Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, where the team looks to defend its conference title. After winning the Big Ten Championships in cross country and indoor track and field, the Wolverines hope to capture the Big Ten "triple crown" for the 2003 season. Acrobat®*6.0 Professional Introductory Price $109 Adobe@ Acrobat® 6.0 Professional software allows faculty, students, and staff to reliably and efficiently exchange graphically complex documents. Convert any document to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), and with one button click from Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Project, as well as from AutoCAD and Microsoft Visio, preserve document layers. Create electronic forms, and automatically initiate and manage document reviews. U-M Computer Showcase 64 SALES, Michigan Union ground level www.itd.umich.edu/sales AdobeystemsIncorporated,345ParkAvenue,SanJose,CA95110-2704USA, wwwedobeam Ad b 003 A doeSstmnopoaed.A iht eere. rn e , e UA.950155 ,/0 By Ian Herbert For the Daily This weekend was a roller coaster ride for the Michigan women's tennis team. No. 42 Michigan swept No. 37 Col- orado 4-0 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but was shut out against top-ranked Stanford on Sat- urday. Although the outcomes were not- icably different, both sophomore Michelle DaCosta and junior Chrissie Nolan agreed that the Wolverines were prepared for both matches. "We had a good couple weeks of practice," DaCosta said. "We were all ready, and very confident going into the Colorado match. We just had to put it all together." Michigan (14-10) came out strong from the start against Colorado, win- nin the firs twn d bnlC mt hc The No. 1 pairing of DaCosta and sopho- more Leanne Rutherford, dominated their first match 8-2, and Nolan and freshman Debra Streifler followed at No. 2 with an 8-4 win to clinch the dou- bles point. "The doubles did a great job keeping us going," Nolan said. "We won almost all of our first sets." The Wolverines didn't stop there. Michigan cruised through the singles matches as well, getting straight-set wins from Nolan, Rutherford and junior Kim Plaushines. These three victories clinched the win for the Wolverines, giving them their first NCAA tourna- ment win since 1997. "Last year we lost in the first round," Nolan said. "We learned a lot from that and everyone played much better this time around. Against Stanford there was no pressure. We put it all out there, but we knew that everyone needed to ;play their best tennis." The Wolverines never got started against the Cardinal, the region's host. They lost two doubles matches 8-1 and 8-4, and then were swept in the first three singles matches. Michigan's Kavitha Tipirneni, coming back from injury and playing the No. 4 singles spot, was up 6-4, 3-1 over Stanford's Alice Barnes, ranked 11th in the coun- try. The match, however, was abandoned after the Cardinal had clinched the win. "We wanted to do our best to advance, but we at least wanted to end the season well," Nolan said. The loss to Stanford will be the last match of the year for the Wolver- ines, but there is a lot of hope for next season. The team finished 14- 10, and the majority of the players are returning next year, including everyone from the top-six singles and top-two doubles spots. Stanford too much for netters I I E ng le rs two ()o es mans le