34 The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2007 a Blue get No. five 'M' wins close one By ANDY REID Daily Sports Writer Oct. 30, 2006 - BLOOMINGTON - Michigan women's cross country coach Mike McGuire's hand has five fingers. And, after the Wolverines won the Big Ten championship at Indiana University Golf Course yesterday, McGuire now has five consecutive championship rings to fit snugly on each of those digits. Junior Erin Webster, who has led the Wolverines all year, finished as the top team runner in five events and won four events overall. Yesterday, she asserted herself immediately and stuck with the top tier of runners. Eventually, she pulled ahead to take the individual crown (20:23), winningthe race by 12 seconds. "I've put in a lot of time and worked really hard this year," Webster said. "It feels awesome to see it all that work pay- ing off." Cementing Michigan's dominance in the race was junior Alyson Kohlmeier, who finished in second place. Kohlmei- er hung in the back of the lead pack and picked off runners as they started to tire. She eventually pulled into second place and finished in that position (20:35). No. 3 Michigan's best five runners on the day (which are used to tally the team's final score) all finished in the top 22, giv- ing the Wolverines a final score of 52. Wisconsin finished in second place with 91 points. Although Webster and Kohlmeier stole the show, McGuire was especially con- gratulatory of senior captain Arienne Field - who has been on the team for all five Big Ten Championships. She red- shirted her freshman season. "I just wanted to acknowledge Ari- enne because she has been such a great asset to this team as a captain and a run- ner," McGuire said. "She has run on three Big Ten championship teams now. I just wanted to say hats off to her." Field, who finished in 18th place, was a little more humble. She took time to thank her teammates for helping her finish her career with another title. "Five in a row - this one was icing on the cake," Field said. "I've enjoyed watch- ing the younger girls develop and improve into great runners. This was a huge accomplishment for everyone involved." McGuire noted that the final score wasn't indicative of the entire meet. Run- ningin the BigTen, whichboasts six teams in the top 25, is a brutal experience. "This is the best the Big Ten has been in the 15 years I have been coaching here," McGuire said. "We took the tough com- petition as a challenge, and we definitely exceeded that challenge." Another factor contributing to the dif- ficult race was the course itself, which contains more hills and sloping terrains than other courses the team has run. "If you can show me a flat lie on this course, I'll give you a dollar," McGuire joked. "I'll tell you, it's cross country at its finest." To get ready for the difficult course, Kohlmeier said that the team did exten- sive hill training in the Arb, which she admitted helped her prepare for the tough hills. "Usually, I run better on a track-type course, but I felt really good on the hills today," Kohlmeier said. "Runningthe hills in the Arb 14 times a day is a little tougher than what we had to run today." Along with the physical training and hill workouts, McGuire attributed Mich- igan's victory to the experience the team has at this level of competition. Four of the top five finishers had run in a Big Ten championship race before. That experi- ence helped the team know what to expect and kept the younger runners calm. The record for most consecutive Big Ten championships in women's cross country for Michigan is six. The Wolverines, who lose only two runners who finished in the top forty yesterday, aren't about to slow down. They will be viable contenders for the Big Ten title next year and beyond. Webster looked at the win as a spring- board into the National Championship, which is Nov. 20 in Terre Haute, Ind. Before nationals, however, the team will compete will compete in the NCAA Regionals, which take place on Nov. 11. By CHRIS MESZAROS Daily Sports Writer April 2, 2007 - STATE COLLEGE - As the Michigan and Penn State women's gymnastics teams prepared for their final routines, the hearts of 2,729 fans pounded at Rec Hall in State College. And the lives of 14 gymnasts changed for- ever. A .375 point Michigan lead seemed precari- ous at best, and the voracious Nittany Lion crowd rendered any advantage moot. The Wolverines held their own in the vault, but four amazing performances on the uneven bars by Penn State obscured the outcome. As the events concluded, both teams headed back to their locker rooms, clouded in mystery and ready to put an end to the agonizing wait. Nei- ther team knew who won, but both experi- enced a lifetime worth of jitters as the results were tallied. The announcer said that the top two teams were separated by a mere 10th of a point, hushingthe crowd. The moment of truth finally came and the response couldn'thave been more pronounced. The women donning the maize and blue shot into the air at the news of their Big Ten Cham- pionship, and the tears ofjoy flooded the stage, stamping an explanation point on a roller- coaster season for Michigan. "I'm just so overwhelmed at how proud I am of these kids," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "We had so many injuries and so many bad things happen. These kids fought through every single setback we had and they never gave up." The scoreboard read Michigan 196.575, Penn State 196.475. The Wolverines' surreal victory was assured. But it wasn't until the photographers snapped team pictures and handed out championship T-shirts and hats that reality set in. Their pose was symbolic of their mission this season. They embraced on a small plat- form, figurative of their team effort that won them the championship. As the teammates stood there, they weren't a group of bodies composing a team, but a team that overcame so much to achieve a goal many thought unlikely. "This was the most emotional season and the seasonswhere we pulled togetherthe most," junior Katie Lieberman said. "We worked together as a team and have been so close, we had some bumps in the road, but we overcame the adversity and came away with the win." Michigan came into the match as a slight underdog, which is unusual given it has won 13 of the past 15 titles. But the injury-plagued Wolverines had to prove they could unite together and bring home a trophy without their full roster. Two-time All-American Lindsey Bruck and freshmen Jordan Sexton and Sarah Curtis were all lost for the season with injuries. "This team is an amazing group of young ladies," sophomore Huneth Lor said. "We've been working so hard to pick up from all the injuries that winning makes it all the better." The Wolverines followed the Nittany Lions in the rotation and bested Penn State's perfor- mance in every event except the uneven bars. Michigan posted near season-high scores on all events and pulled away with exceptional performances on the balance beam and floor exercise, which are generally two of their weaker routines. Becky Bernard led Michigan on the balance beam. She captured her first individual champi- onship in the event, tying a career-high score of 9.900. She followed this up with another amazing performance on floor exercise with a mark of 9.850. "Becky is my nervous Nellie, she's such a talented athlete in practice, but she gets so nervous when she competes and we've been working on that all season," Plocki said. Lieberman's second consecutive Big Ten Individual Championship on Floor Exercise (9.900) complemented Bernard's effort. Lor came up just short in the all-around to round out the individual accolades for the Wolver- ines. Michigan finished up the evening on vault, its most successful event. But a series of amaz- ing routines reinvigorated the Nittany Lions and the home crowd. Penn State's CorissaPirkl and Katie Perretstuck beautiful routines, scor- ing 9.900 each, but fell just short of Michigan. The win is an exclamation point in Plocki's illustrious career and is her most memorable championship. "I've been coaching 18 years, and there's no championship that's ever made my heart feel as good as this one." Plocki said.