Page 10- The Michigan Daily -Thursday, January 17, 1991
Blue and Wildcats
battle for basement
Men go to work, set
records, Down Under
by Theodore Cox
Daily Basketball Writer
Just when things are looking
bleak, with little hope, along comes
Northwestern - just the kind of
opponent the Wolverines need after
dropping their first four conference
games.
Of course, if Michigan (7-7
overall) loses at Crisler Arena
tonight, the team could face the
possibility of finishing in the cellar
of the division.
"I don't want us to play out of
desperation," Michigan coach Steve
Fisher said. "I want us to play with
a fervor and abandon that will give
us positive results."
Yes, maybe the towel shouldn't
be thrown in on the Wolverines just
yet. After all, three of their
conference losses have been on the
road, and their only home game has
been against Ohio State, ranked
number three in the nation.
Northwestern (5-8, 0-4) has faced
an even tougher schedule playing
Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, and
Michigan State. Getting off to a
slow start is nothing new to the
Wildcats; the last six seasons the
team has finished 2-16 in the
conference.
In Northwestern's latest defeat,
the Wildcats played their best game
of the year before losing to the
Spartans, 66-59. Northwestern's
strategy was to control the tempo of
the game, preventing Michigan State
from running the floor.
"They slowed it down, got good
shots, and they buried them," Mich-
igan State coach Jud Heathcote said.
The problem with that game plan
is Northwestern's lack of a post-up
player.
"Shot blockers have given us a
lot of problems," Wildcat coach Bill
Foster said. "We've had trouble on
the inside. Our shooting percentage
is not high one, two, three feet from
the basket because of the intim-
idation."
This news should please Mich-
igan center Eric Riley. The redshirt
sophomore currently has the second-
highest blocked shot total in the Big
Ten, averaging almost three a con-
test. However, Riley has been
struggling as of late. Against Purdue
this weekend he only had five
points.
"Six weeks ago coming from the
Duke game he (Riley) felt he was as
good as (Christian) Laettner," Fisher
said. "Now he's wondering if he can
help us in a Big Ten game. His
confidence has been stripped."
The whole Michigan team seems
to have lost a little confidence. This
is the Wolverines' worst start since
the 1981-82 season, when they
dropped their first six games.
"We had a coach's tryout to see
who would be the fifth starter and
nobody could hit a shot," Fisher
said. "I guess anytime you start out
0-4, you don't stand pat."
That fifth starter vacancy is at the
forward position. Fisher has been
alternating between Sam Mitchell
and Chris Seter at the open position.
The other starters will be Riley,
Demetrius Calip, Kirk Taylor, and
Michael Talley.
Northwestern is led by guard
Todd Leslie. The 6-foot-5 sopho-
more averages 16 points a game and
leads the Big Ten in three-point
shooting. He has nailed 32 triples
thus far, and has a 64 percent
shooting touch. Leslie is joined in
the backcourt with Pat Baldwin.
Baldwin is the Wildcat's second
leading scorer, averaging 13.
by Andy De Korte
and Ken Sugiura
Daily Sports Writers
Considering the University's
recent successes in Australia, per-
haps President Duderstadt should
consider opening a new campus
Down Under.
Following the Sunrunner's third-
place finish in the World Solar
Challenge through the outback of
Australia last November, four
Wolverine swimmers outdid the
performance.
Mike Barrowman, Eric Wunder-
lich, Eric Namesnik, and Michigan
alumnus Brent Lang seized five med-
als for the United States squad at the
World Swimming Championships
in Perth, Australia January 7-13.
Once again, Barrowman headlined
Michigan's faction at the champion-
ships. While most students were
getting away from the books, he and
his cohorts were rewriting them. He
gained the gold medal in setting the
200-meter breaststroke world record
for the fourth time with a time of
2:11.23.
Although Barrowman had set the
record three times prior to the World
Championships, he still had to d,
with nerves. "It was a sheer stroke
luck, (not being nervous) I had been
nervous all week," Barrowman said.
Junior Eric Wunderlich joined
Barrowman in the record book. Wun-
derlich swam the breaststroke leg in
helping the U.S. to a gold medal and
meet record in the 4 x 100 medley
relay with a time of 3:39.6:.
Wunderlich also recorded a fifth-.6
finish in the 100 breaststroke wi
time of 1:02.05.
Doing a bit of rewriting himself,
junior Eric Namesnik earned two sil
ver medals. Namesnik reset his own
American record, taking the silver
with a time of 4:15.21 in the 400
individual medley. His other second
place finish came with a 2:01.87 in
the 200 individual medley.
The last member of the WolvD
ine contingent was grad student
Brent Lang. The four-time NCAA
champion took home a gold medal
as a member of the victorious 4 i
100 freestyle relay.
''NN"TH 'MULL/aily
Michigan center Eric Riley should have a field day blocking shots against
Northwestern tonight. Riley is second in the Big Ten in rejections on the
season.
Big Ten Men's Basketball Standings
Conf. Overall
'M' runners seek long
distance road victory 0
WV
L
Wv
W L
14 0
Ohio State
Indiana
Michigan State
Illinois
Iowa
Purdue
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan
Northwestern
4
3
3
2
0
0
1
1
T
v
15 1
10 4
12 4
13 3
2 2
2
1
1
0
2
2
2
4
10
7
8
7
5
4
6
5
7
8
by Becky Weiss
Daily Sports Writer
An experienced distance team will
lead the Michigan women's track
team as it travels to Missouri this
weekend to take on Big Ten rival
Ohio State.
"The distance team is always
consistent and is always going to
perform well," coach James Henry
said.
This was the case in last Satur-
day's unscored Michigan Relays, as
the team notched first place finishes
in the distance medley relay and the
0 4
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I
W. gymnasts make trek to Mizzou
by Jeff Cameron
and R.C. Heaton
Daily Sports Writers
The Michigan women's gymnastics team hopes to
avoid the slings and arrows of its competition at the
first annual Shakespearean Festival in Columbia,
Missouri this weekend.
Iowa, Missouri, and Utah State will challenge the
Wolverines in the tournament, which will feature a
Shakespearean theme.
"We hope to make this an annual event," Missouri
coach Charles Jacobson said. "This should be a quality
tournament, with Utah State being the favorite."
Utah State was ranked in the top twenty last year,
and it scored an outstanding 186 in its opening meet of
the year. Missouri was one of the top teams in
Michigan's region last year, and Iowa should provide
perennially stiff Big Ten competition.
"I'm really, really optimistic about this weekend,"
coach Beverly Fry said. "The kids are in better shape
mentally. They got their first meet out of their systems.
They know where their mistakes were."
The Wolverines will feature a new line-up in this
weekend's competition. Sophomore Eva Gordon will
perform the floor exercise, and first-year gymnast Tami
Crocker will participate on the uneven bars. They
replace Julie Hofmeister who will be sidelined for two
weeks with a wrist injury.
However, junior co-captain Diane Armento returns
from injury to compete on the balance beam and
possibly the vault. Armento sat out the Wolverines'
first meet, but witnessed the team's performance.
"The first meet was like an eye-opener. Now we
know what to do," Armento said. "I feel pretty
confident; we have a strong beam line-up. We just need
to stay consistent."
Sophomore standout Ali Winski and rookie Wendy
Wilkinson plan to make a bid for the "Juliet" award
given to the individual all-around winner.
"The team has a lot of potential; we just need to get
people focused on winning," Winski said. "If we all hit
our routines, we have the potential to compete with
anybody."
two mile relay.
Going into the last mile of the
distance medley relay, anchor runner
Molly McClimon received the baton
in second place, trailing by 150
yards. Slowly cutting off seconds,
she finally passed the University of
Pittsburgh runner in the last stretci
of the race to capture first place for
the Wolverines.
The opposite scenario occurred in
the two mile relay as junior
Amy Bannister led off with a 2.11.4
half mile to give Michigan a strong
lead. First-year student Jessica
Kluge, and juniors Megan Nortz, and
Carrie Yates maintained it to secure
a Wolverine victory.
Though last Saturday's Michigan
Relays provided a first test for t
Wolverines, Missouri and Arkans
are teams more specialized in dis-
tance events.
"We will have tough competition
from Missouri and Arkansas" said
distance coach Sue Foster.
An additional challenge will
come from Ohio State in the sprint
events , because most Wolverine
sprinters are first- and second-ye
runners.e d
"High jumper Amy McCormick,
hurdler Suzzy Phweatt, Amy Bannis-
ter in middle distances and Molly
McClimon are the four people we'rd
hoping to come through with leader-
ship. Hopefully the freshmen and
sophomores will follow," said
Henry.
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