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The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 9, 1995 - fl


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Darren Everson
Darren to be Different
A sad day:
former
Michigan great
A.C. says
goodbye
Ive never seen an athlete say as
sad a goodbye as Anthony
Carter did last Thursday.
The former Wolverine standout
was busy giving a speech Thursday at
the Pontiac Silverdome when his four
fellow Detroit Lions receivers
stopped by.
Unlike Carter, they were outfitted
in the battle gear necessary for a
Lions' afternoon practice - Hono-
lulu blue and silver pants, turf shoes
and pads. Knowing that Carter wasn't
dressed to play football, one of them
brought some of
his equipment.
"I thought you
were coming to
practice," he said.
Carter's
audience laughed
at that; Carter
managed to crack
a smile himself, If
that hadn't
happened, he
might never have Carter
smiled all day.
If for only a moment, Carter wore a
grin because of the irony of it all. The
speech he was giving was his
retirement speech. It wasn't that he
had no need for his equipment at that
time; he would never have any need
for it again.
On this cold, rainy day - this
gloomiest of days - it was worth a
smile - but only for a moment.
Plenty of other athletes have retired
in my lifetime, but most have done so
of their accord, on their own terms.
Michael Jordan quit because he
wanted to (and we all knew he was
coming back, anyway); Lou Whitaker
and Alan Trammell, when they
officially retire, will have done so
when they were ready to.
What made A.C.'s departure such a
sorrowful one was what caused him
to leave, as well as what didn't cause
him to leave.
,Pain knocked Carter out of
football. He cited a broken collarbone
suffered last year as the chief culprit,
but that wasn't all.
Carter has been playing this game a
long time, and he has the injuries to
prove it. Thursday he mentioned how
a broken humerus bone suffered in
the mid-80's - he couldn't remem-
ber exactly when - still bothers him.
As fans, we forget what effect such
injuries have on an athlete, as we
concentrate on when he or she can get
back in the lineup, when he or she
will be back at "100 percent."
I'll never make this mistake again,
not after seeing A.C. wince just from
rubbing his left arm with his right
hand. He said that motion - which
one would make if washing an arm -
was so painful it was "unbearable."
What's got to hurt Carter just as
much is knowing that he can still
play. Only two years ago, he was an
All-Pro-caliber receiver with the
Minnesota Vikings.
He had 774 yards receiving in his
last season there, running the slant

pattern better than anyone this side of
Jerry Rice.
And when Carter was in college,
nobody compared. I can say that
because I remember seeing him play,
way back in 1979. While many would
argue I know little about football
now, I knew even less when I was a
5-year-old.
Still, I knew as much about Carter
as Bo Schembechler did: If you throw
A.C. the ball, he just may go all the
way. Thirty-seven different times he
did, which is still a Michigan record.
What's more, he had a flair about
him - perhaps because he was so
much smaller and faster than the
other Wolverines, perhaps because of
his end zone dance after beating
Indiana in '79 - that made him stand
out even more, even beyond his

By Jied Rosenthal
and Mary Thewes
Daily Sports Writers
It could have been a weekend sweep.
The Michigan field hockey team
could have emerged from its contests
against Big Ten opponents Ohio State
and Penn State with two victories. In-
stead, the Wolverines found themselves
scratching their heads, wondering what
went wrong.
The No. 7 Lions beat Michigan, 4-3,
Friday afternoon in a ga e in which the
Wolverines led, 3-1, with less than 10
minutes remaining. Michigan bounced
back to beat the No. 10 Buckeyes yes-
terday in front of the largest home crowd
of the season.
The celebration of the Wolverines'
new astroturf field, dedicated to Phyllis
Ocker, the former professor and
women's athletic director, culminated
the weekend.
Yesterday, No. 8 Michigan (3-2 Big
Ten, 10-4 overall) controlled the entire
contest against Ohio State, blanking the
Buckeyes, 3-0. Goalie Rachael
Geisthardt posted her career-high sixth
shutout of the season.
The Wolverine defense awakened
from its lapse against Penn State, keep-
ing Ohio State in check for most of the
contest. Michigan coach Patti Smith
was not completely satisfied with her
team's performance, though, especially
early on.
"I think in some ways we wanted it
too much," Smith said. "So we got
caught up in everything and didn't re-

ally settle down and play our game. We
started to in the second half. it wasn't
our greatest game as far as performance,
but when you don't play well and win,
3-0, you know you're doing something
right."
Five minutes into the second half, the
Wolverines missed a conversion on a
penalty corner, but received a break
when a Buckeye defender stopped the
ball with her foot, leading to a penalty
stroke.,
Junior Michelle Smulders took the
shot and put it by Ohio State goalie
Nikki Thompson to give Michigan a 2-
0 lead. About nine minutes later,
Smulders scored again on a flip shot
from Bree Derr to seal the victory for
the Wolverines. Smulders credited the
defense with the team's success.
"It was a quality defensive team play
today," Smulders said. "They had
chances, but the defense stuck together
and stayed poised and just got the ball
out of there."
Michigan opened up the scoring mid-
way through the first half as senior
Sherene Smith scored her 13th goal of
the season on a penalty corner. The
formation is potent for the defender, as
she has scored the majority of her goals
on penalty corners.
With the win, the Wolverines have
won three of their past four contests and
were able to come back from their let-
down against Penn State, where it
seemed they had the game in hand.

Julie Flachs (14) and the rest of the Wolverine field hockey squad were caught looking as Penn State stormed back from a
3-1 deficit with 10 minutes to play to defeat the Wolverines, 4-3.
Field Hockey Notebook:
Regent leads Ceremny as new fiel
hockey field 1s dedi cated to Ocker



By Jed Rosenthal
and Mary Thewes
Daily Sports Writers
It was a memorable weekend for the
Michigan field hockey team as its new
field was dedicated to Phyllis Ocker.
Festivities before the Ohio State game
included a tribute to the former assis-
tant athletic director by the athletic de-
partment, the regents and the city of
Ann Arbor.
Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann
Arbor) represented the University and
began the honors by thanking Ocker for
her 30 years of service to the school.
She commented on how proud Ocker
was when she heard of the news that the
field would be dedicated to her.
Anne Duderstadt followed the regent
and read a statement from Ann Arbor
mayor Ingrid Shelton proclaiming Octo-
ber 8, 1995 as "Phyllis Ocker Day".
Ocker was then presented with a var-
sity jacket as the athletic department
was represented by women's gymnas-
tics coach Bitsy Ritt, women's track
and field coach James Henry and soft-
ball coach Carol Hutchins. The trio of
coaches then unveiled the sign dedi-
cated to Ocker.
Ocker was touched by the festivities
and was proud of the new facility.
"It's a gorgeous setting," Ocker said.
"Now, field hockey has a home of its
own. We played all over the place while
I was coaching and since that time. This

field is remarkable and I know the team
playing now will remember the people
who came before them and think about
those to follow."
Ironically enough, Michigan coach
Patti Smith has a special bond with
Ocker, as she was hired by the honoree.
"We've known since preseason that
this was a special place," Smith said.
"The fact that Michigan had the class to
dedicate it to Phyllis Ocker meant a lot
to me personally."
Smith hoped that the day would leave
a lasting memory on her players.
"I talked to the kids a lot about his-
tory and that things weren't always this
way," Smith said. "It's a special day for
a lot of athletes, but also a lot of women
athletes who were fighting to get the
best. I'mjust happy we were able to win
the game and play well."
Ocker remained humble throughout
the ceremony, deflecting her honor to
the athletes who will use the new field.
"I'm just so pleased for the athletes,"
Ocker said. "They have an excellent
facility and it's beautifully designed. I
never dreamed that this would happen.
It really wasn't necessary. I can't say
enough how pleased I am, but it's most
important to the athletes."
NOT YOUR ORDINARY SMITH: Senior
Sherene Smith tallied her 13th goal of
the season off a penalty corner play in
the middle of the first half Assisted by
Gia Biagi and co-captain Jen Lupinski,

Smith rocketed a shot through the charg-
ing Ohio State defense to give the Wol-
verines a 1-0 advantage.
Smith has now scored in 10 of

See OCKER, Page 1OB

TON YA 8ROAD/Diy
Ocker Field Hockey Field was officially dedicated Sunday in a ceremony before the Wolverines defeated Ohio State 3-0. The
field's namesake, Phyllis Ocker (in varsity Jacket), was field hockey coach at Michigan, among other titles.

Blue haniers take top two places


By James Goldstein
Daily Sports Writer
There is a new one-two punch on the
Michigan men's cross country team. It
used to be junior Kevin Sullivan and
senior Scott MacDonald. Now it's
Sullivan and freshman John Mortimer.
The No. 8 Wolverines captured the
Murray Keatings Invitational Saturday
hosted by the University of Maine.
Michigan tallied 39 points, far ahead of
the rest of the nine-team field. William
and Mary placed second with 51 points,
and Dartmouth followed with 77.
In doing so, the Wolverines placed
four runners in the top ten. Sullivan
cruised to a victory for the individual
title, setting acourse record with a23:50
five-mile time.
A positive sign for the Wolverines
was that Mortimer didn't finish far be-
hind. The freshman crossed the finish
line just 17 seconds behind Sullivan
(24:07), a two-time All-American. Chris
Georgules of Boston College (24:14)
followed Mortimer to take third place.
Michigan's Don MacGloughlin
(24:31) and David Barnett (24:34)
placed eighth and ninth, respectively.
There were a total of 80 runners com-
peting from the nine schools.
Ball State (98 points), Boston Col-
lege (108), Holy Cross (177), Maine
(186), New Hampshire (206) and Cen-
tral Connecticut State (295) rounded
out the rest of the field.
This was the fourth annual event
hosted by Maine but the first time Michi-
gan competed in the tournament.
Mortimer should retain the No.2 posi-
tion on the Wolverine squad. Before-
hand, the spot was taken up by Scott
MacDonald, a 1994 All-American.
Mortimer now has fourth- and sec-

ond-place finishes in the first two meets
of his collegiate career.
MacDonald suffered a broken leg a
few weeks ago and didn't participate in
the opening meet in Boston College in
the middle of September. Instead of
trying to come back this year, Michigan
coach Ron Warhurst decided to redshirt

him for the rest of this season. He
should be able to recuperate fully and
be ready for the 1996 season.
Todd Snyder, 20th (24:52); Nick
Watson, 35th (25:17); Kris Eggle,
42nd(25:37); Ryan Burt, 43rd (25:40)
and Mike Mahler, 45th (25:45) were
Michigan's other finishers.

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