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(01/16/01 5:53am)
In a day of upsets and personal records, the men's indoor track team came away with a nail-biting 85-77 victory Saturday against rival Michigan in the Hoosiers' season opener at Ann Arbor. \nIU was favored to win, but its method of winning wasn't quite what it expected. The Hoosiers avenged last year's heartbreaking 85-78 loss by sweeping the first eight events, creating a seemingly insurmountable 22-point lead. Sophomore Mike Minton's double victory in the weight throw and shot put led the effort.\n"It's always good to get off to a good start," Minton said. "But I'm still not anywhere close to where I want to be. Everyone was just anxious to get the first meet over with and hopefully come away with the victory."\nBut the Wolverines held on, earning first place in six of the last seven events, but coming up short in the end.\nSophomore Chris Powers' victory in the 3,000 meter run, the meet's second-to-last event, and an additional five second-place finishes from IU athletes deflated any hopes of a Michigan recovery.\nSeveral Hoosiers broke career bests in Saturday's meet, showing potential for a promising season.\nJunior Ian Curry vaulted past some of the conference's best vaulters and achieved a personal best 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches. Sophomore Hasaan Reddick and junior Dino Efthimiou finished 1-2 in the long jumps and topped their career bests. Junior Kevin Chandler defeated Mike Wisniewski, a Michigan All-American, in the mile. His win came with a career-best time. Sophomore Matthew Harris also recorded his fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles.\nPerhaps the biggest surprise was freshman Ryan Sarbinoff's victory in the 400-meter dash in his first meet.\n"My win wasn't really expected and was definitely an upgrade from winning in high school," Sarbinoff said. "Our team is very young, and everyone was nervous going into the meet, but the young guys really performed well."\nCoach Marshall Goss commended his athletes for a hard-fought victory.\n"This meet was a great meet to watch," Goss said. "It was competitive right down to the last second, and we had great effort from our young kids and leadership from our older athletes"
(11/02/00 4:25am)
Through thick and thin, the field hockey team completed its first varsity season after 19 years of not fielding a team.\nBut this season ended with a 1-11 record and suffered shutouts in all the losses, even though the team exceeded expectations.\nCoach Amy Robertson said she appreciates the hard work from the team and was surprised how well the players adapted to rigorous Big Ten competition. \n"We have continued to improve, even though the scores may not seem very positive," Robertson said. "Considering the level of competition that we\'ve entered into, I think we've been very successful in continuing to never give up and to be competitive in every game."\nNo single player stood out as the star because everyone contributed to the team's success, but junior forward Brooke Magers led the team in scoring with two goals and one assist in the lone victory against Bellarmine University, a Division II school. With the regular season finished, she will focus on this weekend's Big Ten tournament.\n"After having a year established, we're going to be able to build on something and continue our hard work ethic," Magers said. "Our biggest challenge will be the fact that we're still a new team. We have one year under our belt, but we're still new to the Big Ten, so we'll just have to come out and do what we did this year."\nThe Hoosiers have a good core to build on, with all four point scorers returning next year.\nRegrettably, three seniors, goalkeeper Alexandra Kaufman, back Becky Sward, and back Tania Hults have played their last regular season game for the Hoosiers. Although Hults, the team captain, could only participate in one season of varsity field hockey, she said she is grateful for the opportunity and views the experience positively.\n"We've done a lot better than people thought we would," Hults said. "I've been very impressed with how well we've done, even with the challenge of starting late in the spring."\nThe team will have plenty of room to improve, Robinson said.\n"I was hoping that we'd be more successful on our attacks," she said. "But the competition is so tough that we've only been able to control the little things. At the end of every game, we're always in the opponents' defensive end, so that shows that they never give up and play the full 70 minutes"
(10/20/00 6:01am)
The field hockey team will have another tough challenge this weekend, traveling to Northwestern today to face the Wildcats (5-10, 2-3 in Big Ten play). The Hoosiers then return home at 1 p.m. Sunday to the friendly confines of Mellencamp Pavilion to battle Iowa (8-7, 1-3).\nWith six players originally from Illinois, the Hoosiers hope to create their own home field advantage in Evanston. \n"We're all very excited about Northwestern because a bunch of us are from Chicago," sophomore Erica Nilsson said. "There's a window of opportunity for us there."\nAll week, coach Amy Robertson has spent time refocusing the defense by fine-tuning the team's marking and positioning. The Hoosiers also need to cut down on the minor mistakes that opponents have been capitalizing on, Robertson said.\nIn order to earn two victories this weekend, the Hoosiers must remain intense throughout both games and Nilsson said she believes she can help her teammates. \n"I played as hard as I could for every minute of the game against Ohio State, and I'm just going to do that again," Nilsson said. "When players go out and push themselves, other players see that and they work even harder. If we can come together as a team and continue to motivate each other, we can come away with the win."\nThe Hoosiers already experienced a weekend with two games on their Pennsylvania trip earlier in the season, but senior captain Tania Hults said she is more excited about this set of games.\n"It won't be as rough because we know what we're getting into and we have a day in between games," Hults said. "But it will be competitive because we have two Big Ten games."\nRobertson said she still thinks Northwestern is the chance for the team to get its first Big Ten victory, as long as they can take advantage of the large number of penalty corners that Northwestern allows.\n"We probably will have a better chance against Northwestern," Robertson said. "We've played the best three teams in the Big Ten, but Iowa is coming on strong as of late and are playing very sharply. Northwestern has been in almost every game defensively, but they're not a great attacking team"
(10/13/00 5:50am)
No. 17 Ohio State needs to watch for black cats on their trip to the Mellencamp Pavilion today because IU field hockey will use any advantage in order to stomp its conference rival. \nIU (1-6, 0-2 in the Big Ten) clash with No. 17 Ohio State (8-5, 1-2) at 2 p.m. today in a battle that could catapult the Hoosiers into fourth place in the Big Ten. A very superstitious coach Amy Robertson hopes luck will be on their side, but her players need to focus on the game.\n"Ohio State is a very dangerous team," Robertson said. "They're probably the third best team in the Big Ten, but if you catch them on a bad day, you have an opportunity. We\'ll play as well as we can, and hope that things will fall in our direction."\nThe Hoosiers completed a rough first half of their season last weekend at Penn State and now look to plow through competition in the second half.\n"We had some moments when we weren\'t playing as a team," Robertson said. "But, we re-focused for the Penn State game and felt really positive about the trip as a whole and gained some confidence."\nOhio State suffered some setbacks this season as well. Since winning its first four games by wide margins, the Buckeyes have won four of its last nine games. But either IU or Ohio State has potential to cause some waves in the Big Ten standings.\nEven though IU has earned one win, Robertson holds her players\' determination in high esteem.\n"We'll never lie down no matter what the score, and we've always fought back until the last minute of the game," Robertson said. "There's a good morale in the team right now." \nSenior captain Tania Hults believes her teammates can hang on until the end of the season and compete against the difficult opposition.\n"We've stayed together as a team and have stayed motivated because we keep getting better," Hults said. "Against Ohio State, we're trying to stay focused and poised as well as work on our transitional game."\nAlthough the Hoosiers are winless in conference play, junior forward Brooke Magers wants this game.\n"It's not a necessity to win our first Big Ten game, but it would give us a lot more confidence," Magers said. "We\'re really looking to get our name out there, so teams know we\'re for real"
(10/12/00 5:35am)
For senior back Tania Hults, a dream has come true. It's only appropriate she leads the field hockey team in her fifth and final academic year at IU.\nHults spent four years on the club team petitioning and arguing on committees only to see two other club sports reach varsity status. Women's water polo was promoted to varsity status her junior year after the Student Recreational Sports Center was constructed, and women's crew jumped to varsity last year. \nBut last spring, field hockey left the back burner, and the athletics department named Amy Robertson head coach. Hults realized she could finally be a Division I field hockey player.\nHults survived the long battle, and she couldn't be happier, she said. She had never imagined the difficulty involved with getting a team to be promoted to the varsity level.\n"I find it an honor being the team leader for this great bunch of girls," Hults said. "In some ways, it's hard showing seniority, because in a sense we're all freshmen, but I've always dreamed of playing Division I, so this is a dream come true."\nHults sacrificed her time and energy for the team, and her teammates rewarded her by naming her a team captain. Leading scorer and junior forward Brooke Magers played one year of club field hockey with Hults and recognized Hult's transformation.\n"Basically everyone views her as a natural leader," Magers said. "She's definitely helped bring the team together in terms of spirit and the emotional side of field hockey, so she's been a great person to turn to for strength when we've been losing games."\nIn Robertson's first year of coaching, she appreciates having Hults on the team to help ease Robertson's transition from an assistant coach at Wake Forest to the head coach of IU. Because of her senior leadership, Hults is similar to having another coach on the field, Robertson said. Hults is always positive and wants to know how to improve.\nAlthough Robertson has known Hults for a brief time compared to some of the other players, he recognized her talent instantly.\n"Tania is very passionate about field hockey and respectful to her teammates," Robertson said. "But at the same time on the field, she has a lot of pride invested in this first-year program since this is her only year."\nNot only is Hults a major defensive presence against the opponents' leading attackers, but she also has contributed six of her team's 34 shots, adding another dimension to her already solid game.\nFor the Hoosiers to be successful in the future, Robertson said she needs to fill a huge void after this season.\n"Tania is the anchor of our defense," Robertson said. "She's the one who gives us experience back there and always gets the ball out when it's in a dangerous area because she's a fighter. I'm looking to recruit some players with experience in that position because it will be hard to replace her"
(10/06/00 5:02am)
The field hockey team is riding a wave of momentum after earning its first win of the season Sunday in a 4-0 decision against Bellarmine University, and hopes to crash down onto Bucknell University and Penn State this weekend.\nThe Hoosiers will face the Bucknell Bisons (6-5) Friday and then challenge No. 6 Penn State (8-2) Saturday. Both games will be played at Bigler Field in State College, Pa.\nIU faces tough adversaries this weekend, but coach Amy Robertson said she believes the team can come away successful. \n"It's definitely a challenge, but it might actually help us since the games are back-to-back," Robertson said. "We'll be playing different styles, and if we played the same style both days, they would wear us out a little more. Penn State is right up there with Michigan, and we will have a similar game plan but hope to strike more on offense when they are vulnerable to counter attacks."\nSince IU has already faced a top 10 team this season, the Hoosiers are prepared to compete with the Nittany Lions, senior captain Tania Hults said.\n"It helps to have experience behind us," Hults said. "We now know that our offense can pick up with the defense we used against Michigan. That way we can have a counterattack against Penn State."\nIU has not played two games in the same week -- let alone on back-to-back days -- yet this season. The team's leading scorer, junior forward Brooke Magers, considers this weekend a test for the team in fitness and strategy, but remains confident.\n"We've had a really hard week in terms of conditioning," Magers said. "But it's definitely paying off because we're not getting as tired as we used to in practice. Our first game, we'll be playing a lot more offense, and in the second, a lot more defense. Because we've had a win and our team is playing much better offense, we have a chance to take the games from two teams that aren't expecting us to win."\nAlthough she feels more time for preparation and rest would help, Robertson said she is satisfied with the cards she has been dealt.\n"I probably would want to play Penn State first," Robertson said. "But our best chance to compete will be with Bucknell, so at the same time, that may be a more important game for us. It certainly will be a physical and mental challenge to stay in the game for 70 minutes against Penn State without a full 24 hours of rest, but we can do it"
(10/02/00 5:27am)
LOUISVILLE -- IU stormed down Interstate 65 Sunday determined to get its first win of the season against Division II Bellarmine University. It turned out the only difficult thing about the day was choosing whether to watch "Goonies" or "The Princess Bride" on the way home. "Goonies" won with a 10-8 vote.\nThe game looked very similar to previous contests, but the major difference was that IU was the dominator, not the dominated. The Hoosiers (1-4) put on a clinic against the Knights, shutting them down, 4-0.\nBoth sides pressured each other equally for most of the first half, until junior forward Brooke Magers ripped a backhand goal off a perfectly placed centering pass from freshman forward Lauren Micka with 8:58 left in the first half. Coach Amy Robertson said she noticed a sudden change in her team's attitude after the Hoosiers' first goal of the season.\n"A great thing for us was putting that first ball behind the goalkeeper," Robertson said. "After that, we stepped up and played with more confidence because we realized that we could do this."\nThe elusive first goal finally came in the fifth game of the season, and it was a relief for the Hoosiers, especially for Magers.\n"It's been hard being an offensive player and not getting any shots on goal, so it was very exciting," Magers said. "We have a lot of hard games ahead of us, but this game will give us the confidence we need."\nMicka slapped in a goal of her own off a penalty corner five minutes after the first goal. IU's pressure never relented.\nAs soon as the second half began, the Knights were in trouble. Sophomore midfielder Erica Nilsson darted past defenders and flicked a goal past the keeper eight minutes into the half. Magers launched a shot from the outside to add another insurance goal two minutes later.\nAfter last week's busy day in the cage, senior goalkeeper Alexandra Kaufman said she enjoyed an easy shutout.\n"It's a great day when you don't get any action in goal," Kaufman said. "We came in thinking that both teams were equal and whoever played their best would come out with the 'W.'"\nRobertson said she viewed the game as a great learning experience for the team and enjoys seeing her team improve every week.\n"With this behind us, we understand what it takes to move the ball up the field and get it into scoring position, and that's only going to help us," Robertson said. "We're playing really good defense. Even though this was a very attacking game, we played defense very well when we had to."\nAlthough IU dominated Bellarmine, the Hoosiers must redirect attention to a difficult weekend when they travel to Pennsylvania to challenge Bucknell University and Penn State.\n"This win came at a perfect time," Micka said. "We're starting to play some really serious Big Ten teams, and we got rid of all our timidity in our offense. We took some big risks and they just happened to pay off"
(09/29/00 5:13am)
Although the field hockey has not won a game this year or even scored a goal, Sunday's game in Louisville is shaping up to be the turning point of the season. \nIU faces off against Division II Bellarmine University in hopes of going 1-4 on the year and dropping the Knights to a record of 4-3. This is the second game played on neutral turf at the University of Louisville.\nThe Hoosiers have abandoned the defensive approach and attention has shifted back to increasing attacks and lighting up the scoreboard. Junior back Kelly Lewis and freshman forward Lauren Micka, who attended Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville., are calm and cool for the second return to their hometown this season. \n"For the Michigan game we used a completely different defense," Lewis said. "Now we're getting back to our same game plan. We're trying to control the ball more and move it up in our space."\nCoach Amy Robertson said she is confident that her team will step up to get that elusive first goal.\n"The first thing we need to do is increase the number of shots we're getting in a game because we're not getting many," Robertson said. "To create more opportunities, we want to draw more attack corners. Mentally, the players are getting stronger after every game."\nLewis and Micka said battling against opponents they know on a personal level brings out more competition, and it's fun talking to them after the game, especially if the Hoosiers win.\nFreshman forward Becky Preston, sophomore forward Angela Ash and junior forward Andrea onterman have scored two goals apiece for the Knights. But Robertson wants to concentrate on her team instead of adapting to her opponents like she did against Michigan.\n"Rather than having a strategy to change in relation to how the other team is, we're focusing on ourselves for this game and going back to our basic structure," Robertson said. "We're going to play a more typical game style and expect to see both sides of the ball. It will be more like how we started off the season, but now we're better conditioned and have better ball possession skills."\nSmiling from ear to ear, Micka combined all her teammates' thoughts in one short statement.\n"This is our biggest chance to win," Micka said. "It's all uphill from here"
(09/25/00 6:22am)
The field hockey team survived its battle against rival No. 4 Michigan by playing a game of cat and mouse. \nThe Hoosiers allowed perimeter passing, but halted most of the Wolverines devastating attacks by converging on the ball like vultures. Michigan defeated IU 8-0, but coach Amy Robertson said she believed the Hoosiers won a moral victory.\n"I consider this a victory for our team," Robertson said. "Everyone stuck to the game plan and worked hard for 70 minutes. I think we believed that this plan would really work."\nIU's defense established itself early, but could only hold off the Wolverine threats for 15 minutes until Michigan's Kristi Gannon scorched a shot off a penalty corner for the first of her four goals in the game. The Hoosiers buckled down and allowed one more goal the first half, but penalty corners hurt them the rest of the game.\n"Most of the goals were scored on penalty corners and Michigan had some really hard hitters," Robertson said. "Typically Michigan can also score off rebounds, and we were saving those. Our game plan was to step up on them and box them out so they couldn't get second shots."\nAlthough Michigan scored eight goals, the score did not reflect the exceptional play of IU's defense led by senior keeper Alexandra Kaufman and senior back Tania Hults. Kaufman received endless praise for her goalkeeping from an impressed Robertson.\n"I'm really happy with the play of (Kaufman)," Robertson said. "That is amazing to save three out of four penalty strokes. It\'s usually unheard of to have four penalty strokes against you, but that just goes to show how hard the defense was working and how determined they were to keep the ball out of the goal cage."\nKaufman stopped 16 shots as goalie. The entire defense contributed to Kaufman\'s game, but the team could not maintain the intensity needed to contain the Wolverines for the entire 70 minutes.\n"We did a great job shutting them down in the first half because we were focused," Kaufman said. "In the second half we got tired and started having little breakdowns, and Michigan is so good that if you breakdown for a second, they will capitalize right away."\nBloodied and beaten from the physical game, Hults shrugged off the injuries and viewed the game positively.\n"I think this just pumped us up more," Hults said. "It feels more like a victory to play such a team and play them so well. It was our first Big Ten game, and we didn\'t feel like we were walked on"
(09/22/00 5:49am)
It could be harder for IU field hockey. They could be playing one of the top three teams in the country, but instead the Hoosiers must face No. 4 Michigan at 3 p.m. today in the John Mellencamp Pavilion.\nThe Wolverines (8-1) have obliterated their opponents; outscoring them 43-12. Miami University of Ohio became their last victim, losing 10-1. Miami had beaten IU 9-0 last Saturday by outshooting the Hoosiers 44-2. Although IU suffered a lopsided defeat, coach Amy Robertson does not believe that setback will affect their chances at competing with Michigan.\n"We played Miami well for 25 minutes," Robertson said. "But once they scored, it opened all the flood gates. We're going to change things around a bit for this game. I've heard some things from other teams that will be effective against Michigan." \nIU is still winless, but winning their first Big Ten contest against last year's National Championship runner-up would be a sweet victory, especially for Robertson. The Wolverines ousted her Wake Forest team last year in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament when Wake Forest was expected to be a Final Four team.\nMichigan is an annual powerhouse, but IU is not completely out of this game. IU has adapted a specific game plan to matchup better. Junior Brooke Magers has not been influenced by the hype of Michigan.\n"We're not intimidated, but we're just thinking cautiously," Magers said. "We actually have a new strategy. We're going to try containing them, frustrating them, playing a lot of defense and hopefully intercept and attack them whenever we get the chance."\nAnn Arbor native, freshman Ginna Irwin is anxious about this game.\n"It's definitely going to be a challenge because they're a strong team," Irwin said. "But it will be exciting playing against my friends because it will bring out some more aggression. This is definitely our strongest opponent yet, so it will be a big change from what we're used to."\nRobertson would love a win against Michigan, but she is looking toward the bigger picture rather than the win/loss column.\n"Michigan is No. 4 in the country and will be a tough game," Robertson said. "No matter what, we will get a positive experience out of this game"
(09/04/00 5:51am)
This weekend marked the first varsity field hockey game at IU in 18 years, and it did not disappoint the excited crowd. Fans endured the muggy atmosphere of the Mellencamp Pavilion in order to support this new varsity sport with banners and cheers.\nAlthough the field hockey team was shut out 2-0 in its season opener Saturday by Division II opponent Slippery Rock, IU exhibited constant hustle and the makings of a successful team.\nThe Hoosiers controlled the ball early with speed and swarming defense, but Slippery Rock's Emily Eich sneaked a goal past senior goalkeeper Alexandra Kaufman 7:31 into the game. Sophomore Molly Pulkrabek did not have any better luck in goal for IU in the second half. She was unable to prevent Brittany Butler from notching the second goal of the game off of a rebound just two and a half minutes into the second half.\nCoach Amy Robertson said she thought the defense in the box could improve, cutting down on breaks for the opposing team.\n"They didn't get their initial shots, but we didn't step up on their rebounds," Robertson said. "We need to learn to do that."\nIU pressured Slippery Rock's defense throughout the game, but still was only able to get three shots off. Junior Brooke Magers, sophomore Erica Nilsson and freshman Lauren Micka each tallied one shot.\n Robertson viewed this game as an overall success, even though it did not end in victory.\n "We followed the game plan, but we weren't sure if we had the confidence to step up and attack them," Robertson said. "This loss will turn out to be a good thing because we'll be able to see what we did wrong on video and learn from it."\nFreshman Abby Schwab said she shared Coach Robertson's positive attitude about the game.\n"I think after all the preparation we have done, regardless of the time we've been together, I think we were pretty ready," Schwab said. "Today was a great way for us to see how we utilize the drills we do in practice."\nAs a four-year veteran of the club field hockey team, senior Tania Hults said she easily recognizes a winning attitude within the team this year.\n"I think we're going to be very successful," Hults said. "I think the goals we set for ourselves as a team just keep growing everyday, and we'll just focus on one game at a time."\nIU will travel to Louisville, Ky., to challenge St. Louis University next Sunday, looking to come away with a victory after a week of hard work. Robertson is anxious to get back on the practice field to work out some more bugs.\n"We're going to work on being more organized and using our forwards more," Robertson said. "This was our first opportunity to play 11 versus 11 and it gives us a chance to learn so much from this game"