ClubSportsWeekly

Hockey ices best season ever

Indiana continues to be the Michigan men's hockey club's nemesis as it tries to build toward one of the strongest programs in the nation.

Saturday, the Hoosiers downed the Wolverines in the semi-finals of the ACHA National Championship, 3-2. The final four appearance capped Michigan's finest season since gaining club status in 1995. The Wolverines finished the season ranked third in the nation with a record of 12-2-2 in the MCHL and 20-4-2 overall.

"This is everything we hoped the club would become," club president and captain Jason Kiehler said. "It's great that every year we've been able to build on the year before."

The Hoosiers lost to Miami (Ohio) - the same team that beat them for the MCHL tournament title - in the national title game.

Michigan swept through the first round tournament pool, following a 5-1 victory over San Jose State on Wednesday with a 12-4 drubbing of Palmer on Thursday and 7-3 thrashing of Stony Brook on Friday.

"We were ranked number one in our region and our pool and thought we had a good chance to win it," Kiehler said.

Despite the top-ranking in the nation going into the MCHL tournament this season, Michigan was downed 5-2 by the Hoosiers in the semi-finals of conference tournament, after finishing third in the regular season.

"They are just a team that matches up well against us," Kiehler said. "We beat them a couple times this year but haven't been able to get past them."

- Michael Kern

Skating spins through nationals

The women's precision skating club knew the road would be tough to repeat as national champions, and it was. At the National Synchronized Skating Championships in Plymouth this weekend, the collegiate level defending champions took an enormous leap forward by competing in the senior level, the highest level possible.

In a senior level stacked with only prestigious skating clubs and varsity teams, the women finished a respectable 10th out of 16. In addition, only one other college team finished ahead of the women. By placing in the top ten, the Wolverines took the first steps toward elite status.

"It was tough, but we skated with our hearts, and we had to start to build a name for ourselves somewhere," club media liaison Tami Tarnow said.

The Wolverines also competed in the collegiate level again. In that level, the women finished third out of a field of 10 - an unexpected surprise.

Michigan did not know they would compete in the collegiate level until three weeks ago. In addition, only 12 out of the 24 skaters competed, because of regulations regarding dual competitions.

Despite this, the women were able to medal, and finish ahead of in-state rivals Michigan State and Western Michigan - establishing themselves as the premier college skating team in the state of Michigan, despite its club status.

The steady improvement shown by the team mirrored the growing experience of its members. Half of the club was new and lacked experience skating together.

The women started the year with an eighth-place finish in the collegiate level and a 12th-place showing in the senior level at Fraser. That was followed by a fifth-place finish in both levels at the Midwestern Sectionals. But the best was yet to come, as the women came back with an impressive showing at the Tri-States Meet three weeks ago. The Wolverines finished first overall in both the senior and collegiate levels.

As a team, the season is officially over, but there is still an individual competition in March.

The team will be losing seven seniors this year but hope to counteract that loss through recruiting.

- Albert Kim