The track and field teams have showed some success early this season and despite their budget difficulties, they are ready to show the Big East that they can leave the conference at the end of the year on a high note.

In the second meet of the season on Feb. 1, distance runner Matt Mulvaney topped the 5,000-meter race at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville in a time of 15:02.34. In the 55-meter event, sophomore Terrell Walden finished third (6.32 seconds), freshman Devin Hester got seventh (6.36 seconds), and junior Tanard Davis held onto eighth with a time of 6.37 seconds.

The men visited Clemson University in South Carolina last weekend for the Tiger Invitational. They qualified seven team members, including three sprinters and one pole-vaulter for the Big East Championships, which takes place at Syracuse University in New York this weekend, where both the men and women will be participating.

In the 60-meter event, Walden took third place with a time of 6.77 seconds, while Davis placed 15th with 6.95 seconds and Hester, also a member of the football team, finished in 7.02 seconds (24th place). Pole-vaulter Jon Mark reached 4.70 meters, placing second.

“We’re a little bit better outdoors than indoors because of where we are geographically,” men’s Head Coach Mike Ward said. “The Big East schools in the northeast are used to running inside whereas we’re more of an outdoor, warm weather team.”

The women’s team graced the campus of the University of Arkansas last weekend in Fayetteville for the Tyson Invitational. All-American Lauryn Williams automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships on March 12 and 13 in Fayetteville.

Williams broke the school record-her record-in the 200-meter with a time of 23.24 seconds. The time was the third fastest in the nation. She also placed fourth in the 60 meter at 7.23 seconds and finished as a part of a 4×400 relay in 3:34.45. The 4×400 meter relay team of freshman Ginou Etienne, sophomore All-Americans Charlette Greggs and Dominique Darden, and senior All-American Kitoya Carter finished in third place behind Texas and Florida. The relay team is the top seed heading into the Big East Championships this weekend. In the 200-meter, Greggs finished fifth in 23.56 seconds while Darden held onto 13th place with 23.94 seconds. In the long jump, junior Amber Williams grabbed fifth with a jump of 5.81 meters. Junior Chinela Davis earned eighth with a jump of 5.66 meters.

The NCAA Championships at the University of Arkansas are on the horizon in mid March after the Big East Championships take place this Saturday and Sunday at Syracuse University.

“[This weekend] we have an opportunity to win the 60-meter and the long jump,” Ward said.

However, the lack of scholarships for track and field appears to have played a large part in the team’s results. Fully funded programs have over six times as many athletes on scholarship than UM.

“A school like Clemson has 13 guys on scholarship and we have two,” Ward said. “We are talking about [more funding for track] but I don’t really anticipate anything happening.”

Melissa Teich can be contacted at m.teich1@umiami.edu.

The University of Miami swimming and diving team will head to East Meadow, N.Y. to take part in the 2004 Big East Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday, Feb. 19 through Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Nassau County Aquatics Center.

The Hurricanes will send a total of 15 swimmers and divers to compete in 22 events at the three-day championships, including two-time All-American junior Miguel Velazquez the defending Big East Champion in the one-meter and three-meter springboard as well as the Big East’s Most Outstanding Diver in 2003.

Velazquez, along with freshman Derek Starks, will look to improve on Miami’s impressive run at the Big East Championships that has saw the Hurricane diving team win at least diving championship since 1992, while sweeping both the men’s and women’s titles every year since 1997 under the guidance of head diving coach Randy Ableman.

The UM women’s team will look to improve on a third-place finish at the 2003 Big East Championships.

First-year head swimming coach Mariusz Podkoscielny will lead eleven swimmers to the 2004 meet including junior Katalin Ferenczi who will compete in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke as well as the 200-yard IM. Earlier this season at the Minnesota Invitational, Ferenczi tied the school record, which she also held, in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.26.

The Hurricane swim team will also look to a number of newcomers, with a total of six freshman swimmers competing including Nancy Gajos and Tara Erwin. Gajos qualified for the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.54, the second fastest in the conference and Erwin touched in with the Big East’s second best time in the 1650-yard freestyle with a mark of 16:45.58. Gajos will also compete in the 200-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle while Erwin will compete in the 500-yard freestyle.

Miami will also send swimmers sophomore Adrien Ferguson (200 IM, 400 IM, 200-yard butterfly), freshman Lindsey Fox (50-yard freestyle), freshman Kristen Lunak (400 IM, 200-yard breaststroke), junior Lindsay Knapp (400 IM, 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke), freshman Ashley Knapp (200-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke), freshman Andrea Hughes (100-yard butterfly, 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle), sophomore Martyna Krawczyk (100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke) and junior Colleen Adkins (100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke) to compete for the Big East title.

Two-time All-American Emily Spychala, along with freshman Heather Bounds, will compete in the one-meter springboard, three-meter springboard and platform diving championships for the UM women’s dive squad.

The 2004 championships are slated to begin on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

-Compiled by the sports information department.

The men’s tennis team couldn’t have dreamt of a better start than the one it has gotten off to. It is 4-0, it has a freshman No. 1 singles player (Josh Cohen) who hasn’t lost, and two of its four wins have come against ranked opponents.

“It’s been a great start,” Head Coach Bryan Getz said. “But it’s only the beginning as far as our schedule goes because it gets a lot tougher as we get into March and April.”

The No. 34 Hurricanes have looked impressive in winning their first four matches. They defeated the No. 38 Southern Methodist Mustangs, the South Florida Bulls, who at the time were No. 34, Florida Atlantic, and Florida A&M. The only thing that hasn’t gone Miami’s way was their match against the No. 7 Florida Gators, which was rained out this past weekend.

“Our guys were ready to play on Sunday,” Getz said. “We had a great week of practice and they were clicking on all cylinders, so it was a little disheartening, but we can’t control Mother Nature.”

Although it is still very early in the season, injuries have not been an issue with this year’s squad. Last year, the team had to overcome numerous losses of key players and still won the Big East championship.

“Everyone’s healthy right now, knock on wood,” Getz said.

One of the reasons the Hurricanes are off to a great start is the play of Cohen at the No. 1 singles slot. The freshman from Weston, Fla. has been dominating in his four wins.

“Josh is going to be there for us at every match,” Getz said. “And the scary part about him is that he hasn’t even tapped into his full potential yet. When he puts it all together, it’s going to be scary.”

Next up for the ‘Canes is another in-state opponent. Jacksonville University will visit the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Sunday at noon. The Dolphins are off to a tough start this season, as they are 1-3 thus far. They were defeated by Florida A&M 5-2, while the Hurricanes beat the Rattlers 7-0. Their only win came against Georgia Southern.

Jacksonville will likely have German-born Ben Birkmann at No. 1 singles and fellow German Martin Hehensteiger at No. 2 singles. The Dolphins have plenty of international talent, with four of their six players coming from outside of the United States.

Following Sunday’s match up, the ‘Canes will meet the Florida Gators on Wednesday in the make-up match from last weekend’s rainout.

“First of all, a win over the Gators would be great for our school. Anytime we beat Florida whether it is the debate, football, basketball, baseball, or tennis team it’s always nice,” Getz said. “They have been one of the top five teams in college tennis for the last five years and we aspire to become what they are. They are definitely beatable.”

Douglas Kroll can be contacted at d.kroll@umiami.edu.

After a breakout season in 2003, Erick San Pedro is ready to become one of the nation’s best catchers this season as the Hurricanes begin their quest for a return to Omaha and the College World Series.

San Pedro began last year battling with Greg Dini for the starting catcher job, but his steady improvement offensively and success in throwing runners out won him the position. The Hialeah, Fla. native finished 2003 with a .317 batting average, 43 runs batted (in good for fifth on the team), and 13 doubles.

After being shutout by the Florida Gators on Friday night, the Hurricanes needed a spark during the second game of the series. With the game scoreless in the third inning, San Pedro gave the ‘Canes their first runs of the season with a two-run home run off of Steven Porter. The junior would add a double later on as the Hurricanes finished off the Gators for their first victory of the season.

“[The home run] kind of ignited the team,” Head Coach Jim Morris said. “I guess you could say it got them going. Sometimes that first hit is tough to get if a pitcher has a no-hitter going…We needed to score a run to get it going, and once it happened we did well.”

One of the strengths of this year’s squad is that the entire starting rotation of J.D. Cockroft, Vince Bongiovanni, and Brandon Camardese has returned older and wiser. Over the past couple of years San Pedro has developed a close relationship with each of the hurlers.

“It’s almost like you’re brothers,” San Pedro said. “You know everything about them and they know everything about you. Somehow you have to gain their confidence, whether it’s yelling at them or babying them…little things like that make up the relationship.”

Last season, the ‘Canes advanced to the College World Series before being eliminated in their third game. San Pedro said that the team over achieved last year, and this time around, merely being there will not be satisfying enough for the Hurricanes.

“We were a really young team last year,” he said. “Everyone was saying that we were young and the experience just wasn’t there, but we made it that far, and with our whole team back, not only do we think we should go back, but we should win it.”

San Pedro is expected to contend for All-America honors at his position and the Johnny Bench Award, which is given to the nation’s best catcher. With these types of preseason accolades, San Pedro will most likely earn attention from professional scouts. He said that while it is easy to get caught up in early hype, it is imperative that he focuses only on what the Hurricanes have to do to win.

“The Major Leagues always crosses my mind,” he said. “Scouts come up to you, but you can’t let that get to your head. You have to put the team first because the way you get drafted is by helping your team out.”

San Pedro majors in entrepreneurship and enjoys golfing on the rare occasions that the team doesn’t have practice.

“I like to play golf,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. I usually go with Gaby Sanchez on our days off. I like to relax and just hang out.”

As San Pedro’s Miami career has progressed, the catcher has improved every step of the way. If he continues to get better in 2004, the ‘Canes’ chances of a longer stay in Omaha will increase dramatically.

“He has worked very hard and progressed tremendously as a player, and in all phases of the game,” Morris said. “When he left high school he was a good player and now he has the chance to be a great player.”

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu.

After a hard-fought series against Florida, the baseball team’s schedule does not get any easier as the Tennessee Volunteers come to South Florida this weekend.

The Volunteers are 3-0 this season after a sweep of Morehead State in their season opening series last weekend, which included a 29-1 victory. The Hurricanes are 2-1 after the three games with the Gators. On Friday, the Hurricanes ran into Florida ace Justin Hoyman and were blanked 3-0. However, the ‘Canes were able to bounce back and win the next two games to take the series.

“It’s a little different against your own pitchers in practice,” catcher Erick San Pedro said. “It’s hard facing good pitchers like Hoyman early in the season.”

This weekend, Miami might have problems with another staff ace in Volunteers pitcher Luke Hochevar. Hochevar pitched seven shutout innings against Morehead State and struck out 10 hitters while only walking one in his team’s season opening 11-0 victory.

Last season, as a freshman, Hochevar faced the Hurricanes and pitched into the sixth inning, striking out 10 batters in the process, but the ‘Canes won anyway.

“He is a really good pitcher,” designated hitter Joey Hooft said. “He throws hard and he throws a lot of strikes.”

The Volunteers finished last season with a 31-24 record, good for fourth in the SEC East division. They struggled in conference play, going just 13-17 in the conference, and on the road the entire season, posting a 5-14 road mark. However, like Miami, this year’s team returns several starters and should have more success this season.

“Tennessee has an outstanding pitcher throwing against us Friday,” Head Coach Jim Morris said. “They are a well-coached team with a lot of players returning, so we expect them to play us hard.”

The Hurricanes have several question marks entering the series. The first one is their offense, which struggled mightily the first two games against the Gators. After getting shutout on Friday, Miami scored four runs Saturday, but only managed five hits, all of which came from the eighth hitter, San Pedro, and the ninth hitter, Richard Giannotti. In the first two games, the Hurricanes’ top seven batters in the lineup managed just two hits. On Sunday, the bats finally came to life as the ‘Canes put 19 runs on the board in a crucial victory.

However, injuries continue to plague Miami. On Sunday, the team lost outfielder Brian Barton for a few weeks with a broken left hand. In addition, closer George Huguet remains in the hospital suffering from pneumonia. These two injuries are the latest in a laundry list of hurt players, which includes Danny Figueroa, Andy Cohn, and Paco Figueroa. Paco Figueroa swung a bat on Tuesday and might be available this weekend.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries,” Morris said. “It’s a challenge but at the same time, it gives other guys a chance to step up and prove themselves.”

Another problem was that the starting pitchers had trouble going deep into games, which put a lot of pressure on their battered bullpen. Starter J.D. Cockroft only lasted four innings on Friday night, and Brandon Camardese did not get out of the third inning on Sunday. Only Vince Bongiovanni pitched into the sixth inning.

“We need to throw more strikes and innings. We need five to six innings out of our starting pitching,” Morris said.

On a positive note, pitcher Dan Touchet pitched four solid innings Friday night against Florida in his first action since Tommy John surgery last season. Touchet will remain the team’s long reliever and fourth starter.

“Dan threw very well and more importantly, he was pain free,” Morris said.

The key to beating the Volunteers will be to have quality pitching and to come through with hits at opportune times. The Hurricanes won both games against Florida when they scored the first run.

“We need to get ahead early,” Hooft said. “That way, we put the pressure on the other team. We expect to win every game and we feel we can be good enough to do that.”

While two out of three games against the Gators was acceptable, the ‘Canes are looking for a sweep of the Volunteers.

“We always want to sweep at home and split on the road,” Morris said. “If we can do that, with our schedule, our record will be very good.”

Darren Grossman can be contacted at d.grossman@umiami.edu.