Men’s Track and Field
University of Miami senior Kenny Frank finished third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.41 seconds and senior Jon Mark took third in the pole vault with a mark of 4.65 meters to lead the Hurricanes at the USF Invitational in Tampa, Fla.
Frank’s time was a career-best and qualifies him for the Big East Outdoor Championships, May 28-29, in Piscataway, N.J. Mark also recorded a Big East qualifying mark.
In the discus, Charles Johnson finished 10th with a Big East qualifying mark of 44.92 meters.
Miami returns to action on Saturday, April 10th when it hosts the Miami Gatorade Track and Field Classic at Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables.

Men’s Tennis
The No. 30 University of Miami men’s tennis team fell to future ACC rival No. 42 Wake Forest, 6-1 Saturday afternoon to move to 11-4 in dual play this season.
The Demon Deacons (10-8) took a 1-0 lead over UM, winning the doubles point behind Derek Spice and Brett Ross downing Tim Krebs and Colin Purcell, 8-4 at No. 1 and David Loewenthal and Andrew Hamar defeating John Hoyes and Jeremiah Fuller, 8-4 at No. 2.
The Hurricanes’ tandem of Eric Hechtman and Josh Cohen would win at No. 3, upending WFU’s Todd Paul and Joe Bates, 8-3.
In singles play, Cohen would suffer his first loss of the season at the hands of No. 37 Spice, falling in three sets, 7-6, 2-7, 7-5 while UM’s Hechtman, ranked No. 93 in the nation in singles, couldn’t hold off Paul in the No. 2 slot, losing in three sets, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.
WFU’s Loewenthal downed Hoyes, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 and Hamar overtook the Hurricanes’ Krebs, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4) at No. 4.
Purcell would lose at No. 5, falling to Ross, 6-4, 6-0 to take just his second defeat in his past 13 matches.
Miami’s Fuller would earn UM’s only point of the afternoon, downing Strauss, 4-6, 6-2, (10-5) at No. 6.

The intensity in Sihem Bennacer’s hazel eyes can be seen every time she walks onto the court.

Though quiet off the court, Bennacer, a senior on the women’s tennis team, is a true warrior when her matches begin. In her final season playing for the Hurricanes, Bennacer has enjoyed some memorable moments.

In her last match against UCF, Bennacer clinched the match for the Hurricanes by defeating her opponent, Amira Samara, 6-4, 6-1. Bennacer boasts a 14-4 singles record and a .778 winning percentage this season.

Coming from Algiers, Algeria, and the Algerian National Tennis Team, Bennacer has much experience in the game. After leaving her homeland for Miami, she has strived to do her best as a Hurricane. Even as a freshman, Bennacer compiled a 15-7 singles record and 17-8 doubles record. Bennacer has grown over the last four years into a woman who has learned how to master her talent, although in her eyes there is always work to be done.

“There are always things to work on. There is always room for improvement,” Bennacer said. “So definitely my work is never done.”

Don’t say that to her competitors, however. In doubles matches this season Bennacer has performed equally as impressive as her singles matches. This season she has a 14-5 record in doubles, making her one of the toughest Hurricanes to compete against.

Bennacer has been an asset for the Hurricanes this season. She has aided the women in their jump in the rankings from No. 22 in the beginning of their season to No. 15 currently. Though quiet and modest off the court, Bennacer has in some ways been a silent champion.

“I’ve had pretty good matches lately, but there is still much to be done,” Bennacer said.

More notable than her unquestionable talent is her love for the game. Every time she walks onto the court, she displays the passion she has for the sport with each shout after a powerful hit. As she simply puts it, “I just love the game.”

Antoinette Cordova can be contacted at a.cordova1@umiami.edu

While the football team gets ready to compete for a national championship and baseball gears up for the College World Series, two track and field stars, Lauryn Williams and Tabia Charles, are on the verge of reaching the pinnacle of individual athletics by qualifying for a berth in this summer’s Olympics.
University of Miami students may not be able to identify Williams or Charles, but in track and field circles they are household names. Charles set a school-record in the triple jump this past weekend at the Texas Relays, and Williams is a five-time All-American.
Both enter this summer with the same goal in mind, but the two have traveled down far different paths in their pursuit of a gold medal.
Williams, a junior, had a long list of accolades while competing for Rochester (Pa.) High School and was sought after by the top programs in the nation. In her freshman season, she won the 100-meter event at the Big East Championships and has not looked back since.
Williams’ highlights include a gold medal in the 100-meter and 4 x 100-meter relay at the 2003 Pan American Games, a silver medal in the 4 x 100 in last year’s World Championships and a World Junior Championship in 2002.
All of Williams’ accomplishments have made the topic of the Olympics unavoidable when talking with family and friends.
“I try not to think about [the Olympics] that often, but this being an Olympic year, people come up to me and ask me about it,” Williams said. “I tell them that I plan on going to the trials, and they are like ‘wow, you must be really good if you’re going to the trials.’ So it turns into a whole conversation about the Olympics anyways.”
While competing in Paris, Williams got the chance to work with some of track and field’s biggest names, like Maurice Greene and Inger Miller.
“They helped me with different parts of my technique,” Williams said. “I have a habit of running bent over, and they taught me ways to stand up straighter while running. They showed me some tricks of the trade, nothing really specific, but it was really helpful to me.”
Unlike Williams, Charles was not well known in the U.S. before coming to Miami. Part of that has to do with the fact that she comes from Pickering, Ontario, where she was the three-time National Scholastic Indoor Champion in the triple jump and held the Canadian Junior record in both indoor and outdoor competition.
Qualifying for the Canadian Olympic team is a bit different than the system implemented in the United States.
“They [Canada] have trials, but you have to run certain times to make it into the trials,” Charles said. “They make it so much more difficult. You have to run or jump the B [minimum requirement] standard twice and do the A [most difficult requirement] standard once, then you make it to the trials.”
Head Coach Amy Deem said both Williams and Charles have made encouraging strides in their training.
“Lauryn’s progressing really well,” Deem said. “We have been working on the little things and really focusing on the end of indoor season and making a push for outdoor season. With Tabia, we are just trying to bring her along slowly. She had a great NCAA Indoor Championship [fourth in long jump and triple jump].”
Since Charles is only a freshman, she does not have the same sense of urgency to qualify for this year’s Games that Williams has. Nevertheless, both competitors vow to stick to what has made them successful in the past.
“We are trying to take it one meet at a time,” Williams said. “Doing things differently is not what got us here in the first place, so we try to stay on the same program.”

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu. Friday’s Hurricane will profile the swimmers and divers who are attempting to qualify for this year’s Olympics.

The baseball team entered its toughest road test of the season at Georgia Tech with hopes of solidifying its place among the nation’s elite programs, but the Hurricanes laid an egg in Friday’s series opener, losing 17-4 at Russ Chandler Stadium. The ‘Canes rebounded nicely, however, with a 9-7 comeback win on Saturday.
Georgia Tech catcher Mike Nickeas hit a grand slam in the first inning, and the Yellow Jackets never looked back. Starter Dan Touchet had his worst outing of the season, giving up nine runs in 4.1 innings of work.
Yellow Jackets’ right-hander Brian Burks handcuffed the Hurricanes for five innings before giving up four runs in the sixth. His performance evened his record at 2-2, scattering eight hits over 6.2 innings.
Georgia Tech jumped out to an early lead with a RBI single off the bat of Wes Hodges in the bottom half of the first inning. Things got even worse for the Hurricanes in the first, trailing 1-0, Touchet loaded the bases with a walk and a hit batter before surrendering the aforementioned grand slam to Nickeas.
After Touchet settled down and cruised through the second, third and fourth innings, the Yellow Jackets once again hit the West Palm Beach native hard. The decisive blow was a bases-loaded, two-run double down the left-field line by Steven Blackwood that staked Georgia Tech to a 7-0 lead.
Miami tried to make things interesting in the sixth inning with Jim Burt’s sixth home run of the season, a three-run shot to left field. Brian Barton followed with a double down the left-field line and scored on a RBI single by Gaby Sanchez to pull the Hurricanes within 11-4.
Tech added its 12th run on a throwing error by Chris Perez in the sixth inning and tacked on five more in the seventh inning.
Saturday’s contest was a completely different story for the Hurricanes, who have done a solid job of avoiding consecutive poor performances throughout the season.
With the win, Danny Gil improved to 4-0 on the season, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing only one run and one hit. John Goodman took the loss for Georgia Tech.
UM senior George Huguet came on to record the final six outs and record his 38th career save to break Rick Raether (1984-86) school record. The save was Huguet’s seventh of the season, facing only seven hitters in two innings.
Trailing 6-1, Barton doubled home Miami’s second run of the game in the sixth inning, scoring Jon Jay, who had drawn a walk. Ryan Braun followed with his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot down the right field line.
Miami took its first lead of the game with a five-run seventh inning that was highlighted by Barton’s go-ahead double down the right field line that scored two runs. The Hurricanes pounded out five hits in the inning.

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

After last season’s back-to-back losses to Virginia Tech and Tennessee that broke the Hurricanes’ 34-game regular season win streak and kept the ‘Canes out of the Sugar Bowl, quarterback Brock Berlin experienced fan-wrath firsthand.

Despite what was in some cases extremely personal criticism, Berlin said that he has been able to keep his focus.

“For me, I just don’t listen to any of that stuff,” he said. “I know what type of player I am and what I can do and I just go out there and perform.”

His performance last season led to speculation that his job as starting quarterback was in jeopardy. Berlin said he remained positive that he would ultimately be retained as starter.

“In my mind I definitely felt like I was going to be the starter,” he said. “I really feel like I’ve learned a lot from last year and I’m excited about this year.”

Recent comments by Head Coach Larry Coker seem to indicate that while the decision to retain Berlin as starter is one that he’s confident in, Berlin’s performance is going to be observed just to make sure.

According to a March 24 article in The Miami Herald, Coker is quoted as saying, “Brock is the starter for now, but we’re going to evaluate every practice.”

Berlin feels like this puts him under pressure to constantly prove himself, but adds that this helps keep him focused on what he’s out there to do.

“I want to come out and perform well at every practice and learn from things,” he said. “All I can do is give it my best and go from there.”

For Berlin, faith in God is an important part of his life that strengthens his ability to handle the tough times he encountered last season. He also feels his faith plays a central role in game preparation and his outlook as leader of the team.

“My whole life revolves around my faith in God and family,” said Berlin. “I lean hard on that and ask the Lord to help me get through things.”

Having his abilities doubted is nothing new to Berlin. Almost from the beginning of his time as a member of the Hurricanes, people have been critical of him. For a brief time that criticism was put to rest by the ‘Canes’ come-from-behind win over the Florida Gators last September.

Some have said that the victory over FSU in the FedEx Orange Bowl last January put to rest similar doubts following last season’s losses. Berlin doesn’t spend any time pondering how each victory is viewed, but he remains focused on being the best player he can be.

“We won the game and that’s all that matters,” he said. “I’m out here to play and play to win – that’s what we do.”

Berlin has sometimes found Ken Dorsey to be a very tough act to follow.

“You’re always going to be compared to the previous guy, that’s the way the ball bounces,” he said. “He’s a great guy and I learned a lot from him.”

Berlin added that Dorsey contacted him during the low point of last season to try to give him friendly support.

“He called and we talked over some things,” he said. “He’s been a big help for me.”

Berlin has kept a positive, focused attitude in anticipation of the 2004 season.

“We’re going to go out there and give it 100 percent and win,” he said. “Our main goal is to win every game and win a national championship and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”

Scott Wacholtz can be contacted at s.wacholtz@umiami.edu.