The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 59 OLYMPIC SPORTS ence titles since Nicole Artz in 2017. Honors — Karas was a first-team All- American on the uneven bars (tied for fourth, 9.900) and floor exercise (tied for fourth, 9.925), and second team on the beam (tied for fifth, 9.875) and in the all- around (tied for fifth, 39.5375) … She is the first U-M gymnast since Katie Zurales in 2013 to earn four All-America honors in one season … Juniors Lexi Funk and Maddy Osman earned their first career All-America accolades, tying for eighth in the beam. Notable — Head coach Bev Plocki set a Big Ten record with 24 conference ti- tles, which is now the most by any coach in any sport … Michigan's four All-Amer- icans were the most since 2014 … The Wolverines concluded the season with their 24th overall NCAA Championships appearance and finished in the top eight for the first time since 2015 … The Wol- verines finished third in their semifinal. MEN'S LACROSSE (4-9 OVERALL, 1-4 BIG TEN) Best Performance — Beating No. 10 Ohio State April 26: The Wolverines defeated their rival for the first time in series history 13-10 on Senior Night. This was Michigan's third victory over a ranked opponent in program history. MVP — Senior Brent Noseworthy: He is the first Wolverine in history to hit the 100-goal mark in his career, finishing with 102 goals and 119 points. Honors — Senior Nick DeCaprio was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week April 6 after tying the NCAA record for caused turnovers in a game (eight) against Penn State … Freshman Bryce Clay was tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice. Notable — Noseworthy was selected by the Atlas Lacrosse Club with the 23rd overall pick in the inaugural Premier La- crosse League College Draft. MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (7-1 OVERALL, 4-1 BIG TEN) Best Performance — Placing second at the Big Ten Championships Feb. 27-March 2 in Iowa City, Iowa: The Wolverines finished second for the third straight season. Juniors Felix Auböck (1,650-yard freestyle), Miles Smachlo (100-yard butterfly) and Charlie Swan- son (400-yard IM) were all individual champions. MVP — Auböck: He won the national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle after fin- ishing runner-up in the event the previ- ous two seasons. His time of 14:23.09 came within a second of the NCAA re- cord (14:22.41). Honors — Smachlo finished third at the NCAA Championships in the 100- yard butter fly, earning All-America honors … Sophomore Ricardo Vargas finished fourth at the NCAA Champi- onships in the 500-yard freestyle, also earning All-America honors … Both the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 800- yard relay earned All-America honorable mentions. Notable — The Wolverines finished 13th at the NCAA Championships, jump- ing four spots in the final day … Michi- gan sent 15 athletes to the event this season. WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (8-0 OVERALL, 5-0 BIG TEN) Best Performance — Placing third at the NCAA Championships March 20-23 in Austin, Texas: The Wolverines earned their second consecutive top- four finish and the second-highest result in program history at nationals. U-M had 14 All-America performances in individ- ual events and relays. MVP — Senior Siobhán Haughey: At the NCAA Championships, she finished third in the 100-yard freestyle. She be- came the eighth-fastest performer in history in the event, resetting her Big Ten and school records to win bronze with a time of 46.64. She also finished third in the 200-yard freestyle, earning All-America status in both events. Honors — U-M's head coach Mike Bottom was named Big Ten Swimming Coach of the Year for the second season in a row and the seventh time in his ca- reer … Freshman Maggie MacNeil won Big Ten Freshman of the Year and fin- ished second in the 100-yard butterfly, fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and sixth in the 100-yard backstroke at the NCAA Championships … Senior Catie DeLoof finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle at the national meet … Sophomores Sierra Schmidt (1,650-yard freestyle) and Daria Pyshnenko (200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay), redshirt junior Miranda Tucker (100-yard breaststroke), and seniors Yirong Bi (800-yard freestyle relay) and Taylor Garcia (200-yard med- ley relay and 400-yard medley relay) all also earned All-America honors. Notable — The Wolverines finished second at the Big Ten Championships and sent 14 athletes to the NCAA Cham- pionships. WRESTLING (13-1 OVERALL, 8-1 BIG TEN) Best Performance — Placing fifth at the NCAA Championships March 21- 23 in Pittsburgh: Michigan went six for six on the third and final day of the meet, with all three competitors still alive in the double-elimination tournament winning in the consolation semifinals and third-place matches. The Wolverines' fifth-place showing in the team stand- ings marked the second straight season U-M finished in the top five. MVP — Redshirt junior 133-pounder Stevan Micic: He finished the season with a 19-1 record and 13-0 record in dual meets. He was forced to medically forfeit to sixth place at the Big Ten Cham- pionships, but bounced back two weeks later to place third at NCAAs. Honors — Micic, fifth-year senior 157-pounder Alec Pantaleo and red- shirt junior 174-pounder Myles Amine all placed third at the NCAA Champi- onships …This was the third time in all three wrestlers' careers that they re- ceived All-America honors. Notable — Eight wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships, and all but two have eligibility remaining … Michigan has boasted at least one All- American in 23 of the last 25 seasons, in- cluding three or more in each of the last five seasons … In addition to the NCAA success, head coach Sean Bormet went 13-1 in duals during his first season. ❏ Freshman gymnast Natalie Wojcik was the NCAA champion on balance beam and earned second-team All-America honors in the all-around. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY