The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2020 THE WOLVERINE 57 OLYMPIC SPORTS who this summer won a silver medal at the 2019 World University Games and then finished 12th overall at the USATF Outdoor National Champion- ships, returns for his senior year. "What Andrew did was pretty re- markable," Clayton noted. "One, hit- ting the big mark here [breaking his own school shot put record with a toss of 21.15 meters, and hitting the 2020 Olympics' qualifying standard] and then traveling all the way to Europe and ending up medaling in that [at the World University Games]. To do it on that stage in his first trip to Europe was pretty special. Looking forward to him returning in his senior year." Decathlete Ayden Owens' transfer in to Michigan for his sophomore season, after spending his freshman year at USC, adds a world-class athlete to the Wolverine lineup. Owens earned All- America status last season and was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. "Ayden was a shock," Clayton ad- mitted. "We recruited him heavily out of high school and it came down to us and USC. He made the decision to go to USC and we didn't think anything more of it. "In June, he went into the [transfer] portal. We were the only school that he visited after that. To add him, with all he had achieved as a freshman — which was astonishing in itself — is a welcome plus. Our track record of success with decathletes played a big part [in his decision]." Must-See Event: The second an- nual rivalry triangular meet between Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State will be held at the Simmons- Harvey Invitational, Jan. 18, at the U-M Indoor Track Building, featuring a team-scored competition between the three Big Ten programs. The event premiered in 2018 with Michigan win- ning the men's division and Ohio State taking the women's title. Women's Track & Field First Event: Jan.11 at the Wolverine Invitational in the U-M Indoor Track Building. Coach's Expectations: "We need to improve," head coach James Henry bluntly assessed. "We need to get bet- ter. It will come from us being healthy. We didn't have the type of season last year we wanted, partially because we just weren't as good as we wanted to be. The other part is that we were in- jured in some of our key areas. "Overall, we will be as good as we are healthy. We weren't as good last year because we weren't as healthy. We need to get better because last year wasn't indicative of what this program is about. We were fairly young, but now we're veterans. The areas of dis- tance and middle distance are where we always get our points. We need to share some of those responsibilities with other areas." Top Performers: "[Sophomore] Aurora Rynda is probably our leader in terms of middle distance." Henry noted. "Then, there's [junior sprinter] Chloe Foster. She has done an excellent job for us in the past, and I think she is going to have a significant improve- ment for us. "[Senior] Meg Darmofal will com- pete well in the 800 meters and the mile. In the jump events, [sophomore] pole vaulter Jessica Mercier should stand out. If we keep [senior sprinter] Jade Harrison healthy, that would make a significant difference in our relays. "We think [freshman] Ericka Vander- Lende will be very good in the distance events. [Sophomore] Corinne Jemison transferred in [from Miami-Ohio's vol- leyball program] and will help in the throws and give us some immediate contribution there. "[Graduate student] Annie Taylor in the mile, we think will help us. [Se- nior sprinter] Julia Hall is probably the hardest-working athlete I've ever had. We just need to keep her healthy." Water Polo First Event: Jan. 18-19 at the UCSB Winter Invitational, against Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, Cal, UC Santa Barbara Coach's Expectations: "The five November exhibitions in California were kind of like a litmus test," head coach Marcelo Leonardi explained. "You gauge where you're at. We have a lot of young talent — but they are young. We spent a lot of time teaching our culture. With those five sample matches, especially UCLA and USC, we were able to see where we were at right now. We're trying not to set too many expectations. "We got to learn how to travel, we got to play five quality teams. I thought we experienced a lot of dif- ferent scenarios. We got a lot of video, a lot of data. It was also nice to stand toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the country, being such a youthful team. "We kind of established how we're going to score. I think that was impor- tant. We're very strong up the middle, in the trenches with our centers and our defenders. We were able to draw Senior goalie Heidi Ritner is a two-time CWPA All-Conference selection. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY