The Wolverine

May 2013

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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  inside michigan athletics crown in 1999. Field hockey would follow that up with its NCAA victory in 2001. The Maize and Blue currently sit second in the Directors' Cup after an April 11 update with 746.00 points, just 3.5 points back of Stanford, and the Wolverines are slated to earn major points in both gymnastics programs, both tennis programs, softball, rowing, and potentially in the track programs, golf, baseball and water polo. Over the past 10 years, Michigan has made substantial changes to its athletic campus, building brand new facilities or renovating outdated ones for 13 sports, and U-M is not even close to done, releasing schematics for a $250-million plan to dramatically alter the sports landscape. "Facilities are critical," Brandon said. "Recruits are very impacted by what they see … the commitment we have to facilities they will be practicing in and competing in because that is one way to measure how serious we are about their sport. And if they see world-class facilities, they're impressed and know that they'll have Top-Four NCAA Finishes Since 2010 Year Sport NCAA 2010 Men's GymnasticsChampion 2010 Men's Soccer Third 2011 Ice Hockey Second 2012 Rowing Second 2012 Volleyball Third 2013 Men's Swimming Champion 2013 Men's Basketball Second a chance to maximize their potential individually and within the team concept. "If our facilities are not any better than what they had in high school or are not competitive with the toptiered programs nationally, it doesn't mean we can't get that kid, but it's a lot harder to recruit. "Once we get all of our facilities on the same high level, we're going to be in a much stronger position to recruit the type of student-athletes we need across the board to be the leaders and best." Mike Bottom's swimming and diving program had one of the premier natatoriums nationally when it was built in 1988 and updated in 1998, but it too needs modifications to accommodate the growing needs of the men's and women's programs, and the water polo team. Still, that didn't keep Bottom from leading his program to the top of the podium; U-M captured the national title March 30. "To win at that sport, you have to be ready that day, in that moment, when you dive in to the water to swim your best, and when they were able to stand up to that pressure and perform like they did, and execute their game plan, it was phenomenal," Brandon said. "We had a department-wide luncheon celebration, and when Mike spoke about their approach as a coaching staff, and the way those kids prepared, I think everybody in the department got a great reminder of what we're all about and what's possible at Michigan."

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