The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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inside michigan athletics for Michigan actually occurred first, on March 29. In the 200-yard medley relay, senior Miguel Ortiz, senior Sean Fletcher, sophomore Bruno Ortiz and graduate student Zachary Turk made an emphatic statement on day one of the national meet. The foursome captured gold (and a relay championship) for the first time in program history with a time of 1:16.49, and truly proved why Michigan is the class of college swimming. Miguel Ortiz impressively won seven All-America honors, but all he could think about was sharing in the joy of a national championship with his relay teammates. "The moment after we won we felt great; we knew we'd done something special," he said. "The moment we touched the wall, we looked at the team and all the Michigan fans and took it all in. We didn't figure out that it was a NCAA record until later. There were a lot of emotions coming out of everyone, and I was just trying to cool off, remember it, and savor it." The Wolverines possessed a nearly 58-point lead heading into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. All they needed to do to clinch the national championship was finish, and the second-place showing with a time of 2:50.18 was more than enough. They had won the program's 19th national championship, and the 54th overall in school history. With all that had gone on this season, Bottom could be forgiven for charging past a significant moment, just like his team. After all, he had taken over the women's program, and just led the men to a national championship. But the moment was right here, right now for Bottom, and he gushed with pride over what he and his staff had constructed. "I'm proud of my staff," he began. "I'm proud of the way they worked together. I'm proud of the way Josh White has coached our distance team [Bottom found White in California]. Mark Hill has coached our sprinters, and gotten them to swim at levels that no one could believe they could swim at. "We've also moved our women's program forward at the same time as all the men's stuff going on. I have a lot of pride in my coaching staff. I'm filled with joy at watching all of this be executed here. It's probably how a conductor feels driving a train down the tracks. I'm like a train pulling all of those cars behind me. "When you can understand the power of what Michigan is, and being a part of it, it fills me up with a lot of emotion." Michigan put forth a historymaking opus in the last weekend of March. Bottom might be more pleased that they won with an infectious level of teamwork and togetherness. It did not matter who was in the lane next to them — the Wolverines blew away the competition and cemented their place in school history. It will not soon be forgotten. Make room in Canham. A new piece of hardware is about to enter the trophy case. — Geoff Chiles