The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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62 THE WOLVERINE JUNE/JULY 2021 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? feel sorry for myself, or I could do whatever I could in the gym to try to help motivate this team," Fallen said. "They had done so much." They were about to do more. Fall- en's self-proclaimed greatest high- light at Michigan would arrive while she herself could only execute a film- ing session — barely. "I had the opportunity to be on the sideline, at Michigan State — I'll never forget it — when we won our first Big Ten championship," she said. "Everybody gave their heart and soul. I was in charge of videoing the bar routines. I don't think any- body can even watch them, because they're so dizzy. I'm jumping up and down. Same thing on beam. "That sounds funny, because I wasn't competing, but it was just such a complete team effort. That's my biggest highlight." Fallen heaps massive praise on athletic trainer Lisa Hass, who dealt with several U-M injuries that year. She served as healer for both body and psyche, helping gymnasts past the mental pitfalls as well. "She is such glue to that team," Fallen said. "She's everybody's ath- letic trainer, she's their psychologist, their cheerleader. She really played a huge part for any of us that got in- jured, keeping our spirit high, mak- ing us work hard in rehab, encourag- ing us when it was difficult." Teammates voted Fallen a tri-cap- tain for both her junior and senior seasons. She didn't recapture her All-Big Ten form, but took pride in contributing on floor, bars and beam, and serving as a leader. "I had the benefit of seeing really good leadership in the classes above me, and how much that meant to me," she said. "All of us took it really seriously, because we saw what the people before us had done." Fallen again joined the fallen as a senior. She injured the same knee in the third meet of the year, rehabbed, then made a brief and ill-fated come- back attempt. Meanwhile, she'd experienced the program growing into a dynamo. She even came back for a fifth year as a volunteer coach. "That was awesome," she said. "It was the year we came in second at the NCAAs, which was really neat." Fallen thought her future might lie in coaching. Instead, fate supplied a twist. "My good friend Ali Winski lived in Chicago," Fallen said. "I went to visit her, and I picked up a Sunday paper. I saw an ad through a temp agency about working for the Big Ten Conference. "I thought, well, that sounds really neat. I loved sports." She wasn't without connections. Former U-M women's administra- tor Peg Bradley-Doppes made some calls on her behalf, and Michigan fac- ulty rep Percy Bates reached out to the Big Ten. "The next thing you know, I had an interview, on a Thursday," Fallen marveled. "They said, 'Can you start on Monday?'" She became the assistant to the as- sistant to the commissioner — a sec- retarial position. "As our commissioner later liked to joke, 'You really couldn't start much lower than that,'" Fallen noted, with a laugh. She didn't stay there long. In a few months she became assistant to the commissioner, and after five years, she moved to the sports administra- tion/championships area of the Big Ten. As an associate commissioner, she schedules competitions, plans them and brings them into reality. Sports Business Journal named her one of their "game-changers" in September 2019. Plocki herself gave Fallen the hugely appreciate nod. "That's very generous," Fallen said. "I appreciate that. So many ad- ministrators and athletic department staff members worked so hard to make this year a reality." The ending, for a former U-M gym- nast, proved almost too good to be true. She carries Big Ten pride, citing Iowa's regular-season title, and Minnesota's capturing of the con- ference championships crown. But she doesn't hide her appreciation for Michigan's effort on the national stage, when junior Abby Heiskell's beam routine clinched the national title. "I love watching the video of her reaction," Fallen said. "She can't even get off the podium. She bends over with her hand over her heart, and she takes a couple of steps, and she does it again. That's what people around the country probably felt. "When you see the team's reaction when the score went up, it's inde- scribable." So is her own journey, in which she ultimately stuck the landing. ❑ The Wendy Fallen File M i c h i g a n Acco m p l i s h m e nt s: Earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten hon- ors as a rookie … Became the first U-M freshman to win the Big Ten all-around title … Part of Michi- gan's first Big Ten title team as a sophomore. Professional Accomplishments: Has worked for the Big Ten the past 25 years … Spent five years as the assistant to the commissioner … Moved to the sports administration and championships side 20 years ago, becoming an associate com- missioner of the Big Ten. Education: Earned her Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology at Michigan in 1995; earned her MBA at Northwestern in 2005. Michigan Memory: "It's being a part of a team that was 100 percent committed to each other, under the leadership of Bev [Plocki] and the assistant coaches, and with the sup- port of the most amazing athletic trainer, Lisa Hass. Just being part of something special." Family: Fallen has three children: daughter Ellie, 15; daughter Sophie, 13; and son Jack, 9. Fallen has worked for the Big Ten for 25 years and currently serves as an associate commissioner of sports administration. PHOTO COURTESY WENDY FALLEN