The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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58 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2022 BY ANTHONY BROOME M ichigan was able to rack up 13 con- ference championships during the 2021-22 calendar year. However, football and women's soc- cer were the only fall sports to capture a Big Ten title last school year, which is sure to be extra motivation for the other teams preparing for the upcoming season. Here is a primer on each of them heading into the fall season: Men's Cross Country First Event: Michigan Open (at Dex- ter, Mich.) Sept. 2. Season Outlook: The men's cross country team is hoping to compete for a conference championship this fall after finishing in second place at the last Oc- tober. Wisconsin grabbed the top spot by 52 points with a wide gap between them and U-M, which finished with 79. Michigan was selected for an at-large berth at the NCAA Championships and finished 25th nationally as a program. Three of the team's top five perform- ers from NCAAs return (senior Tom Brady and juniors Zach Stewart and Oli Raimond) to help pace a program still trying to take steps forward under Kevin Sullivan, the di- rector of track and field and cross country for both the men's and women's programs. Top 3 Athletes: • Senior Tom Brady — A second- team All-American (indoor track and field, 3,000 meters) in 2021, the Park Ridge, Ill., native returns to the cross country program after finishing 76th at the NCAA Championships last fall. Brady placed 16th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and 17th the at Big Ten Championships. He is majoring in com- puter science and engineering. • Junior Zach Stewart — The sport management major and Brighton (Mich.) High alum had a season-best finish of 11th at last year's Michigan Open. He placed 18th at the Big Ten Champion- ships and 130th overall at NCAAs, fin- ishing third among Wolverine runners. • Junior Oli Raimond — Finished 208th overall at the NCAA Champion- ships and fifth among U-M runners at the event. His career-best event came at the Penn State Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational Sept. 10, when he fin- ished fourth overall and second among Michigan runners. The Sydney, Austra- lia, native is a computer science major. Don't Miss — Big Ten Champion- ships (Ann Arbor), Oct. 28. Women's Cross Country First Event: Michigan Open (at Dex- ter, Mich.) Sept. 2. Season Outlook: The U-M cross country women are coming off a 22nd finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships, a third-place showing at the NCAA re- gionals and a fourth-place outcome at Big Ten Championships. Should the Wolverines clinch a berth to nationals this year, it would be the 21st consecu- tive season the program has competed U-M's Fall Teams Aim To Maintain Their Championship Pedigree Senior Dani Wolfe, a center forward, was tied for second on the U-M women's soccer team in goals with 5 and was third on the team in assists (4) while racking up 14 total points in 2021. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE