The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 57 ❱ OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE Men's Cross Country Graduate Tom Brady finished third overall to lead the way for U-M in the 2023 Big Ten Championships Oct. 27 in Madison, Wis., allowing the Wolver- ines to finish second in the event for the second consecutive season. Gradu- ate Owen MacKenzie (eighth) and sophomore Caleb Jarema (11th) were the team's other top-15 finishers in the conference title 8-kilometer race. Brady followed that up with a third-place performance in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Nov. 10, which paced a third-place finish for the team in the event. The Wolverines were selected for the NCAA Championships and will head to Charlottesville, Va., to compete for the grand prize Nov. 18. Women's Cross Country After a third-place finish in the Big Ten Championships Oct. 27, Michigan followed it up with a fourth-place performance at the NCAA Great Lakes Re- gional Nov. 10. Graduate Kayla Windemuller finished eighth in this event for one of two top-20 U-M finishes. The other was held by graduate Samantha Saenz, who placed 17th. Windemuller earned All-Region honors and was selected as an individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships Nov. 18. The team's season came to an end after the regionals were completed. Men's Soccer The season came to a close for U-M Nov. 8 with a comeback that fell short against Indiana in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolver- ines lost 4-3 after the Hoosiers scored in the final four minutes. IU took a 3-1 lead early before the Wolverines fought back to tie, but U-M surren- dered the game-winning goal with 10 players on the field after being dealt a red card. U-M finished the year with a 5-6-7 overall record. Freshman Alex Wag- goner and senior Bryce Blevins led the team in points with 12 and 11, respectively. Women's Soccer U-M saw its campaign end Nov. 10 with a 1-0 loss to Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Princeton's Lexi Hultunen scored the match's only goal in the 80th minute of play, knocking the Wolverines out of the tournament. Michigan finished the campaign with a 7-7-4 record and was one of a Big Ten-record nine NCAA Tour- nament qualifiers. Senior Sammi Woods led the team with 8 goals and 17 points on the season, while freshman Gabrielle Prych had 5 goals and 14 points during her debut campaign. Volleyball The Wolverines got off to an rough start to the season with a 3-17 record, but have begun to round into form. U-M heads into mid-November having won four of its last five contests to improve its overall record to 7-18. It started with a 3-1 victory over rival Ohio State Oct. 29 at home. After dropping the first set, the Wolverines grabbed three sets in a row to end a seven-game losing streak in a nationally televised match. Other wins during the late-season turnaround included 3-0 decisions over Iowa Nov. 3 and Maryland Nov. 5 and a 3-1 victory at Rutgers Nov. 12. The loss came at Penn State (3-0) Nov. 10. Michigan heads to Lincoln to take on No. 1 Nebraska Nov. 17 before con- tests at Illinois Nov. 18 and at home against Purdue Nov. 24 to close out the season. Men's Golf The U-M men finished their fall season Oct. 24 in Broken Arrow, Okla., tak- ing second at The Clerico, played at the Cedar Ridge Country Club. Michigan placed four golfers in the top 20, led by senior Will Anderson and junior Hunter Thomson, who both tied for seventh in the event at +3. Redshirt junior Ben Hoagland tied for 11th at +4, earning his fourth top-20 finish of the fall season. Senior Jude Kim finished 20th at +6. Three months of training are now on the docket before heading back to tournament play at UNC Greens- boro's Palma De Mar Collegiate in Puerto Rico Feb. 11-13. Women's Golf Closing out their fall season at the Stanford Intercollegiate hosted by Condoleeza Rice, the Michigan women finished ninth among 19 teams in their fall season finale Oct. 22. Fifth-year and California native Hailey Borja fin- ished with a -4 and tied for fifth. Her 209 score was the second-lowest 54- hole total of her career. Sophomore Lauren Sung finished tied for 14th and had a career-best performance for par on the weekend in her hometown of Palo Alto. Midseason training is next up for U-M before returning to competition at the Nexus Bahamas Invitational hosted by Texas Tech Feb. 12-14. — Anthony Broome Championship, ending the season with a 16-6 win over Saint Francis. The squad returns plenty of experience from last season and should be in good position to stay near the top of the standings. Top Three Athletes Senior Kata Utassy: CWPA All-Conference first- team performer set record for single-season points (143) and goals (83), and most points by a junior in Michigan history. Was the fastest to 50 points (11 games) and 100 points (25 games) last season. Senior Lola Ciruli: Career-best season at Michi- gan in 2023 was marked by 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) while playing in 33 contests. Senior Sammi Monroe: Had a breakout season last year, playing in a career-high 33 games with 34 goals and 24 assists (58 points). — Anthony Broome Fall Sports Roundup Senior forward Sammi Woods and the U-M women's soccer team saw their season come to an end with a 1-0 loss at No. 7 Princeton in the NCAA Tournament. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY