The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 59 ❱ OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE Baseball Sophomore hurler Kurt Barr was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on March 18 for the first time in his career after two great performances. He pitched 11 total innings, allowing 1 run on 7 hits and picking up wins in games against Toledo and San Diego. Barr pitched a career-best six innings against Toledo in a shutout and was back on the hill for the series finale against San Diego, throwing five innings of one-run ball. The honor is the first of his Michigan career and makes him the second Wolverine to win Pitcher of the Week honors this year after class- mate Mitch Voit on March 4. Softball Freshman outfielder Jenissa Conway earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week hon- ors — her first as a Wolverine — on March 18 after posting a .400 batting average, a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage at the Cardinal Classic on the weekend of March 16-17. Conway had a pair of home runs and 4 runs bat- ted in against host Louisville, had an RBI double against Dartmouth and grabbed her second career triple in the finale against Illinois. She is tied for the team lead in home runs (4) with sophomore Maddie Erickson. Men's Gymnastics Sophomore Fred Richard was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week on March 18 for his nation-leading 86.950 in the all-around and 15.30 in the high bar in U-M's win over Penn State. Richard also grabbed a victory on floor exercise (14.60) and runner-up performances on the pommel horse (14.65) and still rings (14.35). The floor exercise mark was just off his career-best of 15.10 and is still the third-best in the NCAA this campaign. He leads the nation in the event with an average showing of 14.950. The award is Richard's third of the year after Big Ten Specialist of the Week honors on Jan. 22 and Feb. 5. Women's Gymnastics No. 10 Michigan finished its regular season in a loss to No. 9 Denver on Senior Night at Crisler Center on March 15. The event was headlined by a 49.725 on the floor exercise that was led by a perfect 10 from Gabby Wilson and 9.975 from Sierra Brooks. Brooks also led the way in the all-around with a 39.700, two 9.950s (uneven bars and balance beam), and a 9.975 on the floor. Michigan next heads to East Lansing on March 23 at 5:30 p.m. to compete for its 28th Big Ten Championship at Michigan State's Jenison Fieldhouse. Men's Lacrosse No. 19 Michigan (5-3) opened conference play on March 23 with a Big Ten tilt ver- sus No. 7 Maryland. The team will unveil its 2023 Big Ten Tournament champion- ship banner at the contest, the first banner raised in U-M Lacrosse Stadium history. The attack trio of senior Michael Boehm (18 goals, 19 assists), junior Ryan Cohen (18, 15) and graduate student Justin Tiernan (32, 3) has been one of the best in the nation with 105 points through eight contests, good for 56 percent of Michigan's scoring production thus far in 2024. The Wolverines will follow the showdown against Maryland with a trip to Baltimore to play Johns Hopkins on March 30. Women's Lacrosse U-M is off to a 10-0 start on the season after a 6-5 win at Penn on March 16. Jill Smith scored 2 goals in the contest, including the game-winner with just 20 seconds remaining. For their efforts, the Wolverines came out of the weekend ranked as the No. 3 team in the country. Michigan is the nation's leader in scoring defense, allowing 5.5 goals per contest. The next potential milestone of the year could come in matching the best start in program history at 13-0, set in 2019. Men's Swimming And Diving The NCAA Championships begin on March 27 in Indianapolis with the Wolver- ines ranked 16th entering the event. Much of the team's efforts at nationals could revolve around Gal Groumi, who won Big Ten championship titles in both the 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley events. The field sees Groumi seeded fifth in the 200 IM, third in the 200 butterfly and 10th in the 100 fly. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Colin Geer will compete in the 200 fly and 200 IM, while sophomore Tyler Ray will battle in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events. Senior Bence Szabados qualified for the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Other individual qualifiers include Eitan Ben-Shitrit and Jack Wilkening, while the relay team of Brendan Fitzpatrick, Ozan Kalafat and Logan Zucker will also compete. Groumi and Szabados were also named first-team All-Big Ten after their perfor- mances at the conference championships, with Groumi taking home top honors as Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships. Women's Swimming And Diving The NCAA Championships kick off on March 20 in Athens, Ga. Michigan has a pair of swimmers ranked in the top 12 of their respective events in freshmen Stepha- nie Balduccini (No. 6, 100 freestyle) and Hannah Bellard (No. 11, 200 butterfly). Sophomore Katie Crom, junior Lindsay Flynn and sophomore Brady Kendall round out the multi-event qualifiers. Overall, 15 swimmers and one diver qualified for the event. Twelve earned spots in individual events, while the other four will be part of the relay teams. Nine ath- letes were named to the All-Big Ten teams, with Balduccini, Crom, Flynn, Kendall and Claire Newman receiving first-team nods. Balduccini also was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Bellard, Casey Chung, Natalie Kan and Christey Liang made the second team. Wrestling Michigan had nine wrestlers qualify among the 10 weight classes in the NCAA Wrestling Championships and could have plenty of success for the second year in a row. Shane Griffith leads the way with a No. 4 seed in the 174-pound weight class. Dylan Ragusin (133) has a No. 5 seed, while Sergio Lemley (8th, 141), Austin Gomez (6th, 149), Will Lewan (9th, 157), Cameron Amine (10th, 165), Lucas Davison (10th, heavyweight), Jaden Bullock (12th, 184) and Michael DeAugustino (18th, 125) round out the Wolverines' contingent at nationals. The NCAA Championships run from March 21-23 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Water Polo Seniors Libby Alsemgeest and Kata Utassy were named to the Peter J. Cutino Award watch list on March 14, for the award that honors the best player in the sport. They were two of 22 players in the country to land on the list after strong starts to the 2024 season. Utassy leads U-M in goals (49), assists (28) and points (77), while Alsemgeest has 31 goals, 37 total points and 107 drawn exclusions, along with 17 steals. The team, which is tied for eighth nationally, sits at 14-7 and 3-1 in Collegiate Water Polo Association play as of March 19. — Anthony Broome Junior Gal Groumi was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships after winning titles in the 200-yard butterfly and 200 individual medley. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Winter/Spring Sports Roundup