The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE ❱ DECEMBER 2024 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ❱ Student-Athlete Of The Month Women's Basketball Junior Alyssa Crockett Head coach Kim Barnes Arico makes sure that aca- demics are at the forefront of her players' minds before taking care of business on the court. One of the best examples of that is junior Alyssa Crockett, who was an Academic All-Big Ten hon- oree last season. "One of the reasons why I chose this school was aca- demics," said the 6-foot-2 forward from Westfield, Ind. "I want to be a physi- cal therapist, hopefully in a children's hospital someday. I'm just pushing myself to my highest standard." Crockett is proud of her Big Ten academic honors. "It's an awesome accolade to have and it represents me off the court as well and just how much time I truly put in not only to basketball but also academics," she said. "It means a lot." The women's basketball program has always prided itself on prioritizing the classroom, and Crockett ap- preciates the tone Barnes Arico has set since she's been in Ann Arbor. "You don't get that every- where else," Crockett said. "Sometimes class schedule is one of the hardest things to work around. She and the rest of the staff have just been amazing with letting us choose our certain classes and working around those different things. "It's just amazing to be able to pick the classes that I actually want to take and excel in them no matter the practice times that we do have." Crockett is in the kinesiology program looking to get into physical therapy after being inspired by her brother, Caleb, who has Down syndrome and attended regular sessions as a child. "I chose it mainly based on seeing how it's affected my brother and his ability," Crockett said. "It's just an amazing career path, and I love it. And I love the people that are in it. I'm just super excited to pursue it once basketball is all said and done. It's a part of me." Crockett is part of a group that Barnes Arico has termed the "Quad Squad" as one of the four players that returned from last year's team along with Greta Kampschroeder, Jordan Hobbs and Macy Brown. The opportunity to step into a leadership role and forge a new path forward has been exciting to her. "You want that to be on your plate and to have those goals and aspirations. You want people to look to you and ask you questions," Crockett said. "It's an exciting task being able to help lead and talk through all the little things with all of our new people. It has just been something that you want to be able to do and continue to do. I'm really ap- preciative of the role that I have. "As the season continues, I aspire to let all the new people lean on me in a way and just help build our culture. Continuing to show every one of the people on our team what competitiveness and great- ness looks like." — Anthony Broome MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Men's golf senior Hunter Thomson: The Calgary, Alberta, native led U-M in five of six fall events, including with an even-par 210 (70-68- 72) in a runner-up finish (the sixth of his career) at the Qubein Cup at Dedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. Oct. 14-15. The Wolverines finished fourth out of 13 teams with a 291-282-299/872 score at the event. The 2024 first-team All-Big Ten selec- tion posted three top-five finishes during the fall season. Field hockey redshirt junior Abby Tamer: The forward/midfielder concluded the regu- lar season atop the team in points (38), goals (12) and assists (14), playing the fourth-most minutes on the squad (1,360). She and graduate stu- dent Lora Clarke were both named first-team All-Big Ten. The Wolver- ines went 12-4 in the regular season, including 5-3 in conference play. Tamer represented the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics, mak- ing her the first Olympian in program history. Volleyball sophomore Valentina Vaulet: The opposite hitter led the Wolverines with 15 kills, 14 digs and 6 aces in a three-set victory over Washington Oct. 18, 27-25, 25-23, 25-20. The Argentinian's 15 kills were the second-most she's tallied in a match this season. Her 6 digs, meanwhile, tied her ca- reer high and are tied as the 11th-most in a match in program history. Wrestling graduate student Jacob Carde- nas: The 197-pound Cornell transfer captured the 92kg silver medal at the 2024 U23 World Championships Oct. 26 in Tirana, Albania. That marked Cardenas' third medal in consecu- tive world appearances, adding to silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023. He lost the gold-medal final match to Iran's Amir Hos- sein Firouzpour, 11-4, but posted a 4-1 record over the course of two days. The Kearny, N.J., na- tive was a two-time All-American at Cornell. — Clayton Sayfie Crockett earned Academic All-Big Ten honors last season. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS