The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 51 ❱ OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE Baseball U-M inflicted some rivalry pain on the Ohio State Buckeyes the weekend of May 2-4, sweeping a three-game set by a total score of 47-8. Game 1 saw the Wolverines use a 16-run fourth inning on their way to a 23-1 victory in Ann Arbor on May 3. The 22-run margin of victory was the largest in series history, and the 16-run inning was achieved on only 4 hits. For the game, U-M scored the 23 runs on 13 hits. Every starter in the lineup reached base and scored in the game. It was the first time U-M had scored 20 runs in a game since May 10, 2022. Softball The Big Ten Tournament champions were well-represented on the All-Big Ten Conference teams on May 9, earning a total of four honorees. Sopho- more outfielder Jenissa Conway and junior second baseman Indiana Langford were named to the conference's first team, while freshman Lauren Putz made the All-Freshman team and sophomore outfielder Ella Stephenson, who was a freshman honoree last season, was U-M's Sportsmanship Award honoree. Men's Golf Senior Hunter Thomson was named a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team, while fifth-year senior Ben Hoagland was honored for Big Ten Sportsmanship, the conference announced on May 1. Thomson is the fifth Wolverine to grab first-team honors more than once in his career, along with Dan Roberts (1983, '85), Kyle Dobbs (1995, '97), Michael Harris (1998, '99, 2000) and Kyle Mueller (2016, '17, '18). He is also the 22nd Wolverine to garner All-Big Ten accolades. He led U-M in 11 of 12 events, including the final seven tournaments, and recorded nine top-10 finishes, with six showings in the top five. The U-M team finished 15th in the Big Ten Championships April 27, but Thomson earned an individual invitation to the NCAA Regional in Urbana, Ill., May 12-14. Women's Golf Redshirt sophomore Mara Janess tied for 41st on May 7 at the NCAA Columbus Regional held at OSU Golf Club's Scarlet Course. Her finish did not allow her to advance to the finals, which officially closed out the season for Michigan. Janess had rounds of 74, 79 and 74 in the event to shoot 227 overall. Throughout the regional showing, she had 34 pars and 5 birdies. Janess was the fifth Wolverine to earn an individual invitation to an NCAA Regional and finished with the third-best score of the six individuals invited to Columbus. Men's Lacrosse Michigan's season came to a close with an 11-8 loss to Rutgers on April 26 in the Big Ten quarterfinals, dashing their NCAA Tournament hopes. The Wol- verines finished the year with 7-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference, including an 11-10 triple-overtime win over then-No. 1 Maryland back in March. The end of the season came with some individual honors for the program. Defender Pace Billings was named to the USA Lacrosse All-America second team, joining teammates Ryan Cohen and Aidan Mulholland, who received honorable mention. Billings, a grad transfer from Princeton, was also selected 19th overall in the third round of the 2025 Premier Lacrosse League Draft by the Denver Outlaws on May 6. He was the third U-M player in the last two years to be selected by the PLL, following Beau Pederson and Michael Boehm, taken by the Utah Archers and Philadelphia Waterdogs, respectively in the 2024 event. Women's Lacrosse The 2025 campaign came to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tour- nament with a 15-7 loss to No. 3-seeded Northwestern on May 11. Senior Kaylee Dyer became the third player in U-M history to record 200 career points with an assist on the game's first goal, while senior Erin O'Grady made 11 saves for her 12th double-digit-save game of the season. Five players earned USA Lacrosse Magazine All-America honors, headlined by O'Grady on the second team. Graduate Ava Class and junior Grace Cal- lihan earned third-team recognition, while Dyer and senior Jill Smith were honorable mentions. U-M finished with a 13-7 overall record and a 5-3 mark in the Big Ten. Men's Tennis The season concluded on May 3 with a 4-0 loss to Cornell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Texas Tennis Center. The Big Red took the doubles point and won five of six first sets in singles to position themselves for the victory. Senior Patorn Hanchaikul, junior Nicholas Steiglehner and sophomore Alex Cairo took singles victories for U-M, while senior Will Cook- sey and Hanchaikul handled business in their doubles match. U-M finished with a 15-13 record this season, making the Big Ten quarter- finals and a ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Women's Tennis The third-ranked Wolverines won four singles matches after dropping the doubles point to take down No. 14 Texas on May 10, punching their ticket to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-3 victory. The win set up Michigan's third straight trip to the quarterfinals and fourth in program history, where it will face Oklahoma State May 15 in Waco, Texas. Senior Julia Fliegner, sophomore Piper Charney, junior Lily Jones and freshman Emily Sartz-Lunde earned singles victories, while Fliegner and sophomore Reese Miller triumphed in their doubles match. The Wolverines notched a pair of easy wins in the NCAA first and second rounds, blanking Youngstown State (4-0) and Arizona State (4-0) on May 2 and 3, respectively. Back on April 26, the Wolverines dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to No. 9 Ohio State in the title match of the Big Ten Tournament held in Ojai, Calif. Track And Field The Michigan men and women closed out their regular season on May 9 at the Len Paddock Open at U-M Track and Field Stadium. The men set three top-10 program marks in the event, headlined by taking the top two spots in the 800-meter run with Miles Brown and John O'Reilly finishing first and second, respectively. Both posted personal best times and the No. 6 and No. 9 times in program history. The 4x100-meter relay team of sophomore Amit Rutman, sophomore Krish Gupta, senior Jacob Koerner and sophomore Corey Royster finished first and posted a season-best time of 39.94, coming up just 0.02 seconds short of tying the program record. On the women's side, freshman Payton Smith finished first in the 400-me- ter dash with a personal-best time of 52.99 to move up to No. 3 on the pro- gram all-time list. Freshman Abigail Russell set a personal best in the hammer throw with 55.14 meters, moving her into No. 8 all-time at U-M. Graduate Clare McNamara finished second in the javelin throw with a career-best mark of 43.34 meters to move into fourth all-time at U-M. The Big Ten Outdoor Championships for both men and women will be held May 16-18 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. — Anthony Broome SPRING SPORTS ROUNDUP