The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE ❱ JUNE/JULY 2026 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ❱ Student-Athlete Of The Month Baseball Senior Pitcher Kurt Barr U-M senior pitcher Kurt Barr will ride out his college career playing all four years at one school, which makes him a bit of a relic in the modern era. It was easy to do given that the Grosse Point, Mich., native always dreamed of donning the Maize and Blue. "I guess it is pretty unique," Barr said on the "Conqu'ring Heroes" podcast. "I've thought about that a little bit before, but Michigan was my dream school. This was my destination school. There was never any thought of leaving. Even if I got cut from the team, I wasn't leaving Michigan. This is a pretty special spot. "It's cool learning the coaches' tendencies over the years, and I've got our plays in- grained in the back of my head now. I get to show the younger guys the ropes because I've been here for so long, which is pretty cool. I've also been able to build relationships not only with the coaches, but with all the support staff — the grounds crew, our aca- demic staff and everyone else around the program. "I wouldn't want to spend my four years of college anywhere else." Barr, who is enrolled in the School of Kinesiology and is a sport management major, has soaked up the entirety of his experience both on the field and in the classroom. He was a third-team All-Big Ten performer in 2024 and made the Academic All-Big Ten team in each of the last two seasons. Staying in the moment was something preached to him by his grandmother. "I remember very distinctly working out at my grandma's house the day before I left for freshman year," Barr said. "She told me, 'Enjoy it. These are going to be the best four years of your life.' At the time, I was like, 'OK, Grandma.' Then fast-forward four years, and I turned in my last essay [the first week of May] and now I'm just riding out baseball here. It truly has been everything I could have asked for and so much more." As his career winds down, Barr leaves Michigan as more than a steady arm on the mound — he leaves as a reminder of what it looks like to stay, grow and fully invest in one place. "Michigan is a pretty special place," he said. "The resources are incredible, the people are awesome and the connections you make athletically, academically and in the real world are phenomenal. I really couldn't ask for anything more out of a university, and it's close to home as well." — Anthony Broome MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Men's gymnastics senior Fred Richard: The Stoughton, Mass., native won his third to- tal and second straight all-around title at the N C A A C h a m p i o n s h i p s in Champaign, Ill., help- ing the Wolverines finish third as a team. He also claimed silver medals on floor (14.400) and parallel bars (14.533). Be- fore the event, Richard was honored as the winner of the Nissen-Emery Award, which recognizes the nation's most outstanding senior male gymnast. Women's tennis junior Piper Charney: The Charleston, S.C., na- tive was one of three Wol- verines to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors this season, joined by senior Lily Jones and junior Reese Miller. Michigan was the only program with three first-team members. Char- ney is the team's highest-ranked singles player at No. 13 in the nation and is 25-1 in Big Ten singles action over her three-year career. Men's lacrosse junior Rowan Clay: The Grand Rapids, Mich., na- tive was tabbed as a first- team All-Big Ten honoree for the first time in his career. Clay was domi- nant defensively, leading the team with 21 caused turnovers in addition to his 28 ground balls. He had nine games with 2-plus forced turn- overs, including 4 versus Rutgers and 3 against Notre Dame. Teammate and junior Nick Roode was listed on the second team. Baseball junior Joonsung Park: The Seoul, South Korea, native came up with 2 clutch hits to lift the Wolverines to a pair of victories in early May. On May 1 at Maryland, Park opened the 10th in- ning with a solo home run to put Michigan up 2-1, which was eventually the final score. Two days later, Park delivered the go-ahead double to the right-center gap, scoring 2 runs, to give the Maize and Blue an 8-7 advantage in a game that ended with that same score. — Clayton Sayfie Barr, a sport management major, was a third-team All-Big Ten performer in 2024 and made the Academic All-Big Ten team in each of the last two seasons. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY