The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ARTZ EARNS GYMNAST OF THE WEEK Michigan sophomore Nicole Artz earned her fourth Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor this season on March 16. She's been a major cog in No. 6 Michigan's drive toward another elite campaign. Artz played a major role in helping the Wolverines clinch the Big Ten regular- season championship with her perfor- mance at the Big Five in Minneapolis on March 14. She captured first place in the all-around competition with a score of 39.550, tying for first place on the bal- ance beam (9.900) and the vault (9.950). The latter score represented a career high for the second-year Wolverine. Artz tied for fifth on the floor exercise (9.850) and posted an identical score on the uneven bars. Michigan hosts the Big Ten Champi- onships at Crisler Center on March 21. Artz heads into that competition with 13 individual event titles and five all- around championships on the season. Nationally, she's fifth in the all-around rankings, at 39.535. MEN'S TRACK FEATURES ALL-AMERICANS Redshirt sophomore Steven Bastien became the first heptathlon All-Amer- ican in the history of Michigan's track and field program on the last day of competition at the NCAA Indoor Cham- pionships March 14 in Fayetteville, Ark. Bastien scored 5,664 points at the Randal Tyson Track Center, entering the final day in eighth place, and pulled off a career-best 8.51 in the 60-me- ter hurdles. The Saline, Mich., native then pole vaulted a career-best 14-11, followed by a career-best time in the 1,000 meters, coming in at 2:36.85. He finished second in the 14-man field in the event, allowing him to maintain the No. 8 standing and garner All-America status. Meanwhile, redshirt junior shot put specialist Derek Sievers took 11th place with a toss of 60-5.77 (18.43 meters). The effort marked the sixth-best ever among Michigan competitors, and earned All-America status. Sievers finished as a second-team All- American, his throw just 13 centimeters shy of a first-team honor. ROMERO TAKES WEEKLY CONFERENCE HONORS Michigan junior infielder Sierra Romero garnered Big Ten Player of the Week honors March 9, for a blazing bat on display the week before. Romero hit an astounding .692 (9 of 13), with an .818 on-base percentage and a Big Ten-best 1.538 slugging per- centage during six contests in Fuller- ton, Calif. Romero slammed three home runs with seven RBI, while also drawing eight walks. The honor marks Romero's third Big Ten Player of the Week award this season and the 10th of her career. Michigan's competition in Fullerton included three ranked teams, including No. 1 Florida. MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK