The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/495628
OLYMPIC SPORTS It would help if the Big Ten pro- vided a more formidable challenge. Michigan was No. 14 nationally with Ohio State No. 18 and North- western No. 23 in the April 7 ITA rankings, but there is only one other school (Purdue, No. 34) in the top 50. Competing against fiercer competi- tion would better prepare the Maize and Blue for the elite teams they will face at the NCAA Championships, but until the Big Ten improves, U-M will have to forge the mental tough- ness on its own. "This is the hardest we've ever worked since I've been here," Bet- kas said. "You see how committed everyone is, and I think that's going to help us. Everyone really believes … before when we played those top teams, we might have said, 'Well, we could beat them' but now we feel like we belong, and that attitude has re- ally helped us." The NCAA Championships begin May 14 and Michigan is seeking to host a regional as one of the top 16 teams, but for now the Wolverines are focused on another Big Ten ring, looking to become only the sixth women's team in athletic depart- ment history to win six consecutive regular-season conference titles. Ber- nstein admits that is a feat she never really considered when she assumed control of the program in 2008. "I just thought that Michigan had potential," she said. "I always heard great things about this place, and then I came to Ann Arbor and saw the facilities and said, 'Why can't we be the best team?' "The best in the Big Ten then was Northwestern, and they were domi- nating, and I definitely thought we could get to that level. "It wasn't that I thought specifi- cally about how many Big Ten cham- pionships we would win, but I saw in Michigan a place that I thought I could win and run a really successful program." Bernstein has created a winning culture that her players now pass on from class to class, allowing Betkas and senior classmates Sarah Lee and Kristen Dodge to know when they graduate, the next group of Wolver- ines will pick up the mantle. "We've tried to keep the tradition going, and have tried to help instill that in each freshman class that has arrived since we've been here, like they did for us when we were fresh- men," said Betkas, allowing her- self, if only briefly, to contemplate MOST CONSECUTIVE BIG TEN TITLES BY A U-M WOMEN'S TEAM Sport Titles Years Swim & Dive 12 1987-98 Water Polo^ 9 2002-10 Gymnastics 7 1999-2005 Softball 7 2008-14 Gymnastics 6 1992-97 Swim & Dive 5 1976-80 Cross Country 5 2002-06 Gymnastics 5 2007-11 Tennis 5 2010-14 Field Hockey 3 2002-04 Track & Field* 3 2002-04 * Outdoor season; ^ CWPA titles