The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/544673
Since then, league foes have become accustomed to seeing Ofili on the top of the medal stand, but the desire to prove she was one of the best in the country motivated the junior sprinter. Michigan's Other Top Female Athletes Cindy Ofili wasn't the only female considered for the Athlete of the Year honor. Here are the best of the rest from the past year in Ann Arbor. 1. Sierra Romero, softball — The junior was the Michigan athletic depart- ment's choice for Female Athlete of the Year after the Murrieta, Calif., native hit .449 (third in the single-season record books) with 22 home runs (second) and 83 RBI (first). A first-team All-American, Romero was named the ESPNW Softball Player of the Year. In NCAA Tournament play, she hit .375 with two home runs and nine runs batted in, guiding U-M to a runner-up finish. 2. Emina Betkas, tennis — Betkas capped her outstanding career with a stel- lar senior season in which she was named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row. Betkas went 33-8 in singles play and 30-9 in doubles action, establishing new program records for all-time singles victories (129) and combined singles/doubles victories (248). In 2015, Betkas was a perfect 10-0 in Big Ten matches and went 38-4 for her career against conference foes. 3. Nicole Artz, gymnastics — Artz was the NCAA Northeast Region Gymnast of the Year in 2015. She won three Big Ten titles (uneven bars, balance beam and the all-around) and was a two-time All-American. Artz won 16 individual event titles during her sophomore season and was the top all-around performer in six of the Wolverines' 13 meets. She set the U-M single-season average on the balance beam (9.897), while her average all-around score of 39.434 sits third all-time. 4. Kelly Christner, softball — Overshadowed by Romero, the sophomore was a first-team All-American in 2015 after hitting .393 with 21 home runs, 67 RBI and a .776 slugging percentage. Her 21 round-trippers represent the third- best tally for a single season at U-M. In helping lead Michigan to a second-place finish nationally, Christner led the Maize and Blue with three home runs and 11 RBI during NCAA play. 5. Nicky Waldeck, soccer — Stepping in for the top point producer and goal- scorer in program history (Nkem Ezurike, 118 points and 49 goals from 2010- 13), Waldeck provided consistent offense for the Wolverines, scoring 12 goals with five assists (29 points) in earning All-Big Ten first-team honors. The sophomore's 12 markers represent U-M's fifth individual campaign of 12 goals or more since 2000, and rank eighth in the Michigan single-season annals. — Michael Spath