The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/544673
"They're great competitors, won- derful athletes and winners," said U-M coach Marcia Pankratz. "They won the state championship in ice hockey and field hockey in the same year, and that's pretty astonishing. "Leah is competitive and scrappy, and is going to be a goal-scorer for us. Maggie has some wonderful speed, patience and maturity in the backfield. We just think really highly of them and think they're going to help us win championships." Katharine Fahey, tennis — Ranked the No. 5 recruit nationally in the Class of 2015 by TennisRecruiting. net, Fahey is the top player in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Fair Haven, N.J., native went 16-6 against fellow blue-chip prospects — the recruiting web site's top-25 ranked athletes — while attending Evert Tennis Acad- emy in Boca Raton, Fla. "She's a great kid. She will com- pete really hard. She's a perfect fit for us," U-M head coach Ronni Bernstein said. "She's a really good baseliner. She's quick. She's athletic. She moves really well. In the last year or so of juniors, she started stepping into the court more, being more aggressive, and it's worked. She has made peo- ple play her, and I think she can add even more of that." Sura Yekka, soccer — The daughter of Uganda immigrants, Yekka lives in Mississauga, Ont., and has been a standout for the Canadian National Team. During her career, she has played for the Canadian Women's Under-17 Team — and was named the Under-17 Player of the Year in 2013 — the Canadian Women's Un- der-20 Team and the Canadian Wom- en's Senior National Team. A four-star recruit according to the web site TopDrawerSoccer.com, Yekka made six starts among her 13 games with the Senior National Team. "Sura is a very talented, skillful, intelligent soccer player," U-M coach Greg Ryan said. "She played defense for Canada, but most of her career, she played as an attacking mid- fielder. There's a very good chance we will use her higher up. "If we need her back there, she will fit in seamlessly, but what she brings is a lot of skill, ability, possession and passing, and I think she would be a wonderful player in the middle." Olivia Karas, gymnastics — A Chi- cagoan, Karas took first place in the vault event (9.875) at the 2015 Junior Olympic Level 10 National Cham- pionships and was fourth in the all- around competition (38.275). At the 2014 National Champion- ships, she was the top all-around per- former (38.400), and also placed first on vault (9.925) and the uneven bars (9.650). At the Illinois state finals for lev- els 8, 9 and 10, Karas won individ- ual titles on the balance beam (2013 and 2015), floor exercise (2013 and 2014), vault (2014 and 2015), and all- around (2014 with a runner-up finish in 2015). "Olivia has really come on strong in recent years, particularly in vault,