The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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The Wolverines featured a clear No. 1 player in her sport this season. Be- yond softball's Sierra Romero, U-M demonstrated an abundance of talent among its female athletes. Here are other top competitors for Michigan in 2015-16: 1. Cindy O fili, track and field — O f i l i , o u t o f nearby Ypsilanti, is headed for Rio de Janeiro, to repre- sent Great Britain in the 2016 Olym- pics. The senior al- ready proved the best in her sport at the college level in the 60-meter hurdles, winning the national cham- pionship in that event this year. She holds Michi- gan records in six separate events: the indoor 60-me- ter dash (7.37 sec- onds), indoor 200-meter dash (23.65), indoor 60-meter hurdles (7.89), out- door 100-meter dash (11.39), outdoor 100-meter hurdles (12.60) and as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team (3:33.42). The five-time USTFCCCA All- American is also a five-time Big Ten champion who dominated events. She's one of just two women in the history of the Big Ten to win the 100-meter hurdles title three times. 2. Lauren Thomas, field hockey — This senior from Aylesbury, Eng- land, was tabbed as a first-team Longstreth/NFHCA All-American in 2015, after earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors. She also was named the NFHCA West Region Player of the Year. Th o m a s p a ce d Michigan with a career-best nine g o a l s a n d 2 3 points in her final season, and also notched a career- high five assists. But her strength involved shutting down foes, and Thomas excelled in that area enough to rise to the top of her sport. 3 . Al i Th o m a - son, water polo — A senior out of San Rafael, Calif., Thomason enjoys the best of both worlds. A neuroscience major hoping to be a doctor, she also competed at the very top level in her sport, for a team that finished No. 4 in the nation. Thomason helped engineer that strong finish, becoming the 2016 Col- legiate Water Polo Association Player of the Year, as well as the CWPA Cham- pionship Most Valuable Player. She wound up third in Michigan water polo history in career goals (209), Michigan's Other Top Female Athletes Senior Cindy Ofili captured a national title in the 60-meter hurdles this year and will be competing in the Summer Olympics for Great Britain in August. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS