The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/703389
2. Cross Country — Mike McGuire's cross country runners proved ex- tremely effective on the year, finish- ing sixth at the NCAA Championships at Louisville, Ky. That effort occurred following a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships and a first- place finish out of 31 squads at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Led by CoSIDA f i r s t - t e a m A l l - A m e r i c a n a n d t w o - t i m e B e n Ten Athlete of the Year Erin Finn, a biochemistry ma- jor, the Wolver- ines gutted out a high-level per- fo r m a n ce e ve n u n d e r e x t re m e circumstances. A t t h e N C A A Championships, Fi n n l o s t b o t h s h o e s w h e n stepped on from behind. She man- aged to go more than 4,000 meters of the 6K race in bare feet, finishing 19th. 3. Swimming and Diving — Mike Bottom's Wolverines gave the home crowd something to cheer about, winning the Big Ten Championships at Canham Natatorium Feb. 20. They didn't stop there, though, pushing on to finish 10th at the NCAA Champion- ships in Atlanta March 19. The Big Ten title was Michigan's first in 12 years and improved its NCAA fin- ish over the past three seasons from 36th to 30th to 10th. 4. Track and Field — Michigan finished up a strong season under head coach James Henry, tying for 20th at the NCAA Championships af- ter a come-from- behind tie for the B i g Te n C h a m - pionship in mid- M a y. T h e Wo l - verines featured All-Americans in fifth-year senior Shannon Osik a, sophomore Jai- mie Phelan and senior co-captain Cindy Ofili, who took fourth in the 100-meter hur- dles at nationals. M ichigan also won the Big Ten indoor title earlier in the year. The o u td o o r c row n marked the first time the Wolver- ines have swept both since 2003. 5. Gymnastics — Coach Bev Plocki's crew fell shy of the annual Super Six goal, winding up No. 3 in the NCAA Regional at Crisler Center. Still, the Wolverines nailed down a Big Ten championship, featuring second- team All-Americans in junior Nicole Artz (floor) and sophomore Brianna Brown (all-around). — John Borton Senior Ali Thomason was named the 2016 Collegiate Water Polo Association Player of the Year while helping the Wolverines finish fourth at the NCAA Championship. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS