The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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port Beach (Calif.) Corona del Mar goalkeeper Heidi Ritner. She is con- sidered the best goalie in America for her age group. Joining her will be Long Beach (Ca- lif.) Wilson goalkeeper Cameron Cor- dial, who is a four-time USA Water Polo Academic All-American; Long Beach (Calif.) Mater Dei attacker Skyler Pyle, who participated in the Olym- pic Development Program for the last five years; Randwick (New South Wales) St. Catherine's center defender Amy Ridge, who is already enrolled at U-M and was a member of Australia's Youth World Championships team in 2014; Greenwich (Conn.) High utility player Rachel Sodokoff, who led her school to three straight undefeated seasons during her freshman, soph- omore and junior seasons; versatile Melbourne ( Victoria) Essendon star Maddy Steere, who won a gold medal at the 2015 World University Games in South Korea with the Australia ju- nior national team; and Maineville (Ohio) San Marcos center defender Arija Walsh, who was a National Junior Olympics gold bracket champion in 2015. "This class has a good balance of what our program needs to continue improving year after year," Dr. Marcelo Leonardi said. "The 2020 class is really strong based on personnel, game ex- perience in national and international competition, and the overall athleti- cism that each individual brings to their respective position." 5. Gymnastics — The gymnastics class of 2020 includes Lexi Funk from Aurora (Ill.) Oswego East, Maggie O'Hara out of Lexington (S.C.) River Bluff, Maddy Osman from Winter Park (Fla.) High, and Polina Shchennikova out of Evergreen (Colo.) Connections Academy. Funk specializes in beam and bars, winning state championships in both as a senior and a national champion- ship in bars as a junior. O'Hara comes in as the most balanced with all-around championships in South Carolina in 2010 and 2012 and two more all- around titles in North Carolina in 2014 and 2015. Vault and floor is where Osman ex- cels, but she is quite balanced as well. She won the vault, bars, floor and all- around at the 2013 state champion- ships in Florida. Shchennikova is considered a world- class athlete on uneven bars and has been in the elite program for most of her career. She's the daughter of two former Soviet National Team members, giving her an extensive background in the sport. Head coach Bev Plocki believes she bolstered a team that won a Big Ten title last year with solid, young talent. "We are super excited about this year's class," she said. "They have had significant time to bond, and their chemistry coming in is fantastic. The four are all amazing in their own right, but they all complement each other very well. "We proudly announced that these four ladies will be coming to Michigan next year." — Brandon Brown