The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/751827
DECEMBER 2016 THE WOLVERINE 67 OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE "What we have to reproduce is the quality of the culture that this team brought to the season," Ryan said. "If we can match this culture, we certainly have the talent to do what this team did and go even further in the NCAA Tournament." — Leland Mitchinson WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (2-0 OVERALL, 0-0 BIG TEN) On Oct. 24, junior guard Katelynn Fla- herty was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team while also earning a spot on the watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award (given annually to the nation's best point guard) … Flaherty is the first U-M player to be named to the preseason-All Big Ten team since LeeAnn Bies prior to the 2002- 03 season … Michigan defeated Oakland 101-63 in the season opener Nov. 11 … The Wolverines saw six different players score in double figures for the first time since Nov. 14, 2014 … The Maize and Blue followed with a 107-35 blowout of Niagara Nov. 13, setting a new program record for margin of victory (72 points) … Six Wolverines scored in double figures for the second straight game … Recruits Hailey Brown (Hamilton, Ontario) and Deja Church (Southfield, Mich.) took ad- vantage of college basketball's early sign- ing period Nov. 9, and signed National Letters of Intent with the Wolverines … ESPN rates Brown as a five-star prospect, while Church is rated as a three-star tal- ent. — Austin Fox MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY After a fourth-place finish at the Adidas Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., Michigan made the biggest jump in the polls of any ranked team, rising to No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region and No. 14 in the country in the USTFCCCA rankings … At the EMU Fall Classic 5K Oct. 21, the Maize and Blue claimed four of the top eight places, including a second-place finish from redshirt freshman Keenan Rebera (15:20.8) … Including unattached ath- letes, the Wolverines finished with 10 of the top 14 athletes at the meet … Michi- gan finished fifth at the Big Ten Champi- onships in Minneapolis Oct. 30, its sixth straight top-five conference finish … The Maize and Blue placed each of their top four athletes in the top 30 overall, with one first-team all-conference performer in redshirt junior Aaron Baumgarten (sixth) … Senior Connor Mora and red- shirt junior Billy Bund placed 19th and 22nd, respectively, at the event … On Nov. 11, Baumgarten finished 10th in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (10,000 me- ters) in Madison, Wis., making him the top-finishing Wolverine in every race he has run this season … U-M placed fifth as a team, while Bund placed 11th for all- region laurels. — Austin Fox WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY After Michigan's third-place finish at the Adidas Pre-Nationals meet Oct. 15, it jumped to No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region and No. 6 nationally in the USTFCCCA rankings; the eight-spot improvement was the single-week highest for the pro- gram since 2007 … At the Big Ten Cham- pionships in Minneapolis Oct. 30, senior Erin Finn won her third conference title, becoming the first female to win three non-consecutive titles at any distance (2013, 2015 and 2016) and the first three- time champion since the race moved up to 6,000 meters … U-M won its 10th Big Ten championship (first since 2012) in program history Oct. 30, all of which have come under head coach Mike McGuire … The Maize and Blue had three top-15 finishers, with redshirt junior Gina Sereno (fourth) and junior Avery Evenson (14th) claiming first- and second-team all-con- ference recognition, respectively … At the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Nov. 11 in Madison, Wis., Finn won her first career regional title, becoming the first Wolver- ine to do so since Danielle Tauro in 2011 … U-M won the Great Lakes Regional title for the 11th time and did so in back-to- back years for the first time since winning three straight from 2011-13. — Austin Fox FIELD HOCKEY (12-8, 5-3 BIG TEN) Forward/midfielder Meg Dowthwaite was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week after scoring the overtime game- winning goal against Iowa Oct. 16 … Dowthwaite also netted a game-winning overtime goal in a 3-2 victory over No. 10 Northwestern Oct. 21 to garner the league's Freshman of the Week honors once again … Michigan posted a 4-1 vic- tory over No. 7 Louisville Oct. 29 in the regular-season finale … On Nov. 2, junior midfielder Katie Trombetta was named to the All-Big Ten first team, while red- shirt junior forward Carly Bennett and junior goalkeeper Sam Swenson earned second-team honors … Sophomore mid- fielder Leah Cardarelli scored the game- winning goal in double-overtime to give U-M a 2-1 victory over Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Nov. 3 … After losing in the conference semifinals, Michigan received an NCAA Tournament at-large berth Nov. 6, its second consecutive NCAA appearance and the 13th in school history … Bennett scored the only goal of a 2-1 loss to No. 7 Virginia in the first round Nov. 12. — Austin Fox WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING On Oct. 31, sophomores Yirong Bi and Siobhán Haughey, and juniors Gabby DeLoof and Clara Smiddy represented Michigan at the USA College Challenge Nov. 12-13 at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis … Alum Ali DeLoof (2013- 16) swam with the U.S. National Team, while head coach Mike Bottom coached the Big Ten women in the special event … Haughey reset her previously held Big Ten and U-M records in the 200-yard freestyle with the fastest time in the na- tion this year (1:42.93) … Michigan was ranked No. 1 in the first CSCAA/TYR Top 25 Coaches poll of the season, released Oct. 26; it is the school's first No. 1 rank- ing in more than 20 years … Vanessa Krause was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week Oct. 19 after obtaining a trio of top-three finishes at the SMU Classic … On Nov. 3, Smiddy (along with juniors Paul Powers and PJ Ransford of the men's team) were among 35 swimmers selected to represent Team USA at the 2016 FINA Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty led Michigan past the century mark in each of its first two games by scoring a combined 37 points in just 48 minutes of action. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS