The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2017 THE WOLVERINE 11 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MICHIGAN TOP PERFORMERS Basketball junior Katelynn Flaherty: Flaherty was named to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll for the second time this season Nov. 29 following a contest in which she had 22 points and a career-high seven assists against Gonzaga. She also helped the Wolverines move to 9-3 with 25 points again Ohio Dec. 14, making her the fastest in pro- gram history to surpass 1,500 career points after notching 1,513 in 82 games. The 5-7 guard was named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List Nov. 30 and the Wade Trophy Watch List Dec. 1. Wrestling redshirt freshman Logan Massa: The St. Johns, Mich., native was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Dec. 6 fol- lowing his 165-pound title win at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Massa had a perfect 6-0 record en route to the title, and took down the No. 9- and No. 2-ranked wrestlers in the weight class to claim the vic- tory. He is currently listed No. 2 nationally at 165 pounds. Volleyball sophomore Carly Skjodt: Skjodt had one of her best performances of the season in Michigan's final match against Creighton, which the Wol- verines lost 3-2. Skjodt had a dou- ble-double in kills and digs, with 10 and 21, respectively. Her 21 digs marked a career high for the outside hitter. After playing 97 sets as a freshman, Skjodt appeared in 122 this season. Swimming and diving freshman Vanessa Krause: A bright young swimmer for Michigan, Krause had perhaps her best perfor- mance to date at the Georgia Invita- tional in the team's final competition of the calendar year. Krause finished fifth in the 200-yard butterfly and 10th in the 100-yard butterfly, as well as 24th in the 50-yard freestyle. Her 1:55.76 in the 200 butterfly preliminary heat broke the school record that had stood for eight years. Ice hockey junior Cutler Martin: After scor- ing just once before the month of December, the Michigan defenseman scored a goal in three of the first four games of the month. After scoring in 5-1 and 7-4 losses to Penn State and Wis- consin, respectively, Martin helped bring down Wisconsin, 4-1, Dec. 10. In his first two seasons at Michigan, he appeared in 67 games, scoring eight times and notching 20 assists. He is one of the veteran lead- ers for the Michigan defense this season. — Leland Mitchinson MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK PEPPERS FINISHES FIFTH IN HEISMAN VOTING Jabrill Peppers was looking to become the fourth Michigan Heis- man winner and first since Charles Woodson in 1997, but fell short Dec. 10, finishing in fifth place. Louisville's Lamar Jackson ran away with the award, and Peppers finished just one vote behind the fourth-place finisher, Oklahoma's Dede Westbrook. Before the Heisman was announced, ESPN.com made a case for each nominee, and Peppers' outstanding year was highlighted. ESPN laid out his defensive abilities, writing: "Peppers, Michi- gan's 'Mr. Do Everything,' has taken snaps at nine positions and impacted all three phases of the game. In his primary role at DB/ LB, Peppers has been on the field for 91 percent of Michigan's defensive snaps this season and leads the team in solo tackles and tackles for loss. Michigan isn't an average defense, either; the Wolverines rank second behind Alabama in yards per play, points per drive and Total QBR." Peppers' offensive ability and versatility were also part of the discussion, and he did win the Hornung Award for being the most versatile player in college football. ALUM ALI DELOOF CARVES SPOT IN HISTORY Michigan swim team alum Ali DeLoof became the all-time fastest American woman in the 50-meter backstroke. With a time of 26.57 in the preliminaries at the 2016 FINA Swimming World Championships Dec. 7, DeLoof trailed only Olivia Smoliga and Felicia Lee in the American record books. Smoliga led the list with a 26.13 50-meter time. Deloof took sole possession of the re- cord with a time of 26.12 on the lead leg of the 200-meter medley relay. That helped the team set the world and American records, swimming the race in 1:43.27 to win gold. DeLoof's 50-meter time is faster than Olympians Natalie Coughlan and Missy Franklin. On the opening day of the championships, DeLoof became the fourth-fastest American in the 100-meter backstroke in a prelimi- nary heat; she later placed sixth in the event with a time of 56.80. Competing at Michigan from 2013-16, DeLoof was a two-time All-American. TWO MICHIGAN GAMES MAKE LIST OF MOST INFLUENTIAL FOR PLAYOFF PICTURE ESPN recently compiled a list of the eight games that impacted the College Football Playoff the most, and Michigan's contests against Ohio State and Penn State came in at Nos. 2 and 3. The article discusses the what ifs of the game in Columbus that severely hampered Michigan's playoff hopes. It brings up the small margin of the Wolverine's final regular-season game. "What if Curtis Samuel never had the chance for that ensuing 15-yard touchdown run? If Michigan would have won The Game, it would have won the East and would have played Wisconsin — a team it already defeated — for the Big Ten title. Michigan was literally inches away from an entirely different ending to its story," senior writer Heather Dinich wrote. The other game on the list is Michigan's 49-10 victory over Penn State, though the article examines it as what kept the Nittany Li- ons out of the playoff, with the Wolverines dominating that game and quoting committee chair Kirby Hocutt as calling the Nittany Lions "non-competitive" against the Wolverines. — Leland Mitchinson ALI DELOOF