The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2017 THE WOLVERINE 67 OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE who head coach Marcelo Leonardi is expecting big things from. The utility player was the Australia Water Polo Junior Athlete of the Year in 2014. "These are two freshmen that are coming in and are going to make their impact defensively, offensively," Leon- ardi explained. "We look for Maddy to pick up the scoring where Ali left off a little bit, with her graduation. "Obviously, we know that [2002-05 standout goalie] Betsey Armstrong was fantastic here at Michigan and became a two-time [Olympic] med- alist. We're hoping that Heidi Ritner can follow the same footsteps." The Wolverines also have strong returning players, led by sophomore Kim Johnson and junior Caroline Anderson. Last season, Johnson was second on the team in goals (62) in her first year in Ann Arbor. Mean- while, Anderson led U-M in assists (71) and was second on the team in points (114). "We are probably a little bit deeper than we were last year," Leonardi said. "We're also a little bit more ver- satile than we were last year." The coach noted that Michigan's schedule is one of the toughest he's ever designed, but that it is built to prepare the Wolverines for tough conference play in the Collegiate Wa- ter Polo Association and beyond in postseason action. Michigan opens play Jan. 20 against USC. — Leland Mitchinson WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (15-4 OVERALL, 4-1 BIG TEN) On Dec. 22, Michigan defeated Ameri- can 82-33, marking the second-fewest points allowed in a single game in pro- gram history; the 29 points allowed against Seton Hall on Nov. 19, 2012, are the fewest … The Wolverines closed out their non-conference slate with 11 wins, tying the 2011-12 and 2012-13 teams for the most in school history … After the holiday break, Michigan welcomed redshirt junior forward/center Abby Cole to the team; Cole also starred as a two- time AVCA volleyball All-American on the U-M volleyball squad … In a 73-56 victory at Wisconsin Jan. 1, sophomore center Hallie Thome scored a career-best 37 points and racked up 14 rebounds en route to earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors Jan. 2 … In a 96-87 loss at Ohio State Jan. 7, junior guard Katelynn Flaherty scored a career-high 38 points, while setting the school record for three- pointers in a game with eight; Flaherty's 38 points were the second-most in a single game in school history … Thome re- corded back-to-back double-doubles in a 78-74 victory over Indiana (21 points a n d 1 1 rebounds) Jan. 10 and an 84-69 annihi- lation of Minnesota (20 points and 17 rebounds) Jan. 15. — Austin Fox MEN'S GYMNASTICS Michigan placed third out of six teams at the 47th Windy City Invitational in Chicago Jan. 14, posting a team score of 398.100; the Wolverines have now finished among the top three in 10 of their last 11 Windy City appearances, dating back to the 2007 season … The Maize and Blue took three of the top five spots on floor, with sophomore Emyre Cole claiming the event title (14.900), followed by senior Anthony Stefanelli (second, 14.550) and senior Tristian Perez-Rivera (fifth, 14.200); Cole also finished in third place on vault with a 14.650 … In team events, Michigan won the floor exercise (70.55) and placed third on pommel horse (64.650) … Four freshmen made their Wolverine debuts at the event — Mitchell Brown, Mack Lasker, Justin Murphy and Thomas Paul; Brown earned the highest overall event mark of the evening with a 13.30 on vault. — Austin Fox WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS (2-2 OVERALL, 0-1 BIG TEN) On Dec. 15, the Big Ten coaches' poll tabbed Michigan as the preseason favor- ite to win the conference; the outlet also named senior Talia Chiarelli and sopho- more Emma McLean to the Big Ten Gym- nasts to Watch list … On Jan. 7, the Wol- verines dropped their season opener (for the first time since 2009) at No. 6 Utah, 196.625-195.525 … Chiarelli was named Michigan's performer of the meet, tying for the team's top vault score with a 9.850 … McLean matched a career high with a 9.850 on vault … Freshmen Lexi Funk (beam), Maddy Osman (vault) and Po- lina Shchennikova (bars) all made their collegiate debuts during the event … Michigan came in second place at a quad meet at Ohio State Jan. 14, finishing 0.075 points behind the Buckeyes … Senior Nicole Artz captured the top score of the night, winning floor with a 9.950 routine, just short of her career-best score of 9.975 … Sophomore Olivia Karas tied for the win on vault with a 9.90. — Austin Fox ICE HOCKEY (8-11-1 OVERALL, 1-5 BIG TEN) Michigan is 1-3 over its past four games … The Wolverines split a pair of contests at the Great Lakes Invitational before they were swept by No. 9 Min- nesota … They now sit at fifth in the conference standings with 14 games left in the regular season and are No. 37 in the PairWise rankings … Two fresh- men, forwards Will Lockwood and Jake Slaker, lead Michigan in points with 13 apiece … Lockwood was injured in the GLI and missed the series against the Golden Gophers … Junior forward Tony Calderone leads the team in goals with 10 … Senior forward Max Shuart tallied his first goal of the season Jan. 13, while freshman forward Steven Merl scored the first goal of his career Jan. 14 … Sophomore forward Cooper Marody made his return to the team for the GLI Senior team captain and two-time All- American Talia Chiarelli was named on the preseason list for Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS