The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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34 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2017 state school I was looking at," she said. "I needed a new experience. Staying in California was definitely an option, but I wanted the change of scenery away from what I was always seeing in California." The first year in Ann Arbor — though chilly in January and Febru- ary for a California woman — was better than she could have hoped. "It exceeded all my expectations," she said. "All the times I got, I didn't think I would be able to get them, but I'm very happy I did. All the sup- port I've gotten from my teammates, coaches, academic advisors … I'm very happy with it." She even surprised herself, she admitted, though her times didn't shock anyone else. On Feb. 24, she became the school-record holder in the 400 meters, running a 53.47 sec- onds in the prelims at the Big Ten Indoor Championships to break the old mark of 53.64 set last year by Maya Long. She topped it the next day, running a school-record 52.84 to finish fourth at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. "It was crazy," she said. "I didn't even know about it until my team- mates told me. It's definitely an expe- rience that is life changing." Harrison had run a then-career- best 54.12 at the SPIRE DI Invitational only two weeks earlier and probably would have beaten the record then had she not gotten caught up in traf- fic. A week later, she split 52.5 on the Wolverines' distance medley relay at the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invita- tional. The team crossed the finish line in 10:58.02 to place fifth. She would later become a United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association first- team All-American for the 2017 in- door distance medley relay, running the 400-meter leg in March for a team that finished 11:04.74 in the event to finish fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. "That was a little scary, but so much fun," she said. "The first time at Notre Dame, I had a really bad hand off handing off to Jamie [Mor- rissey]. When it came to nationals, you have all these fast girls every- where because it's nationals. I was very scared … there's so much put on your shoulders. One, you had to run a good race … two, you need a good hand off. "I'm happy that did happen. It was so much fun running with those girls. I'm really happy I did it." In addition to the All-America per- formance at indoor nationals, Harri- son finished 11th in the Big Ten at 200 meters — her favorite event — in 23.99 seconds and ran a leg of the 10th-place 4x400 relay. Her outdoor season included a 23.67 wind-aided time (+2.7m/s) in the 200-meter dash to finish ninth at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships May 12-14, and she added a 12th-place fin- The Best Of The Rest Michigan featured a host of freshmen that stood out in 2016-17, across all sports. Here are The Wolverine's rankings of the next four rookies behind track standout Jade Harrison: 1. MacKenzi Welsh, volleyball — Welsh, a four-time Big Ten Fresh- man of the Week honoree in her first year, earned All-Big Ten honor- able mention honors and a spot on the league's All-Freshman team in addition to American Volleyball Coaches Association honorable mention All-America accolades. She led the team in assists in all 35 matches while averaging 10.61 assists per set, recorded 13 assist-dig double-doubles and finished the year with 85 kills at a .368 attack percentage. The Bolingbrook, Ill., product also led the team in aces and was fourth on the squad in blocks. 2. Tayla May-Bentley, rowing — May-Bentley earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors after leading the boat that finished in fifth place in 6:44.812 at the NCAA Championships May 28, helping U-M to a third-place team finish. She also led the crew that finished in second place in 6:11.194 at the Big Ten Championships May 14 in Indianapolis, helping U-M to a second-place team showing. The import from Johannesburg, South Africa, was a big part of the reason the Wolverines earned their 18th bid to the NCAA Championships in 21 years as a varsity program. 3. Maddy Steere, water polo — The Australian became one of only two freshmen in school history to record 100 points in a season, was the fourth Michigan rookie to score 50 or more goals in a season (51) and ranks second among U-M freshmen all time with 49 assists. She also recorded 13 multi-goal games (three with five or more), 15 with multiple assists (five with three assists), and four games with five or more points. She earned the team's Most Valuable Defensive Player award, was a first-team All-College Water Polo Association selection and was named an honorable mention All-American by the American College Water Polo Coaches Association. 4. Chiara Lommer, women's tennis — Lommer finished with a 28-7 overall singles mark, going 18-5 in dual matches (3-1 at No. 3, 12-4 at No. 4 and 3-0 at No. 5) and finished 10-0 in singles action during Big Ten play. The Glenview, Ill., native spent a portion of the season ranked in singles, peaking at No. 106, and also went 6-3 in the Big Ten in doubles dual match play. — Chris Balas