The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/888498
12 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2017 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Men's cross country fifth-year senior Ben Flana- gan: He grabbed his first-ever Big Ten Athlete of the Week award after winning the adidas XC Challenge at WakeMed Park Sept. 15 in Cary, N.C. He crossed the line of the six-kilometer (3.73-mile) course in 18:12.1, almost a full two seconds ahead of everyone else, for his second individual win in the first two races of the season. Flanagan's performance helped the Wolverines finish first out of 13 teams. Women's soccer freshman midfielder Nicki Her- nandez: She scored her first career goal in a 2-1 victory over Indiana Sept. 17. In a one-on-one matchup with IU goalkeeper Bethany Kopel, Hernan- dez jumped and got the first touch to push the ball past Kopel, and finished on an open net. Her heroics led to the Wolverines' first conference victory of the season. Softball head coach Carol Hutchins: The leg- endary U-M coach signed a five-year extension with the Wolverines Oct. 4, keeping her in Ann Arbor through the 2022 season. Hutchins is the win- ningest coach in NCAA softball his- tory, owning a career record of 1,527- 491-5, and is also the winningest coach in the history of U-M athletics. Since her first year at the helm in 1985, the Wolverines have claimed 19 Big Ten titles and one national champi- onship (2005). Men's swimming sophomore breaststroker Jacob Montague: He was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week Oct. 4 after kicking off the season in im- pressive fashion. He won three differ- ent events — 100-yard breaststroke (55.02, an NCAA "B" time), 200-yard breaststroke (2:00.36) and 200-yard individual medley (1:50.71) — in the Wolverines' 203-91 season-opening victory over Oakland Sept. 29. Montague was just one of two swimmers — se- nior Paul Powers being the other — to get NCAA "B" times in the opener. Women's cross country fifth-year senior Gina Sereno: She was named Co-Big Ten Athlete of the Week for the first time in her career Sept. 13 after an impres- sive showing at the Indiana State John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. Sereno was the victor of the event, crossing the finish line on the five-kilometer (3.11-mile) course in 17:18.6, for her second win in the season's first two meets. Sere- no's performance helped lead No. 4 Michigan to a perfect score of 15 to claim the team title over No. 28 Louisville and Indiana State. — Austin Fox MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK MICHIGAN'S WRESTLING TEAM RECEIVES SIGNIFICANT PLEDGE Michigan received a huge wrestling commitment Sept. 18, when UWW Cadet World freestyle champion Will Lewan, who currently competes for St. Lombard (Ill.) Montini Catholic, announced his pledge to the Wolverines. Lewan won the world title at 69 kilograms in early September in Athens, Greece, and projects to wrestle col- legiately at 157 pounds. His commitment makes the Wolverines only one of two schools (Penn State is the other) in the country with multiple commits ranked in the top 15 on the class of 2018 big board by FloWrestling.org, with Lewan at No. 8 and future teammate Joey Silva at No. 14. Lewan was the Preseason Nationals champion while also winning a state title during the 2016-2017 scholastic season. He also won a Junior National freestyle title this past summer and is a five-time All- American at the national event held in Fargo, N.D. Flo lists him No. 2 at 152 pounds nationally and No. 13 among all prep grapplers. Silva came out victorious in the Who's No. 1 all-star event in Bethle- hem, Pa. Oct. 8, defeating Roman Bravo-Young, who entered the con- test ranked first nationally at 132 pounds and No. 2 in Flo's pound- for-pound listing. That win moved the Floridian into the top spot in the country at 132 pounds and No. 3 in the pound-for-pound ranks. FOUR FORMER ATHLETES TO BE INDUCTED INTO U-M TRACK AND FIELD HALL OF FAME On Sept. 19, track and field co-head coaches Jerry Clayton and James Henry announced that Cindy Ofili (2013-16), Jeff Porter (2004- 07), Todd Steverson (1983-86) and Anna (Willard) Grenier (2007) would be inducted into Michigan's Track And Field/Cross Country Hall of Fame on the evening of Jan. 19. The four former Wolverines are all quite accomplished, having ac- counted for three national championships, 11 school records and a total of 15 Big Ten titles. Ofili and Porter were both national champions and multiple-time Big Ten winners in the hurdles, Steverson was a four-time conference champion in the long sprints, and Willard grabbed a steeplechase na- tional title in 2007, her only season in Ann Arbor. Porter, Willard and Ofili all went on to compete at the Olympics, with the latter posting a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 Rio games. MICHIGAN BASEBALL WELCOMES NO. 10-RANKED RECRUITING CLASS Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper released their recruiting class rankings for the incoming freshmen in September, and each publication tabbed Michigan's incoming 15-man group as the No. 10 overall haul nationally, marking the highest a Big Ten program has ever finished. The 15-man class features five pitchers, four outfielders, five infielders and a catcher. The group also includes eight of Perfect Game's top 400 incoming freshmen nationally. The newcomers will be relied upon to fill the shoes of a record- breaking U-M MLB Draft class. The Wolverines saw 11 players se- lected in this past year's draft, in what was the not only the biggest draft class of any team nationally, but also the biggest in school history. The departed U-M athletes have set the bar high for the incoming crop of youngsters — Michigan won at least 40 games last year (42) for the first time since 2008 and saw a school-record eight players named to All-Big Ten teams. — Austin Fox