The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 51 when a team must be ready to go in the spring. The rowers have been highly suc- cessful vagabonds, using U-M's in- tramural building, dressing at home when that was under construction, us- ing the visitors' locker room at Michi- gan Stadium, etc. "We couldn't get this opened up fast enough for them," Donoghue offered. A Michigan Stadium-like tunnel leads lacrosse players from their locker rooms to their new stadium, featuring 2,000 seats of its own in the venue's prime setting off State Street. "This is certainly a game-changer, but for some of these older guys, I think it's just a sense of home — we have a home now and I think that's the most important part to it," men's head coach Kevin Conry said. "It's a place we call our own, a place to put our feet up and a place to make sure we have that home-field sense to it." "It is instantly going next-level," women's coach Hannah Nielsen of- fered. "I think these girls have to ap- preciate it every day and understand that they've got to earn it. "You see the look on my face, and our girls' faces, and all of these stu- dent-athletes' faces — that's going to bring recruits, and it's really going to benefit our program in a huge way." Other coaches echo those senti- ments over and over. The southern comfort for Michigan athletics can't be denied. ❏ A 2,000-seat stadium for the lacrosse teams is also part of the Athletics South Competition and Performance Project, and both squads also have new locker rooms inside of the building. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Michigan's rowing team has an indoor rowing tank and a permanent home inside of the facil- ity for the first time. In the past, they have been forced to dress at home or in makeshift locker rooms, such as at Michigan Stadium or U-M's intramural building. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL