The Wolverine

May 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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8 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2018 C ompetitors love to put forth a challenge, whether spoken or unspoken. Stick an 8-iron shot from 160 three feet from the pin, glance at your buddy and silently insist top that. Drain another three-ball, grin while running up the court and without a word assure you can't stop this. Line up at defensive end, glare at the quarterback and wordlessly de- liver a sobering message: I'm coming, and it's going to hurt. Michigan put the hurt on count- less opponents over the past year. Success didn't begin at the Final Four or Frozen Four, although those simultaneous achievements cer- tainly intensified the national spot- light on the Wolverines. U-M tore it up across a variety of sports throughout the year. Each layer of achievement tossed another log onto the fire, issuing the unspo- ken dare: try to keep up. Kevin Sullivan's men's cross country squad finished 10th at the NCAA Championships last fall. Mike McGuire's women's cross country crew won the Big Ten be- fore finishing ninth at the NCAA Championships. Mike Bottom's swim teams pulled off the daily double in top-10 fin- ishes, the men eighth at the NCAA Championships and the women Big Ten champions and fourth at the NCAA Championships. Joe Mc- Farland's final Michigan wrestling squad finished fourth in the nation at the NCAA Championships. Marcia Pankratz's field hockey team mirrored the success of Mel Pearson's ice hockey team in the NCAAs, getting all the way to the national semifinals, with field hockey also winning the Big Ten. In mid-April, several spring sports burned infinitely hotter than the weather. As of April 16, Erik Bakich's baseball team had won 17 straight, Carol Hutchins' softball crew 11 in a row, and Dr. Marcelo Leonardi's water polo squad 22 out of 23, heading for the Collegiate Water Polo Association Champion- ships. Of course, there were Michigan's winged-helmeted skaters, battling in the national semifinals in the very first year with Pearson at the helm. "It's good to be back here," Pear- son assured, following the crushing 4-3 Frozen Four loss to Notre Dame. "Michigan will be back here again. My only regret is, I don't have more time with the seniors. The seniors have been outstanding for us this year." One of those seniors, forward Dexter Dancs, spoke through deep emotion after losing to the Irish on a goal with five seconds remaining. "It wasn't the most talented team I've had here in four years, but it was the best team," he assured. "We just loved being around each other." John Beilein's boys captured the imagination of Michigan fans who, in November, didn't dream of the Wolverines taking the court for championship Monday, in front of 67,831 at the Alamodome. U-M sees great days ahead as well, despite junior Moritz Wagner moving on to the pros. A top-10 re- cruiting class and plenty of remain- ing talent whispers huge encourage- ment for the future. "This sadness we feel right now will go away once you feel all the great things we were able to accom- plish this year — and there were some great things," Beilein told the Big Ten Network. "In the middle of February, we were still a bubble team. "All of a sudden, you're playing in the national championship game. It's just an incredible achievement." Don't think for a millisecond Jim Harbaugh doesn't notice. If com- petitors were sharks, he'd be a Great White. He's hailed the Wolverines in a host of these other sports, celebrat- ing their successes. Now he wants his own team to take the next step. National pundits say if the NCAA clears transfer quarterback Shea Pat- terson for immediate eligibility, the Wolverines will. The junior could boost U-M into the Big Ten title game and possibly the College Foot- ball Playoff, they say. The individual Harbaugh identi- fies as his best player insists the Wolverines are going to be a hand- ful anyway, beef jerky-tough sched- ule notwithstanding. "We're totally different," junior defensive end Rashan Gary as- serted. "You can tell the difference from last year. A lot of people were saying we've got a young team, even though we didn't believe it. But you could definitely tell. Every- body's confident in what they do, flying to the ball, moving a lot faster than what we were doing last year. "We're taking the right steps for- ward. That's making sure we're the best defense in the nation. We're try- ing to do that day by day." The best defense in the nation, combined with a vastly improved offense, could achieve much, even facing down one of college football's toughest schedules. The challenge has been rendered. The answer is coming. ❏ Editor John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @JB _ Wolverine. WOLVERINE WATCH   JOHN BORTON Massive Success Lays Down Challenge The success of other athletic programs on campus has raised the bar for Jim Harbaugh and his football team. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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