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Sherman on the lacrosse field
The Next Level
Steve Stein
Contributing Writer
Heartland
Health Care Center
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D
akota Sherman couldn't have
picked a better time to attend
the University of Michigan.
In only his second year on the Ann
Arbor campus, the sophomore helped
make school history this spring, as a
member of the first U-M men's lacrosse
team that played at the NCAA Division
I level.
U-M had a club .
lacrosse program
before it made the leap
— a very successful
club lacrosse program.
The Wolverines won an
unprecedented three
consecutive national
Dakota
club championships
Sherman
from 2008-2010, and
they fell in the national
semifinals in 2011.
They were 76-2 during the four-year
stretch, and 241-44 in the 14 years that
John Paul coached the team. Paul also is
coach of the Division I team.
Even though U-M won just one game
this spring in Division I, finishing 1-12,
Sherman said he loved everything about
the experience.
"It's a dream to play for U-M:' he said. "I
came to a lot of U-M football games when
I was a kid."
Sherman played lacrosse, hockey and
football at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-
Kingswood High School.
He was a member of two state cham-
pion hockey teams and a football starter,
but he wanted to play lacrosse in college
because he considers it his best sport. He
was a four-year lacrosse starter in high
school.
"I need the structure that comes with
playing sports',' the 6-foot, 170-pounder
said. "I went to U-M for the academ-
ics and the opportunity to play lacrosse
there?'
Sherman made the U-M club lacrosse
team when he was a freshman, surviv-
ing a tryout of 50 to 60 players who were
vying for less than a half-dozen spots on
the roster.
He didn't play much as a freshman,
but at least he was on the team. Sherman
played in every game this season and
started about half. He's a defender and a
long-stick midfielder. He didn't have any
goals or assists.
"The competition is crazy,' he said
about U-M's Division I opponents.
"Because of that, you need to be thinking
about lacrosse all the time. I thought we
worked hard as a club team, but we took it
to the next level this season. I learned it's
possible to push yourself harder than you
think you can and get better."
The extra time Sherman is devoting
to lacrosse means he needs to focus on
his academics in just about every spare
moment. The 21-year-old from Bloomfield
Hills plans to major in sociology and
eventually go to law school.
U-M senior lacrosse player Brent
Kirshner from Ann Arbor Huron High
School will be profiled in a later sports
column.
Trophy case
B'nai B'rith Great Lakes Region has three
traveling trophies that need a better home
than the region's office in Bloomfield Hills.
"They're for men's basketball, volleyball
and softball, and they're no longer award-
ed to our champion teams:' said program
director Bobbie Levine. "If a group or
organization wants them, all they need to
do is pick them up at our office. They're
beautiful trophies?'
The trophies date to the 1970s and are
between 2 and 2 1/2-feet tall. Each has a
wood base, and engraved brass plates and
sports figures that can be removed.
Interested? Call Levine at (248) 646-
3100. The B'nai B'rith office is at 6735
Telegraph Road, Suite 304.
Please send sports news to sports@
thejewishnews.com