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10A - Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
iOOverlooked M
sports moments of the summer
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Some pretty amazing things happened in the world of Michigan sports this summer, and they were away from the football field, basketball
court and hockey rink. We're talking national championships, College World Series runs and one of the biggest upsets in a team's history. But
most of the Wolverines' smaller sports are constantly overlooked, especially when the students leave campus for the summer.
Here are the top five storylines from this summer that you need to know:
a
Juliana Paz, Lexi Zimmerman and Sloane Donhoff helped 'M' beat Nebraska.
5 Baseball's disastrous
disappointment
After six straight postseason
appearances in the Big Ten Tourna-
ment, the Michigan baseball team's
season ended during a sunny week-
end in May in Evanston, Ill.
Michigan finished 7th in the Big
Ten - the lowest ever under Wol-
verine baseball coach Rich Maloney
in his seven seasons with the Wol-
verines.
The loss was extremely disap-
pointing following three straight
Big Ten Titles and four straight
NCAA Tournament appearances.
Michigan started the season with
high hopes and was led by strong
individual performances through-
out the season by fifth-year senior
pitcher Chris Fetter, who finished
a strong 7-3 in 13 starts with a 3.26
ERA. The Wolverines also started
left-handed junior pitcher Eric
Katzman, who started 14 games to
finish 7-4 with a 3.56 ERA. Katz-
man wasn't always reliable, but nei-
ther was the rest of the Wolverines'
pitching staff.
Michigan did toy with bringing
in junior first baseman and relief
pitcher Mike Dufek in to be the
closer in close games. Dufek pitched
16.2 innings in 11 games, only allow-
ing five earned runs and striking out
21 batters.
On offense, the team was led in
large part by Dufek and sophomore
center fielder Ryan LaMarre. LaMa-
rre batted third and led the team
with a .344 batting average and 62
RBI's. Dufek led the team with his
17 home runs.
Even with a few individual suc-
cesses, Michigan couldn't over-
come injuries, alack of consistency,
and a few disappointing losses to
Mid-American Conference teams
as it failed to repeat as Big Ten
Champions.
4 Volleyball upsets
No. 3 Nebraska
While students were busy coming
back to campus at the end of August,
the Michigan volleyball team was
busy earning the biggest win in pro-
gram history, a straight-set victory
over No. 3 Nebraska on Aug. 28.
It started out tight as the Wolver-
ines squeaked out a 25-23 win in the
first set. But from then on, Michigan
widened its margin of victory in each
subsequent set, taking the second
25-21 and the third 25-17. Junior Lexi
Zimmerman and sophomore Alex
Hunt led the charge with Zimmer-
man's 33 assists and Hunt's 14 kills.
It marked the first time ever that
the Wolverines had defeated a top-
five team and it catapulted them to
a No. 7 ranking, another program
record. It appears the upset win got'
the team rolling in general, too, as
Michigan has reeled off fourstraight
wins since that season opener.
The Wolverines now boast a per-
fect 5-0 record and rigorous confer-
ence play begins in two weeks. But
for the first time in program history,
they'll face teams like top-ranked
Penn State with the confidence that
comes from a huge upset. On the
very first day of the season, Michi-
gan proved it can compete with any-
one. And now, the Wolverines have a
chance to beat everyone.
3 Ofili and Gall win
national titles
At the NCAA Outdoor Track
and Field Championships on June
13, now-graduated Geena Gall and
Tiffany Ofili carried the day for the
Wolverines by winning individual'
national championships. The pair
led the Wolverines to a seventh-
place finish, Michigan women's
track and field coach James Hen-
ry's third consecutive top-10
finish at nationals.
Ofili's title in the 100-meter
hurdles was her third consecu-
tive in the event and her fifth
overall title at Michigan. With
the victory, Ofili became the
first ever Wolverine to three-
peat as a national champion. Ofili
defeated the runner-up by nearly
two-tenths of a second, while less
than four-tenths of a second sepa-
rated second place from eighth
place.
Shortly after her blister-
ing performance at the National
Championships, Ofili, now an
Adidas-signed runner, raced at the
USA Track and Field Champion-
ships. She barely missed the cut
to represent the USA at the World
Championships, placing fourth.
Ofili's teammate and roommate,
Gall, won her second consecutive
800-meter run championship and
picked up her 10th All-American
accolade of her career. Her time
of 2:00.8 was a lifetime best as the
senior led the race from start to fin-
ish.
The Wolverinealso wonthe 800-
meter run indoor national champi-
onship during her junior and senior
campaigns. Following her impres-
sive collegiate career, Gall joined
the professional Oregon Track
Club and represented the USA at
the 2009 World Championships,
placing 14th in the 800-meter run.
2)Softball makes a run
to the CWS
If you're addicted to ESPN and
ESPN2 (likeus),you probablydidn't
miss this. But for the more casual
sports fan, we'll clue you in on the
Michigan softball team's incred-
ible postseason run. It started with
a sparkling 41-10 regular-season
record and a 21-game winning
streak that helped the Wolverines
capture their first outright Big Ten
Championship since 2005. Michi-
gan cruised through regional and
super regional play, earning a trip
to the Women's College World
Series in Oklahoma City.
It marked the first time the Wol-
verines returned to the tournament
since they won it in 2005, the most
recent NCAA team championship
at Michigan. Much of the team's
success can be attributed to the
dynamic pitching duo of Jordan
Taylor and Nikki Nemitz combined
with an explosive offensive attack.
In Oklahoma City, Michigan
erupted for six runs to beat No. 4
Alabama in the first round. But that
would be the Wolverines' final win
of the season after two heartbreak-
ing losses to top-seeded Florida and
red-hot Georgia knocked Michigan
out of the tournament.
Still, the magical run points to
only positive things for the coming
season. Eight of Michigan's nine
starters from last year will return,
including both ace pitchers. A trip
back to the World Series could very
well be in store for the Wolverines.
Lacrosse's back-to-
back titles
The record books say that the last
team national championship won
at Michigan was the 2005 softball
College World Series title. Try tell-
ing that to the lacrosse team.
Although the Wolverines have
yet to gain true varsity status,
lacrosse is one of the fastest-grow-
ing sports on campus - and for
good reason. After two straight
20-win, undefeated seasons, Mich-
igan is the two-time defending
national champion in club varsity
lacrosse.
Along with the 40 straight wins,
Michigan is gaining national noto-
riety. In a move meant to gauge
the team's readiness to make the
jump to varsity, the Wolverines
hosted Army and St. Johns in 2008
in a tournament at Elbel Field.
Although Michigan didn't pull of
either upset, the tournament defi-
nitely got the attention of Athletic
Director Bill Martin, who has the
final say about the varsity situa-
tion.
Back in May, the Wolverines
traveled to Denver to defend their
title against a tough Chapman
squad. They won in a 12-11 barn-
burner.
Few people on campus know
about the lacrosse team, whose
home games are in Oosterbaan
Fieldhouse, the Michigan football
practice facility. But the fans that
do show up are loyal and loud.
Don't be surprised to hear a lot
more about this team in the future.
Pitcher Nikki Nemitz helped lead Michigan to a College World Series appearance.
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