The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com .
Thursday, September 19, 2013 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, September 19, 2013 - 7A
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Handler, Pogue
named captains
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Redshirt sophomore cornerback Blake Countess was injured in the first game of the season in 2012. He used the time off to text in-game help and learn the nickel.
Countess used injury to study
Juniors will lead
team with 11
newcomers and a
lot of potential
By REBECCA DZOMBAK
For TheDaily
Juniors Brook Handler and
Taylor Pogue, the new captains
of the No. 17 Michigan women's
cross country team, thought
they'd take the first mile easy
and let Purdue set the pace at
the Michigan Open on Aug. 30.
But when Purdue hung
back, Michigan sprang at the
opportunity. Handler, Pogue
and sophomore Shannon Osika
formed a tight pack and didn't
look back, dominating with a
strong one-two-three finish
within a. 40-second window.
Both Handler and Pogue said
that the Michigan Open served
as a great kickoff for the sea-
son. The girls were strong, hun-
gry and ready to go after their
preseason camp at the end of
August.
"It was a good race," Pogue
said. "We were feeling really
good after camp, and we fin-
ished really strong - stron-
ger than we started, which is
always good."
Two weeks later, at the Pur-
due Invitational, Pogue took
her first collegiate win. So what
got Handler and Pogue to the
rank of captain?
For Handler, it was adhering
closely to what Michigan coach
Mike McGuire had to say.
"All the little things add up
eventually," she said. "It's just
a matter of adopting that set of
values as your own."
Handler feels she's done this
well. Pogue believes tha hter
leadership skills came from
having strong captains her,
freshman and sophomore years.
"I think they did a really
good job of leading the team
and giving us advice," Pogue
said. "They served as really
great examples of how to bal-
ance academics with our ath-
letics."
As for leadership styles,
the women agree that they
will complement each other
well. The performance of the
team as a whole is their first
priority, although individual
performance is important as
well. Handler said that Pogue
is more "motherly and affec-
tionate," whereas she tends to
take a slightly more aggressive
approach. But there is little
doubt that they will work well
together and be strong leaders
for the season.
Both captains have been hon-
ored multiple times by the Big
Ten for their academic achieve-
ments. Pogue is studying soci-
ology, while Handler studies
chemical engineering.
"It's a definitely difficult pro-
gram, but I see myself as hav-
ing an advantage being on the
team," Handler said. "We work
together, we study on the bus....
If I'm not feeling motivated and
I look over and see someone
plugging away on their calcu-
lus, that helps me get motivat-
ed."
Motivation shouldn't be an
issue for anyone this year. Pre-
season camp was a huge confi-
dence and energy booster; the
captains said, and gave them
a good preview of what the
season may look like. With 11
freshmen, there's a lot of new
blood - and potential - on
the team. Pogue and Handler
agreed that the freshmen are
a well-rounded and extremely
talented group and are excited
to see them compete.
One in particular, Erin Finn,
stood out to both at the Michi-
gan Open when she took a risk
and started out really strong at
her first collegiate race. Han-
dler described her as "a great
recruit."
"She's had great high-school
success, and we're really excit-
ed to have her," Handler said.
The women's cross country
team next races Oct. 5 at the
Rim Rock Farm Classic in Law-
rence, Kan.
By LIZ VUKELICH
DailySportsEditor
Three interceptions in two
games is an impressive feat for
anyone. You could call it being a
smart player or you could call it
beinglucky.
Or, in the case of the Michigan
football team, you could call it
the return of Blake Countess.
After sustaining a season-end-
ing knee injury in the opening
game of the Michigan football
team's 2012 campaign, the red-
shirt sophomore cornerback is
back in full form for the Wolver-
ines' secondary.
"There's some times where
you see (Countess) just a lot
tighter on a guy," said defen-
sive coordinator Greg Mattison.
"That comes from having confi-
dence. I mean, for Blake to come
back from a whole year off and to
do what he's doing, I'm pleased
with that."
It's agood thing Mattison feels
that way considering Countess
still doesn't have his position
solidified. He's currently rotat-
ing between cornerback and
nickel. It sounds more complicat-
ed than it is - Countess has no
difficulty remembering to switch
mindsets at a moment's notice.
"I asked if I could learn the
nickel position in the spring,"
Countess said. "I always see the
nickel as always around the ball
because they have that freedom.
That was one thing that I liked,
and I pursued it and it just so
happened that I fell into the
starting role."
If Countess' injury gave him
anything, it was time to decide
that nickel was a position he
wanted to try. In between his
sometimes twice-weekly rehab
sessions last year, Countess spent
the remainder of his time study-
ing film. He took notice of the
aggression associated with the
nickel position and decided that
was a place he could see himself
fitting in.
In between rehab and decid-
ing to take on the nickel posi-
tion, Countess found other ways
to fill his time during his injury.
With a handful of other injured
Wolverines, Countess watched
Michigan games from the com-
fort of his dorm room, where his
teammates demanded he act as
an extra set of eyes.
Former Michigan cornerback
J.T. Floyd insisted that Countess
text him throughout the course
of the game with every little
thing that he noticed.
"J.T. told me, 'If you don't text
me at halftime, you're going to
hear from me and you're not
going to like what you hear,"'
Countess said. "(He) took my
advice with open arms."
As far as the knee, Countess
doesn't even notice it anymore.
Over the summer, redshirt junior
quarterback Devin Gardner
dared Countess to do some back
flips, a little homage to Count-
ess's past as a gymnast.
Countess accepted Gardner's
bet, just to prove he could - as
he says, he wanted to "push the
limits."
He successfully performed the
back flips. And though Countess
is hesitant to say his knee is back
to where it was before the sur-
gery, he acknowledges that it's
different, in a good way.
"Once you get out there and
really start flying, (the knee
is) the last thing I'm think-
ing about," he said. "I haven't
thought about it in forever. Every
so often I'll go in and do some
tune-up rehab but that's just to
stay on top of things."
'M' parasails and dribbles through Europe WE KINDA LIKE YOU.
i v y I
By ALEXA DETTELBACH
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan women's basketball
coach Kim Barnes Arico loves
Ann Arbor. Among other things,
she loves the weather, the school
spirit and, of course, her team.
But after spending 10 days in
Europe, Ann Arbor seems bleak
by comparison.
"I now call Ann Arbor home,"
Barnes Arico said. "But boy was
that trip incredible."
Thanks to super fan Nancy
Lohr, the Wolverines had the
opportunity to travel to France
and Italy for the first foreign trip
in program history.
"I honestly can't say enough
about it," Barnes Arico said. "I've
been coaching for a long time,
and this was the first time that
I've done a foreign trip.
"I don't really know if I ever
want to do (a trip) again because
I don't think it could ever top
the experience that we had. I
just think part of the reason it
was so incredible was the people
that were there. Our kids were so
appreciative and just incredible.
They're truly Michigan kids, and
they really valued the experience.
Plus, our chemistry was terrific."
The team left Aug. 19 and
started in Paris where Michigan
visited the Louvre and the Eiffel
Tower while also taking a river
cruise down the Seine. On Aug.
22, the team took a train to Nice,
France, and made trips to Mona-
co and Lake Como the next day.
Barnes Arico pointed to Nice
as one of the best spots. There,
she went parasailing, while the
team went on a banana boat, and
everyone had the opportunity to
swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Wolverines' first stop in
Italy was Florence before they
headed to Rome. There, the team
hit the top tourist spots like the
Piazza Novana, Pantheon, Span-
ish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.
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TODD NEEDLE
Coach Kim Barnes Arico and the Michigan women's baskethall team mono sent to turope hy super fan Nancy Lohr.
Michigan then visited the Coli-
seum and the Roman Forum. The
trip concluded with a visit to the
Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and
St. Peter's Basilica.
"Each place was a little bit dif-
ferent, and you got to experience
something different in each place
that we went," Barnes Arico said.
"The Coliseum and the Vatican
were great," Barnes Arico said. "I
mean just such rich history and
tradition, architecture, it was just
phenomenal. I don't have a favor-
ite, the trip was my favorite."
It wasn't all sightseeing for
the Wolverines, who also played
three games while overseas.
In its first game, against AMW
France, Michigan played two
strong halves of basketball to
easily defeat its first interna-
tional opponent, 102-34. Fresh-
i
man guard Siera Thompson led
the team with 23 points, five
rebounds, three assists and two
steals.
The Wolverines played their
next two games in Italy, first
beating the Italian All-Stars, 112-
37, before trouncing StellaAzzur-
ra, 117-15, three days later.
"I thought it really helped
our program especially being so
young and inexperienced like we
will be next year," Barnes Arico
said. "It gave us an opportunity to
get some people on the court, give
them a little bit of confidence, and
really give an opportunity for
everyone, myself included, to get
to know each other off the court."
Despite coming off one of its
best seasons in program his-
tory, when Michigan tied a pro-
gram record with 22 wins and
advanced to the second round of
the NCAA Tournament, Barnes
Arico has a young team to work
with. The Wolverines are an
unknown coming into the season
- they welcome four newcomers
as well as four players returning
from anterior cruciate ligament
injuries who didn't see the court
last season.
The foreign trip also allowed
the Wolverines to have 10 extra
practice days prior to departure.
"We have one player on our
roster that's returning that
played over 10 minutes a game,
possibly two, (sophomore guard)
Madison (Ristovski) and (senior T"
forward) Nicole (Elmblad)," Learn your potential
Barnes Arico said. "We have a lot
of inexperience, we have a lot of p: 1.800.266.4441 : www.ceaStudyAbroad.com
youth, but those are sometimes *Please mention this ad when you speak with your CEA rep.
the most exciting."
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