Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, January 30, 2015 — 7

Shot put standout has unique path

By NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily Sports Writer

Long before Derek Sievers 

was a shot put standout for the 
Michigan men’s track team, 
he hoped to make a name for 
himself on the gridiron.

He spent three years as 

a starting fullback on the 
football team at Byron Center 
(Michigan) High School.

He has won the shot put four 

times in his collegiate career, 
including 
victories 
at 
the 

Simmons-Harvey 
Invitational 

on Jan. 17 and against Michigan 
State on Jan. 24. He also finished 
15th at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor 
Championships 
and 
seventh 

at the 2014 Big Ten Outdoor 
Championships in the event.

“The shot put event happens 

so fast,” Sievers said. “You 
have to clear your mind and 
use the nervous energy to your 
advantage.”

While it sounds funny to call 

the shot put a fast-paced event, 
the rapid motions it requires are 
fitting for Sievers.

***

At Byron Center, Sievers 

amassed 2,212 yards on 340 
carries. 
During 
his 
junior 

year, he notched 769 yards on 
133 carries and nine rushing 
touchdowns 
despite 
sharing 

duties with another running 
back.

But 
Sievers 
truly 

demonstrated his prowess his 
senior year, when he collected 
1,157 yards on 147 carries, 
equating to 7.9 yards per carry. 
It was a performance that won 
him All-Area and All-State 
honors. Sievers even added 13 
rushing touchdowns for good 
measure while sharing the job 
yet again.

Yet even with his success as 

a running back, Sievers always 
considered himself first and 
foremost an offensive lineman, 
a position he had played since 
his pee-wee football years.

“If you run the ball, you get 

hit,” Sievers said. “If you’re 
blocking someone, you get to hit 
them.”

Perhaps it was a way of 

bonding with his father, who 
played football at Southeast 
Missouri State from 1982 to 
1986 as an offensive lineman. 

“My dad was my pee-wee 

coach all the way up through 
eighth grade,” Sievers said. 
“We’d always practice in the 
backyard and stuff. He instilled 
in me that you can either be the 
hammer or the nail, and you 
don’t want to be the nail.”

Or maybe it was a way of 

keeping up with his brother, 
who took delight in pushing 
him around. The sibling rivalry 
soon translated into skills as 
a linebacker. Sievers finished 
2009 with 79 tackles, three 
recovered fumbles and three 
catches for interceptions.

“It 
was 
pretty 
intense 

between my brother and me 
until I outgrew him in ninth 
grade,” Sievers said.

Sievers was also the punter 

for Byron Central for all three 
seasons of his career, averaging 

34.3 yards per punt in that 
stretch. He even dabbled in the 
long snapper position for a time 
as well.

As if all of that weren’t 

enough, Sievers took part in 
wrestling and bowling during 
the winter months.

“I was just trying to live my 

high-school 
sporting 
career 

out,” Sievers said. “I didn’t 
really focus on one thing. 
Bowling was awesome because 
I got free bowling all the time.”

***

But Sievers’ other sports did 

not detract from his track and 
field performance. In both his 
junior and senior seasons, he 
earned All-State honors in both 
the shot put and discus events 
and won the Division II state 
championship in the discus. 
It rubbed off on the rest of the 
team as Byron Central won the 
Division II team title in 2010 
and 2011. 

“Track was the best overall 

experience for me,” Sievers said. 
“That’s why I continue to do it 
today.”

Even with all of his success, 

he was largely overlooked on 
the recruiting trail for both 
football and track. But once 
Michigan called, there were no 
more decisions to make.

“No one really recruited me 

out of high school for track,” 
Sievers 
said. 
“And 
football 

was mostly Division II and 
Division III schools. Michigan 
came along at the very end of 
my senior season and my mom 
said, ‘If you can go to Michigan, 
you’re gonna go to Michigan.’ ”

Still, Sievers gets a kick out of 

football even though his playing 
days are done. He is a denizen of 
Michigan Stadium on football 
Saturdays and regards those 
days as some of his best in Ann 
Arbor.

While Sievers may be a shot 

put star, football will always be 
a part of him. 

‘M’ hopes growth 
process complete

By BRANDON CARNEY 

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan men’s lacrosse 

team is entering its fourth 
year of competition, and its 
players and coaches believe the 
program is finally ready to take 
the step out of infancy.

Following a five-win season 

in 2014, the Wolverines believe 
the worst of the team’s growing 
pains are behind them.

“This year, we have so many 

guys that are mature and used 
to the system,” said senior 
attacker Will Meter. “I think 
we’re looking to go full steam 
ahead and not worry about any 
growth. We’ve already gone 
through that.”

Top-scoring 
sophomore 

attacker 
Ian 
King 
returns 

for Michigan, and redshirt 
sophomore goalkeeper Gerald 
Logan is also back after missing 
last season with an injury. 
King, Logan and sophomore 
midfielder 
Mikie 
Schlosser 

were all named to the Big Ten 
Players to Watch list. The three 
will make up the core of the 
team, and Meter expects them 
all to improve.

“King 
and 
Logan 
have 

played at an extremely high 
level,” Meter said. “Even as 
solid as they’ve played in their 
first years, there’s always an 
opportunity to take a step 
forward, and these two can be 
elite players. We’re really going 
to need to rely on them.”

Michigan coach John Paul 

has brought in a highly rated 
13-man recruiting class, and he 
retains eight of his nine point-
getters from last year. While 
youth is still an issue with the 
Wolverines, the potential for 
the team is sky-high.

With the development of 

the 
program 
coming 
along 

nicely, Michigan will turn its 
attention to the development of 
its new league. The Wolverines 
will be a part of the inaugural 
Big Ten lacrosse season. New 
arrivals Maryland and Johns 

Hopkins are expected to rank 
atop the conference, as both are 
preseason top-10 teams.

Michigan was voted last in 

the Big Ten preseason poll, 
but that doesn’t mean the 
Wolverines won’t be looking 
to make some noise. With 
television 
appearances 
and 

national exposure coming with 
the new conference, the team 
is excited to show the country 
where the program is heading.

“We know the Big Ten’s 

going to be tough this first 
year,” Meter said. “Playing 
these bigger teams that have 
won national titles doesn’t 
seem as daunting of a task now. 
They’re just going to be regular 
games.”

If there’s one game Michigan 

has circled on its calendar, it’s 
the April 5 matchup against 
Ohio State. The Wolverines 
have yet to defeat the Buckeyes 
in three years of competition, 
something 
the 
senior 
class 

hopes to change in its final 
season.

“The 
seniors 
have 
had 

meetings about what we want 
our legacy to be, and we really 
want to be the first team to 
beat Ohio State,” said senior 
defender Mack Gembis. “That 
would be the culmination of all 
the work we put in the past four 
years.”

Whether or not Michigan can 

defeat Ohio State this season, 
the seniors are a historic group 
for the program. The class will 
be the first that has played 
all four years, something the 
seniors know is special.

“It wasn’t always easy at 

times,” Meter said. “But we 
went through a lot, and that’s 
why I think this season’s the 
biggest. If we can come out, do 
well in the Big Ten and prove 
ourselves, it’ll show how far 
we’ve come as a class in leading 
this team.”

Seniors like Meter helped the 

program take its first step. Now 
they’re helping it take its first 
running strides.

MEN’S LACROSSE

The last moose standing: Max Bielfeldt

By LEV FACHER

Managing Editor

Max Bielfeldt’s lower legs are 

legendary. But lately, the large-
calved forward is seeing less 
about them on Twitter, and he 
thinks that’s a good thing.

“I was making a joke the other 

day,” he said. “It’s a good sign 
that I’m playing better when 
after a game, back in the day, 
80 percent of the Tweets were 
about my calves and now only 20 
percent are about my calves. So 
I think that means I’m playing a 
little better.”

Known as “Moose” to his 

coaches and teammates, the 
6-foot-7 senior is enjoying a 
late-career surge. Bielfeldt is 
averaging just shy of 10 points 
and 21 minutes per game over 
the Michigan men’s basketball 
team’s 
last 
three 
Big 
Ten 

contests, on the heels of three 
seasons in which he barely saw 
the floor.

He’s now known as a key 

contributor on a Wolverine 
squad that, as of late, has 
impressed with its resiliency 
in the face of injury and 
inexperience.

Following Mitch McGary’s 

departure for the NBA, Jordan 
Morgan’s graduation and Jon 
Horford’s 
transfer, 
Bielfeldt 

found himself the Wolverines’ 
lone upperclassman big man 
in 2014-15. With each passing 
game, it becomes increasingly 
clear 
he 
isn’t 
taking 
the 

responsibility lightly.

Rather, 
Bielfeldt 
has 

taken advantage of the role, 
climbing the depth chart to 
become — depending on the 
situation — Michigan’s first 
big off the bench. Despite their 
inexperience, it was freshman 
Ricky 
Doyle 
and 
redshirt 

freshman Mark Donnal who 
engaged in a preseason battle 
to start at the ‘5’ spot, with 

Bielfeldt viewed as the third 
horse in a two-lane race.

But that didn’t stop him from 

helping 
contain 
Wisconsin’s 

Frank 
Kaminsky 
and 
his 

five-inch height advantage in 
Michigan’s 65-60 overtime loss 
to the Badgers on Jan. 24, or 
shooting 6-for-9 from the field 
to help the Wolverines take 
down Nebraska on Tuesday.

It helps, of course, that 

Bielfeldt spends the days leading 
up to games impersonating the 
very players he’s later assigned 
to defend. He leads Michigan’s 
scout team, a role Michigan 
coach John Beilein says he 
assigned him “because he’s the 
brightest of all those guys at 
knowing college basketball.”

“On the scout team, you kind 

of see what (your opponents’) 
go-to moves are,” Bielfeldt said. 
“It expands your game a little bit. 
If they have a good turnaround 
jumper or something, and you 
try to emulate that in practice 
and it goes down for you, you 
might try to incorporate that 
yourself.”

While being assigned to the 

scout 
team 

is 
sometimes 

viewed 
as 

a 
sign 
that 

a 
player 

shouldn’t 
expect 
to 

contribute 
in 
game 

situations, 
it’s much the 
opposite 
this 

year for Bielfeldt.

“He’s on that scout team 

because that’s what the team 
needs him to do,” Beilein said.

Bielfeldt has been one of 

the 
scout 
team’s 
de 
facto 

captains throughout much of 
his career. But with LeVert 
out, he and junior guard Spike 
Albrecht are the only remaining 
upperclassmen on Michigan’s 

active roster, creating shortages 
on the experience and leadership 
fronts.

“Three was already a small 

number,” 
Bielfeldt 
said 
of 
the 

dwindling 
number 
of 

veterans. 
“Two is even 
less.”

The 
sheer 

numbers pose 
an issue when 
it 
comes 
to 

simply leading by example. 
With half a roster’s worth of 
upperclassmen, it’s easy for 
experienced players to set the 
on-court tone. In this particular 
circumstance, Bielfeldt says the 
instruction has to be a bit more 
explicit.

“You just have to talk to the 

guys more,” Bielfeldt said. “Back 
in high school, they might not 

have realized that you kind of 
need to jog the drill, keep the 
energy of practice up.

“When you only have two 

guys who have been here for 
more than a year, you have to say 
it more than do it … you have to 
instill it in them.”

Bielfeldt’s 
senior 
status 

in 2014-15 wasn’t always the 
plan. Though he has a year of 
eligibility remaining, Beilein 
and his staff decided in Summer 
2014 that Bielfeldt would be 
listed as a senior this year.

The decision made sense 

for both parties; it opened up 
a scholarship for Michigan’s 
next freshman class, and it 
allowed Bielfeldt — who had just 
38 career points prior to this 
season — to transfer for a final 
season elsewhere, should he 
choose to.

Bielfeldt took the news in 

stride, working to establish 
himself as a leader and taking 

advantage of his newfound 
health. 
He 
underwent 
hip 

surgery toward the end of Spring 
2014, sidelining him for nearly 
the entire summer but relieving 
him of a major inhibitor to his 
play.

“Basketball’s a lot more fun 

when you land and it doesn’t 
hurt,” Bielfeldt said. “I’m having 
more fun and playing more, and 
with the hip surgery I’m just 
feeling better, so you know, just 
general cuts and jumps and all 
that.”

While he’s certainly having 

more fun playing, Bielfeldt is 
also flourishing in his roles as a 
mentor and tutor for his younger 
teammates. From a mentorship 
perspective, 
the 
Wolverines 

timed 
their 
international 

summer trip well (the program 
is allowed to take one every four 
years).

Michigan spent 10 days in 

Italy in the offseason, giving 

Bielfeldt a chance to get to 
know a class of freshmen that, 
mid-summer, would typically 
be busy throughout the day 
with practice, summer classes, 
tutoring and other introduction-
to-college activities.

“It 
was 
nothing 
crazy,” 

Bielfeldt 
told 
the 
Daily 
in 

Novemeber. 
“I’d 
go 
walk 

around with (freshman guard 
Muhammad-Ali 
Abdur- 

Rahkman) or somebody, learn 
more about him, and I think 
overall we’re closer in that.”

It was the details, Bielfeldt 

said, 
that 
made 
the 
trip 

particularly meaningful.

“Little things, like me and 

Muhammad walking into some 
little shop and looking at some 
European soccer jersey,” he 
said. “I never would’ve done 
that in the past three years with 
an older player.”

While 
it’s 
not 
a 
yearly 

occurrence for a player who 
spent his first three years largely 
on the bench to emerge as a 
leader and major contributor in 
his senior season, Beilein says 
it’s nothing new.

“I’ve seen it before,” Beilein 

said, 
“where 
guys 
in 
that 

senior year all of a sudden are 
so valuable to you, because 
they’ve got the experience, 
that maturity about them, that 
they’ve been there and done that 
before.

“They’ve been waiting a long 

time for that opportunity, so 
that’s been huge.”

Bielfeldt, regardless of how 

he got there, is happy to finally 
be playing major minutes and 
contributing as much as he has 
been lately.

“Overall, you just have to be 

ready,” Bielfeldt said. “Next man 
up.”

Daily 
Sports 
Editor 
Max 

Bultman contributed reporting.

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Derek Sievers was a football star in high school before beginning his exceptional shot put career at Michigan.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Max Bielfeldt has recently emerged, averaging just shy of 10 points and 21 minutes over his last three Big Ten games.

“They’ve been 
waiting a long 
time for that 
opportunity.”

