8 — Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Brooke Parker finds fit at Michigan
By CINDY YU
Daily Sports Writer
In just her second year on the
Michigan women’s gymnastics
team, Brooke Parker was voted
captain by her teammates.
“That, in and of itself, speaks
volumes,” said Michigan coach
Bev Plocki.
Plocki
emphasized
the
significance of the team voting
for its captains, as they have
the responsibility of leading the
team. It is important for them to
be respected, approachable and
trustworthy.
Parker epitomizes all of the
above, and more.
The
senior
from
Lorton,
Virginia
transferred
from
Alabama after her sophomore
year. She offers a unique angle
to the sixth-ranked Wolverines
(18-0 Big Ten, 21-2 overall),
given that she started her career
somewhere else.
“She’s very quick to bring
another perspective and remind
people that they have it better
than
most,”
Plocki
said.
“I
think she’s just so grateful for
everything
about
Michigan
because of where she’s coming
from.”
At Alabama, Parker helped
the Crimson Tide win the NCAA
Championship her freshman year.
She appeared in the floor lineup
several times throughout her first
two years of college gymnastics,
but was unable to contribute as
much as she would have liked to.
In comparison to Michigan’s
squad of 14 this year, six of whom
are freshman, Alabama boasted
18 and 17 gymnasts on the team
during Parker’s freshman and
sophomore seasons, respectively.
“Alabama has a lot of really
talented gymnasts,” Parker said,
“so it’s really competitive to be
inside the lineup.”
As a result, Parker decided to
explore other options by visiting
other universities during the
summer of 2013.
When she visited Michigan,
it was love at first sight for the
4-foot-11 gymnast.
“The first thing that I realized
was that (Michigan) helps you
strive to be better inside and
outside of the gym,” Parker said.
“They really are the leaders and
best.”
Parker
prioritized
earning
an education from a prestigious
university.
Throughout
high
school, she was a successful
student, but gymnastics took
precedence.
To
accommodate
for morning practices, Parker
was home-schooled up until 10th
grade. She promised herself that
when she attended college, she
would invest more time in her
studies.
A two-time Scholastic All-
American
according
to
the
National Association of Collegiate
Gymnastics
Coaches/Women,
Parker made the SEC Honor
Roll and studied business when
she attended Alabama. Had she
continued her business education
at Michigan, she would have had
to stay an extra two years. Given
that, she decided to pursue a
general studies
education
with the intent
of
attending
graduate
school in Sport
Management.
Her athletic
scholarship
inspired
her
to seek a job
in
athletic
development.
“I really want to be a part of the
event side so I can help coordinate
events that give back to the
donors for essentially everything
they gave to Michigan,” Parker
said.
Parker’s transition from the
South to Midwest couldn’t have
gone better. She has fit in better
than her coaches could have
hoped for.
The approach her coaches
have taken resonates with her
tremendously.
“They really
do
look
at
their
athletes
as people who
are
going
to
grow up and
be a part of
something way
bigger than just
a
gymnastics
team,” Parker
said. “I think
that outlook has really improved
the way I walk into the gym, the
atmosphere and everything about
the program.”
Having been the only elite
gymnast preparing at Capital
Gymnastics National Training
Center from the eighth grade
until high school graduation,
Parker has made several leaps.
Her
co-captain
this
year,
senior Annette Miele, helped
ease the transition. The two have
known each other since their club
gymnastics days. Both competed
in Region 7 and in 2009, qualified
for the Visa Championships, the
highest level of elite gymnastics
in the nation. Parker earned
senior international elite status
and had the opportunity to
compete alongside Olympians
Nastia Liukin and Alexandra
Raisman.
Parker was ecstatic about the
news that she would be leading
the team with Miele.
“It’s honestly one of the best
things I think that could have
happened,” Parker said. “It’s
just really great going through it
with someone that I have known
forever.”
The two exhibit different
leadership styles. While Miele is
more of the mother figure on the
team, Parker is the energizer.
Parker’s ability to not only
uplift her teammates, but also
make people laugh shows how
comfortable she is at Michigan
and makes her personality so
contagious.
One
of
Parker’s
greatest
improvements
since
joining
the Wolverines has been her
confidence.
“When she first got here,
she just really lacked in having
confidence in herself,” Plocki said.
“I could see from the beginning
that the talent was absolutely
there, but that she just needed to
believe in herself more in order
to allow herself to perform at
the level that she’s capable of
performing at.”
Indeed, Parker has gained
consistency and confidence in her
gymnastics. While she competed
sparingly on floor and vault her
junior year, she has competed in
both events every meet this year.
She is also the first alternate for
the balance beam and has been a
major contributor on the uneven
bars.
A key factor to her bar routine
was switching her dismount.
Having experimented with a full-
in and double layout, Parker was
able to learn a new double-front
dismount that she has been able
to execute consistently.
Parker earned second team All-
Big Ten honors and led Michigan
to a Big Ten Championships
win last Saturday. While her
leadership and performance is
approaching an exceptional level,
if Michigan hopes to compete
for the NCAA title in April, both
attributes will have to be present
at an even higher level.
Regardless of her tenure on the
team, Parker’s ability on and off
the floor is beyond justified.
“My only regret,” Plocki said,
“is (that) I wish I had her for
another year or two.”
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Senior Brooke Parker quickly became a captain for the Michigan women’s gymnastics team after two years and a national championship at Alabama.
“It’s honestly one
of the best things
that could have
happened.”
It’s time for
another banner
T
wenty-five banners hang
in Crisler Center.
Three Michigan teams
compete in
the 12,707-
seat gym. On
that stage,
countless
hours
have been
dedicated
to winning
tournaments,
Big Ten
titles and
sometimes,
on those glorious days that
fans of the University crave
to see once again, national
championships.
Both basketball squads and
the women’s gymnastics team
call Crisler home. The athletes of
the winning teams enter the gym
on the day of a competition and
look up at the rafters, comforted
by their history and compelled to
keep that success alive.
Out of 25 banners, however,
not one belongs to the Michigan
women’s basketball team.
They aren’t comforted by the
rafters.
To them, it’s an empty space.
It lacks history, with nothing
to show for the toil of the past
41 years. But that doesn’t mean
darkness isn’t compelling.
Thursday, after the
Wolverines’ dominant win over
Missouri pushed Michigan into
the quarterfinals of the WNIT, it
appeared that a new era could be
on the horizon.
Athletic Director Jim Hackett
stood up from his courtside seat
and strode over to coach Kim
Barnes Arico to congratulate her
on the victory. Together, they
walked over to men’s basketball
coach John Beilein and his wife,
Kathleen.
Beilein couldn’t help but smile,
realizing that despite his team’s
struggles this season, a banner
could still be raised next to his
program’s collection.
But now it’s time for Barnes
Arico to earn one of her own.
All three seniors are fighting
in every game to make sure it’s
not their last. The most notable
example is forward Nicole
Elmblad, who
is continually
raising the bar
when it counts.
After
averaging 7.4
points and 6.8
rebounds in
the regular
season, she’s
now averaging
9.0 points and
8.5 rebounds
in the WNIT. During Sunday’s
quarterfinal game, she scored 14
points, just ahead of senior guard
Shannon Smith, who tallied 11
points, and just behind senior
forward Cyesha Goree, who
scored 15.
“Once we came back (from
the Big Ten Tournament), we
knew we had a lot of work to
do,” Goree said after defeating
Cleveland State in the WNIT
opener. “Everybody really
committed to being checked in,
focused on being able to still do
something that hasn’t been done
yet. A WNIT championship (for
Michigan) has not been done yet.
“There’s no reason to hang
your head right now, because you
still can do something great for
this program.”
Wednesday, during the
semifinals of the WNIT, they can
do just that. They already know
their names will be in the record
books. Elmblad has played in
131 games, the most in program
history. Goree has eclipsed 300
rebounds in two seasons, the
only Michigan player ever to do
so, and Smith is one of just seven
Wolverines in school history to
score at least 36 points in a single
game.
But it’s safe to assume they
want something more symbolic
than a name and a year next to
statistics. A WNIT title would
represent what the team has
done collectively, symbolizing
something much larger than just
individual feats.
This is
Barnes Arico’s
third year, but
she has already
made an
instant impact.
In her first
year, she led
the team to the
second round
of the NCAA
Tournament.
In her second,
Michigan made it to the third
round of the WNIT. And now,
the Wolverines are playing
in April for the first time in
program history.
The future is bright for
Michigan.
Freshman guard Katelynn
Flaherty leads the team in points,
averaging 14.3 points per game.
The younger players are getting a
great deal of postseason practice,
so it would come as no surprise
if they made a run in the NCAA
Tournament next year. The
Wolverines have entered a new
phase of Michigan basketball,
one that’s past rebuilding.
Before the first game of the
2015-16 season is even played,
expect Barnes Arico and the
Wolverines to watch a banner-
raising ceremony of their own.
Expect the athletic director to
be there, and maybe even the
Beileins.
Most of all, expect the faces of
Michigan women’s basketball to
look up at the rafters to see that
26th banner, and watch them
be compelled to put another
alongside it.
Kelly Hall can be reached by
email at hallkl@umich.edu and
on Twitter @KellyHall20.
Montemarano, Swearingen
battle for time at third base
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
Roughly 20 minutes before
the start of every Michigan
softball
game,
coach
Carol
Hutchins submits her lineup
card to the home-plate umpire.
After 36 games, there are some
positions so well established
that a fan could bet on the names
being scribbled on that card.
At this point, it’s clear that
junior
Sierra
Romero
will
anchor the infield at second base.
Sophomore Kelly Christner will
hold down her territory in left
field.
But third base isn’t a position
fans should be putting their
money on, as sophomore Lindsay
Montemarano
and
freshman
Taylor Swearingen have been
vying for the starting position as
of late.
Montemarano has a .200
batting average and .360 on-base
percentage, while Swearingen’s
numbers are .245 and .457,
respectively.
This season, Montemarano
has started twice as many games
as Swearingen at third, but
things can change quickly.
In the first 23 games this
season, Montemarano started 19
games compared to Swearingen’s
four. In the previous 13 games,
the time spent at the hot corner
has swayed in Swearingen’s
favor. Swearingen has been
positioned at third in eight of
the 13 contests, claiming the
majority of starts.
But to say that Swearingen
has officially taken over as
the
starting
third
baseman
for Michigan wouldn’t be fair.
There are more factors that play
into this position battle than just
who has inherited the bulk of the
starts lately.
Montemarano and Swearingen
have similar skill sets on the
defensive end, recording just four
and two errors, respectively.
There is no denying that
Montemarano
has
played
against stiffer competition than
Swearingen. She started every
game against No. 1 Florida, No. 5
Florida State and No. 6 Alabama.
She also notched two starts
against No. 10 Arizona State.
Despite bearing the largest
burden
against
ranked
teams, Montemarano has not
consistently produced. She has
posted a batting average below
.100 and recorded just two walks
against ranked opponents.
In contrast to the veteran,
Swearingen has faced only two
ranked
opponents:
then-No.
10 Arizona State and then-No.
9 Baylor. Though it’s a smaller
sample size, she did not fare
much better than Montemarano
against her toughest adversaries,
going 1-for-6 at the plate.
But in the Big Ten opening
series
against
Ohio
State,
Swearingen impressed. She went
2-for-5 with two home runs and
three RBI. Her performance
against the Buckeyes earned her
significant time at third against
Iowa.
Both have struggled at the
plate against elite pitching, but
Swearingen boasts a higher
season
batting
average
and
slugging
percentage
than
Montemarano.
For two defensive equals
competing for a spot in a
Wolverines lineup where one can
often earn a starting spot with
their bat, Swearingen appears
to be the strongest candidate
at the moment. Her frequent
appearances in Big Ten play as
of late suggest that Michigan
may be closer to solidifying the
freshman as the newest starter
to the infield lineup.
For now, though, the scales
are tipping in Swearingen’s
favor, nothing is certain when it
comes to Hutchins’ game-time
decisions at third base.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
KELLY
HALL
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Sophomore Lindsay Montemarano has competed with freshman Taylor Swearingen for playing time at third base.
“There’s no
reason to hang
your head right
now.”