8A — Wednesday, September, 21, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines third 
after strong finish

When the first day of the 

Inverness 
Intercollegiate 

wrapped up for the Michigan 
men’s golf team, the Wolverines 
weren’t where they wanted to 
be. After shooting a team score 
of 592, Michigan found itself in 
ninth place out of 13 teams.

But Tuesday, the second and 

final day of the tournament, the 
Wolverines changed that.

Shooting 

a school and 
tournament 
record of 270, 
Michigan 
catapulted 
itself up the 
leaderboard to 
a 
third-place 

finish.

“I told them 

(Monday) 
night 
that 

attitude is one of the few things 
that we’re able to control on the 
golf course,” said Michigan coach 
Chris Whitten. “The execution 
and the bounce of the ball is 
something where you hope for 
the best and want the best, but it’s 
out of your control sometimes. So 
we just had to have an A+ attitude 
and hope that it would bleed into 
the scores, and it did (Tuesday).”

The Wolverines were led by 

sophomore Nick Carlson. The 
righty, 
who 
finished 
fourth 

place 
in 
the 
U.S. 
Amateur 

Championship in August, carried 
his summer momentum to a first-
place tie with a score of 209.

Carlson 
didn’t 
stop 
there, 

though. 
On 
the 
first 
hole 

of the playoff to decide the 
tournament’s 
overall 
winner, 

Carlson hit his approach shot to 
about 15 feet and two-putted for 
a par. His opponent, Jake Shuman 
from Duke, missed the green to 
the right and couldn’t recover, 

finishing with a bogey.

The victory was the first of 

Carlson’s career.

“I think he’s hitting the 

same shots that he always has,” 
Whitten said. “The difference 
is that he believes he can win, 
and he’s expecting to play well. 
I think a lot of people know that 
golf is mostly a mental game, and 
I think (Carlson) is starting to 
figure that piece out. He’s got a lot 
of confidence.”

Carlson 
wasn’t 
the 
only 

Wolverine 
who improved 
on 
Tuesday. 

Senior 
Tom 

Swanson 
tied 

Carlson’s final 
round with a 
67, while junior 
Kyle 
Mueller 

and 
senior 

Bryce 
Evon 

each shot 68 to 
fuel the team’s 

comeback.

The tournament was the first 

in a long season for Michigan, 
which enters the year with a 
mostly returning cast. But in the 
2016-17 season, the Wolverines 
expect even more. Michigan will 
now face a quick turnaround, 
when it travels to Windon, Ill., 
for the Windon Memorial Classic 
on Sunday. But if Carlson and the 
rest of the team can maintain thir 
momentum, they stand a good 
chance of living up to their lofty 
expectations.

“We’ve gone to (the NCAA 

Regionals) the past two years,” 
Whitten said. “I know that the 
Big Ten Tournament is a really 
important one for (the team) — 
and going back to the regionals 
and then going to the national 
championship, 
which 
our 

team hasn’t done in a couple of 
years. But that’s a very realistic 
expectation, 
and 
we’ll 
work 

toward that.”

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Writer

Wolverines find bearings too late

Last season, the Michigan 

women’s golf team far exceeded 
expectations. The Wolverines 
finished 18th at the NCAA 
Championships despite barely 
being ranked in the top 50. 
And with four of five golfers 
returning from last season, 
this year’s Wolverines seemed 
poised to have another good 
season.

But Sunday, Michigan faced 

the reality that this year isn’t 
last season.

Competing at the East & West 

Challenge at Radrick Farms Golf 
Course — one of the two courses 
owned by the University — the 
Wolverines got off to a slow 
start, finishing fifth out of eight 
teams on Day 1. Michigan shot a 
first-day total of 598, 15 strokes 
behind fourth-place Oregon.

The three-day tournament 

was structured so that the first 
day consisted of 36 holes of 
team-stroke play, with the top 
four teams and the bottom four 
teams competing in a match-
play winners and consolation 
bracket, respectively. By placing 
fifth, the Wolverines went to the 
consolation bracket to face off 
against eighth-place UC Davis.

Michigan’s 
struggles 
only 

continued Monday, as the team 
fell to UC Davis, 3-2, in the 
consolation bracket semifinal. 
Junior Megan Kim, senior Grace 
Choi and sophomore Elodie Van 
Dievoet — all veterans from last 
year’s NCAA tournament — 
faltered in their matches.

“We had a couple of rough 

stretches 
on 
the 
36-hole 

day, which kept us out of the 
championship 
bracket,” 
said 

Michigan coach Jan Dowling. 
“And we hit a UC Davis team 
that putted really well and got 
us thinking about needing to 
improve our putting.”

Even though the Wolverines 

couldn’t find their sense of 
direction Day 1 and Day 2, there 

was still another day to get 
on course against Big Ten foe 
Nebraska. And as if Michigan 
were using the sextant for the 
first time after sailing blind, get 
on course is what they did.

All of the Wolverines finally 

put a complete round together, 
beating the Cornhuskers, 5-0, 
to secure seventh place in the 
tournament. Choi and Kim won 
their matches 1-up, while juniors 
Kathy Lim and Emily White 
— the only Wolverines to win 
their matches against UC Davis 
— won commandingly, 4-and-3 
and 3-and-2, respectively.

“We played really well today; 

we finished the tournament 
on a high note,” Dowling said 
about Tuesday’s match. “We 
certainly have some work to do 

and exposed some weaknesses, 
but we’re ready to work.”

A bright spot for Michigan, 

though, was freshman Alisa 
Snyder, who was competing 
in 
her 
first 
collegiate 

tournament. Snyder took part 
in the individual competition 
comprising of players that are 
not part of each team’s five-
person lineup.

Snyder shot 157 on Day 1 to 

qualify as the No. 3 individual 
golfer. In Monday’s semifinal, 
Snyder defeated No. 2 seed Kate 
Granahan from Penn State, 
before falling to the No. 1 seed 
from Kentucky in the Individual 
Match Play championship.

“She’s 
gaining 
some 

confidence 
and 
some 

experience 
as 
a 
collegiate 

golfer, and it’s a big step from 
junior golf to collegiate golf,” 
Dowling said. “I’m thankful 
she got the experience and got a 
tournament under her belt.”

Dowling also said she realizes 

one of the difficult parts of a 
new season is keeping up the 
momentum from the last one. 
Since the golf season is made 
up of both a fall and spring 
season, the fall season can be 
used to identify weaknesses and 
develop the players.

“I don’t think there is a team 

in any sport that plays their best 
every single week,” Dowling said. 
“It’s a great motivation how you 
react to it. I wouldn’t say we’re 
thrilled with our finish, but at the 
same time we have to learn what 
didn’t go well and get better.”

MATTHEW KENNEDY

Daily Sports Writer

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

The Michigan women’s golf team finished seventh out of eight teams at the East & West Challenge this week.

Evenson making another splash

Before 
she 
joined 
USA 

Triathlon, Avery Evenson had 
ridden a road bike maybe twice in 
her life.

But that didn’t stop her from 

making a huge splash at her debut 
race.

On June 29, 2013, just five 

months after she joined USA 
Triathlon, she competed in the 
Vila Velha PATCO Triathlon 
Pan American Championships. 
Evenson notched sixth place and 
completed the grueling course in 
1:06:38, only one minute behind 
the winner — her teammate 
Tamara Gorman.

“It was definitely a huge 

adjustment just learning how to 
clip in. Learning how to go on 
an hour ride and not tip over at a 
stoplight,” Evenson said.

Now, Evenson is a junior on 

the No. 10 women’s cross-country 
team, and despite suffering an 
injury last spring that kept her 
from running until mid-July this 
year, Evenson has made a similar 
early impact at Michigan.

***

Much has been written about 

Wolverine senior Erin Finn, and 
justifiably so. A three-time All-
American runner, Finn has looked 
better than ever this season, 
rocketing her way to victories at 
both of the Wolverines’ 5,000-
meter races, finishing 45 seconds 
ahead of the runner-up each time.

Evenson’s 
statement 
at 

Michigan’s 
first 
two 
meets, 

though, shows that she may share 
some of the spotlight with Finn.

Just like at her first triathlon, 

Evenson made a huge splash for 
the Wolverines at the Michigan 
Open on Sept. 2 and the Sycamore 
Invitational on Sept. 10, finishing 
third at both. Evenson posted 
times of 17:43.6 and 18:01.0, 
respectively.

“Even 
though 
she’s 
a 

newcomer, she seems like one 
of the veterans,” said Michigan 
coach 
Mike 
McGuire. 
“She’s 

very businesslike, very mature 
with a businesslike approach 
to what she’s doing. It’s been a 

really seamless transition in my 
opinion.”

Making an immediate impact 

has been a staple for Evenson 
since she was at Hartland High 
School.

In her first ever high school 

meet on Aug. 25, 2009, Evenson 
won the 5,000-meter race with 
a time of 19:15.04. She finished 
1:37.08 ahead of her nearest 
competition, 
teammate 
Anna 

Pasternak, who was two years 
older than Evenson and had 
finished 62nd out of 242 runners 
at the Michigan Division I State 
Championships the year before.

“I honestly just love to race,” 

Evenson said. “I don’t think about 
it. I just show up on the line and 
and give it all I have. I think that 
feeling after my first race back in 
high school was just like, ‘Wow! 
I didn’t know that was going to 
happen!’ I just toed the line. I’m 
just a racer I guess.”

Evenson then proved that her 

breakout performance was no 
flash in the pan.

She ran to a runner-up finish at 

the 2009 State Championships in 
18:10.3, leading the Eagles to 15th 
place out of 28 teams. She placed 
11th in her sophomore year with 
a time of 18:01.7 and 5th in her 
junior year at 17:57.2. Still, her best 
time in high school was 17:40.6 — a 
school record — against Brighton 
on Oct. 28, 2011.

At the same time, she excelled 

at long-distance track running, 
breaking 
(and 
still 
holding) 

Hartland’s records in every race 
greater than 800 meters except 
for the 2,400-meter race.

But during her senior year, 

Evenson made the decision to 
train with USA Triathlon, as 
she had been on the swim team 
at Hartland and was skilled at 
cycling. 
She 
graduated 
high 

school one semester early and 
would forego her last year of 
eligibility in cross country and 
track for the Eagles.

***

After her spectacular 2013 

triathlon debut, Evenson never 
slowed down.

She 
finished 
fifth 
at 
the 

2014 Junior World Triathlon 

Championship and took fourth 
place 
at 
the 
2015 
Under-23 

World Triathlon Championship. 
Evenson’s 
success 
had 
her 

preparing for triathlon tryouts for 
the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“I think I really grew in those 

three years as a triathlete,” 
Evenson said. “I learned how to 
be successful when you’re not 
training. So recovering right, 
eating right, doing all of the little 
things that I can control.”

Unfortunately 
for 
Evenson, 

her injury prevented her from 
competing in the tryouts as well 
as competing for the Big Ten-
Champion 
Michigan 
women’s 

track team in 2016, but she still 
has her eyes set on 2020.

“After I’m all done with my 

eligibility, I plan to go back to 
training for triathlon,” Evenson 
said. “It’s one of the reasons I went 
to NCAA running. I knew that my 
run needed work if I ever wanted 
to be on an Olympic team, if I ever 
wanted to stand on a podium at 
the Olympics. My run needed to 

be faster.”

***

Evenson’s injury last spring only 

hardened her desire to be a part 
of a Big Ten title team, whether in 
cross country, track or both.

“It’s 
honestly 
the 
most 

motivating thing ever,” Evenson 
said. “We want that feeling again. 
Coach says it’s all about the 
process. We’re ranked pretty high 
up, but he’s like, ‘We have to earn 
it every day.’ ”

And for Evenson, her triathlon 

experience might prove to be a 
unique asset in achieving that 
goal.

“It makes a cross country race 

look like a sprint,” McGuire said. 
“She’s so aerobically strong and fit 
from everything that she’s done 
in the pool, on the bike over the 
years. I think if we continue to 
keep her healthy, I think she’s just 
starting to scratch the surface.”

NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily sports writer

MEN’S GOLF 

“The difference 

is that he 

believes he can 

win.”

Michigan comes back from rough first 
day with record-setting final round.

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Avery Evenson has made an early impact for the Wolverines.

ROWING
Elmore returns golden

Amanda Elmore isn’t exactly 

sure what her future holds. She’s 
just excited to finally be back in the 
lab. But this time around, she has a 
gold medal to her name. 

Elmore, a Michigan graduate 

student, was selected to represent 
Team USA at the Rio Olympics for 
the women’s eight rowing team. 
After years of training, for which 
she put her education on hold, 
Elmore came home with the gold. 

Elmore’s 
doctoral 
thesis 

adviser, Patrick Schloss, threw 
a party to welcome her home 
and allow her research team to 
celebrate her Olympic journey. 
Elmore wasn’t shy about sharing 
her medal with her peers, allowing 
anyone the opportunity to hold or 
get a picture with her hardware.

“It was an amazing experience 

competing at the Olympics for 
Team USA,” Elmore said. “I’ve 
been working with the national 
team training center for over two 
years now, and to get to be apart 
of the women’s eight — (which) 
hasn’t lost a race in 11 years now — 
was the most amazing experience 
of my life.”

Elmore wasn’t always a rower, 

though. She started rowing during 
her sophomore year at Purdue. She 
walked on to the team and quickly 
learned that she could have a 
future in the sport.

Some of her many accolades 

include Purdue’s Most Valuable 
Oarswoman in 2012 and 2013 and 
ACRA First Boat All-American 
honors in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

After graduating from Purdue, 

Elmore 
arrived 
at 
Michigan 

to join the graduate program 
in biomedical sciences in the 
Department of Microbiology and 
Immunology. With a season of 
eligibility left, she looked to see if 
she could compete as a Wolverine.

As it turned out, she could. 

During her time rowing for 
Michigan, she helped the team to a 
second-place finish at the Big Ten 
Championships and earned All-

Big Ten First Team recognition.

“I remember asking her, ‘So 

are you good?’” Schloss said. “She 
said, ‘Well, I’m OK,’ and here she 
is now years later and she’s the 
best in the world. So, is she good? 
Come on.”

Once her college rowing days 

were over, Elmore thought it 
was finally time for her to focus 
solely on her graduate studies. 
That was until she received a 
phone call from the national team 
coordinator asking her to come 
train at the national team training 
center.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t 

a little bit disappointed because 
she’s an amazing student and 
person, and we wanted her a part 
of our research group,” Schloss 
said. “But, how could I say no? 
That’s my job, I think, to help my 
students do well in life, whether 
it’s in science or on a boat.”

Elmore decided it wasn’t an 

opportunity she could pass up. She 
moved to Princeton, N.J., where 
the national team training center 
is located, and set her sights on the 
Olympics.

But, she didn’t abandon her 

studies completely. She kept in 
touch with her lab through Skype 
phone calls and e-mails and did 
work on her laptop anytime she 
could — all while competing 
against 30 other women for the 
nine spots in the boat that would 
compete in Rio.

Now that the Olympics are over, 

Elmore has to make the transition 
from athlete back to scientist. 
Though, she doesn’t think it will 
be a tough one.

“My education has always 

been my priority,” Elmore said. 
“Growing up, I always did sports, 
but I always put my academics first 
and then that was a side hobby to 
keep me fit and competing and 
having fun.”

That balance was never more 

difficult than when she was 
training for the Olympics while 
working toward a Ph.D.

But Elmore seemed to manage 

just fine.

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Writer

