8A — Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘Team Michigan’ in the hunt for $500,000

Engineering doctoral students 

Kyle 
Hanquist 
and 
Kevin 

Neitzel’s journeys to national 
TV began in an alleyway in 
Copenhagen, Denmark.

At a conference in Europe 

last 
year, 
the 
aerospace 

engineers 
received 
an 
email 

from the University’s College of 
Engineering about a new Golf 
Channel reality show “Driver vs. 
Driver.” The challenge: in “Shark 
Tank” style, aspiring golf club 
designers invent an innovative 
driver to pitch to equipment 
manufacturer Wilson Golf.

Hanquist and Neitzel received 

the information only one week 
before video submissions were 
due and questioned whether 
there would be enough time to 
produce an idea and application.

But the opportunity to combine 

their aerospace knowledge with a 
love for golf couldn’t go to waste 
— not to mention the prospect of 
teaming with one of golf’s most 
legendary brands.

Wilson Golf’s range of products 

includes drivers, fairway woods, 
hybrids, wedges, putters and balls 
for amateur and professional 
players. Since 1922, PGA Tour 
stars Arnold Palmer, John Daly, 
Vijay Singh and others have won 
a combined 61 major tournaments 
using Wilson products.

“Being outside of the golf club 

design industry, we thought our 
idea could bring something new 
to (golfers),” Neitzel said. “And 
there’s 
a 
half-a-million-dollar 

prize, so that was pretty good, too.”

After 
brainstorming 
to 

reach their best concept, they 
conducted the video shoot in the 
Copenhagen alleyway.

“That was pretty random,” 

Hanquist said. “But I think it 
helped us stand out when they 
saw us.”

Besting over 300 applicants, 

Hanquist and Neitzel — now 
coined 
“Team 
Michigan” 
— 

were among 11 teams selected 
to compete head-to-head on the 

show. Engineers, teachers and 
golf professionals are among the 
many hopefuls.

The seven-episode elimination 

series 
culminates 
with 
the 

announcement of the winner on 
the Nov. 22 finale. The $500,000 
grand prize comes with a chance 
for the winning driver design to 
be included in next year’s Wilson 
product line.

The first episode aired on 

Oct. 4 and the second this past 
Tuesday. Teams pitched their 
designs to judges Tim Clarke, 
President of Wilson Golf; Frank 
Thomas, former United States 
Golf 
Association 
Technical 

Director; and Brian Urlacher, 
former Chicago Bears linebacker 
and avid golfer.

Through 
two 
episodes, 

Team Michigan survived the 
elimination of five teams and 
were surprised the cut was so 
steep so early in the filming. The 
third episode airs Tuesday, and 
Hanquist and Neitzel say they 
will be heavily featured.

“To have a one-in-six chance 

on half-a-million dollars, I’d take 
those odds,” Hanquist said.

Even if defeated, Hanquist and 

Neitzel plan to pursue turning 
their driver design into a business.

Team Michigan is confident 

its expertise in aerodynamics 
will not only help golfers hit balls 
with greater velocity and further, 
but straighter off the tee. They 
turned to Formula One cars and 
airplane designs’ aerodynamics 
for inspiration to incorporate into 
their club technology.

“(Wilson 
Golf) 
wants 

something that’s new, that’s going 
to break the mold a little bit, so we 
really tried to be different than 
what’s out there already,” Neitzel 
said. “We really focused on things 
that we would want in a driver, 
and pushed things a little bit with 
the physics background we have.”

Taping started last October 

at 
Wilson’s 
Chicago-area 

headquarters and presents the 
full process of bringing driver 
ideas to life. Although Hanquist 

and Neitzel know the contest’s 
outcome, they are prohibited from 
disclosure. However, they alluded 
the next five episodes shift focus 
from design pitches to the evolution 
and production of tangible clubs, 
with more contestants getting cut 
along the way.

Though having their club being 

used on the PGA Tour would be a 
remarkable feat, Team Michigan 
hopes one person above anyone 
else will “grip it and rip it.”

“We see (Michigan football) 

head coach Jim Harbaugh golfing 
in a lot of Pro-Ams,” Hanquist 
said. “That would probably be 
the coolest thing ever if we saw 
him using our golf club at Pebble 
Beach. I mean, that would be the 
most surreal thing ever.”

Over a year ago, Hanquist and 

Neitzel shot their application video 
in a Copenhagen alleyway, with 
no idea if they would get a spot on 
the show. Now, the opportunity to 
represent their university on such 
a large scale is one neither man 
could ever have imagined.

COURTESY OF KYLE HANQUIST

Michigan doctoral students Kyle Hanquist (left) and Kevin Neitzel are competing to design a new driver for Wilson Golf.

BENJAMIN KATZ

For the Daily

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty made this year’s preseason All-Big Ten team.

MEN’S SOCCER
‘M’ stands united with 
Ohio State in rivalry

There is arguably no bigger 

rivalry in college athletics than 
Ohio State-Michigan, but some 
things are bigger than sports. 
That was evident Friday night, 
when the Michigan men’s soccer 
team put the competition aside 
to honor Fikayo Idowu, the Ohio 
State defender who passed away 
in a drowning accident in June.

For a brief moment, there 

were no Wolverines or Buckeyes, 
just players and fans observing 
a moment of silence for one of 
their own. Idowu was a young 
man who had the same passion 
and played the game with the 
same intensity as the Michigan 
players. This sense of community 
is rare in any matchup between 
Ohio State and Michigan.

“Sports 
give 
us 
an 

extraordinary opportunity to 
come together,” said Michigan 
senior captain defender Lars 
Eckenrode. “Coming into this 
game I felt we had an opportunity 
to honor their player, who passed 
away, and it did bring us closer.”

Eckenrode wrote a letter to 

the Ohio State program on behalf 
of the Wolverines, sending their 
condolences in a time of grieving. 
The team wanted to further 
honor Idowu on Friday evening.

“Our captains approached us 

to want to do something prior to 
the game,” said Michigan coach 
Chaka Daley. “To do something 
for the game I thought was great, 
to continue to honor his memory 
regardless of the rivalry.”

Despite the pregame show of 

respect, the rivalry proved fierce 
as ever on the field. Throughout 
the game, the teams committed 
hard fouls and kept tensions high.

This was evident near the end 

of the first half, when Michigan 
junior defender Billy Stevens had 
to be held back by teammates 

during an argument with several 
Ohio State players, following a 
hard foul against the Buckeyes. 
In overtime, Stevens was again 
restrained 
by 
teammates, 

following an altercation that led 
to yellow cards for players on both 
sides. The game ended with 34 
total fouls. Michigan’s previous 
outing featured just 20 total fouls.

Historically, 
the 
Buckeyes 

have had the edge in the rivalry, 
holding a 20-10-1 record going 
into 
Friday 
night’s 
game. 

Michigan needed a win to avenge 
last year’s performances. In 2015, 
the Wolverines went 0-2 against 
Ohio State, losing in both the 
regular season and in the Big Ten 
Championship.

The game was filled with 

intense play, and neither side 
could 
gain 
any 
momentum. 

However, with 23 seconds left in 
the second overtime, Ohio State 
scored, ending the game 1-0.

Off the field, the bond between 

each team runs deep. Ohio State 
assistant coach Ian Gordona 
spent two seasons at Michigan. 
Forwards Jacob Duska and Nate 
Kohl transferred to the Buckeyes 
after each spent their freshman 
years in Ann Arbor.

“It’s always fun,” Eckenrode 

said. “And it was cool to see 
(former teammates) on the field 
again.”

This is another example of 

a bright spot on an otherwise 
bitter coexistence.

While the majority of the time 

there is nothing but animosity 
between the sides, honoring 
Idowu showed that there are 
things that transcend the rivalry 
and puts the game on hold.

“Football is one thing, but life 

is another,” Daley said.

It’s moments like the one 

before Friday’s game that Daley’s 
point is never more evident, and 
reminds fans that at the end of 
the day, everybody is human.

Just nine minutes into the 

second race of the day, the 
Michigan women’s rowing team’s 
first boat, after starting in eighth 
place, overtook Penn’s boat to 
slide into third. At the same 
moment, the New York Athletic 
Club came up from behind and 
pushed the Wolverines into 
fourth. But Michigan kept steady 
on the meter of first-eight junior 
coxswain Nadia 
Roohparvar 
for 
the 
next 

seven minutes. 
Michigan went 
on to give up 
only one spot 
to 
first 
bow-

number Brown 
in 
the 
final 

stretch for a top-
five finish. 

This 
weekend, 
the 

Wolverines sent two eights 
to the 52nd annual Head of 
the Charles regatta in Boston. 
Competing Sunday against 33 
other boats, both Michigan’s 
first and second eights placed 
in the top 10 of the women’s 
championship race.

“Practices have been intense,” 

Roohparvar said. “There’s been 
a lot of switching between boats; 
I think people have been really 
stepping up to the challenge … 
Lots of the results (Sunday) were 
exceeding expectation for this 
point in the season.” 

The 
race 
began 
with 

Michigan’s first eight in eighth 
place, and its second eight in 15th 
overall. After passing the first 
marker at 4:12.083, the second 
boat was in 18th place. Within 
five minutes, at the Weld marker, 
the crew pushed itself to 10th.

The talk of the race from 

Michigan’s end was volunteer 
assistant coach, Felice Mueller, 

who rowed for the New York 
Athletic Club. Her boat overtook 
the Wolverines at the second 
marker, 
just 
as 
Michigan 

overtook Penn at time 9:29.775.

While the second eight looked 

to make their way up to ninth, 
the first eight looked to maintain 
their top-five place. Past the CBC 
marker at just over 14 minutes, 
Brown inched just past the 
Wolverines. Unable to take back 
fourth in the final two minutes, 
Michigan maintained its lead 

over 
Virginia 

by under seven 
seconds 
for 

a 
fifth-place 

finish time of 
16:53.339.

Though 

it 
was 
a 

picturesque 
day 
on 
the 

Charles River, 

high-speed winds made the 
course challenging. As much 
as the race was about strong 
rowing, the conditions made 
it also a tough test of steering 
and planning. According to 
Roohparvar, the start of the 
race was particularly windy.

“There’s a lot of chaos, and you 

kind of have to keep your cool,” 
she said. “The start was really, 
really windy, but we were able to 
make up a lot of ground because 
we dealt with it better than a lot 
of crews did.”

Coach 
Mark 
Rothstein 

highlighted 
Roohparvar 
and 

second-eight coxswain freshman 
Kathryn Boyle, as well as stroke 
seats Kaitlin Wright and second-
eight senior Tessa Yurko.

“There’s a lot of steering, and 

it’s important for the coxswains 
to manage that well,” Rothstein 
said. “I thought both our stroke 
seats set really good rhymes. 
I feel good about the results, a 
much stronger result than we 
had last year.”

HUNTER SHARF

For the Daily

Michigan observes moment of silence 
for late Buckeye defender Fikayo Idowu

ROWING
Michigan finishes in top 
10 at Head of the Charles

Wolverines’ first varsity eight boat 
comes in fifth; second eight takes 10th

SOPHIE CLOHERTY

For the Daily

“There’s a lot of 
chaos, and you 
have to keep 
your cool.”

Flaherty a preseason 
All-Big Ten selection

Junior point guard Katelynn 

Flaherty is probably the most 
familiar face on the Michigan 
women’s basketball team — 
and with good reason. She 
already holds program records 
in points, with 774, and field 
goals, with 280.

Those numbers have now 

gotten the attention of the 
rest of the Big Ten. Flaherty 
was named to the preseason 
All-Big Ten team, the first 
Wolverine 
to 
earn 
that 

distinction since LeeAnn Bies 
received the same honors 
14 years ago. Flaherty was a 
unanimous pick for the All-
Big Ten squad, one of just five 
players to earn that distinction 
this season.

But adulation for Flaherty 

has not been limited to those 
inside the Big Ten.

She was also put on the 

preseason watch list for the 
Nancy Lieberman Award, an 
honor given to the NCAA’s best 
point guard. Among returning 
players, Flaherty ranked third 
in the nation in scoring in 
2015-16.

As if all of that weren’t 

enough, she was even picked as 
a preseason fourth-team All-
American by Sporting News. 
Flaherty 
received 
an 
All-

American honorable mention 
by the Women’s Basketball 
Coaches’ Association at the 
end of last year.

While 
she 
already 
has 

multiple 
Michigan 
team 

records 
under 
her 
belt, 

Flaherty appears poised to 
break more as she still has two 
years of eligibility remaining. 
She currently ranks third in 
Wolverine history in scoring 

average with 18 points, 10th 
in total points with 1273, 
fourth in 3-pointers with 183 
and second in free-throw 
percentage at .879.

Flaherty will not be the only 

source of offensive firepower 
for Michigan, though.

Sophomore center Hallie 

Thome 
and 
senior 
guard 

Siera Thompson, who ranked 
second and third, respectively, 
in scoring for the Wolverines 
in 2015-16, will be back in 
action this season. Freshman 
guard 
Kysre 
Gondrezick 

also figures to factor into 
Michigan’s offense, as she 
scored a state-record 72 points 
in a game for Benton Harbor 
High School.

But 
even 
with 
that 

strong supporting cast, the 
Wolverines’ scoring will not 
live up to its potential without 
Flaherty’s 
outstanding 

offensive output.

Junior guard becomes first Michigan 
player on preseason squad since 2002

NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily Sports Writer

BY THE NUMBERS

Katelynn Flaherty

10

Flaherty’s all-time program rank 
in points with 1,273 (she has two 

years of eligibility remaining)

4

Flaherty’s all-time program rank 

in career 3-pointers with 183, 

including 105 last year
774

Points for Flaherty last year, the 

most in program history for a single 

season by a margin of 115

