2B — January 30, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘M’ thrives at Saginaw Valley 
State Jets Pizza Invitational

Through just two scored 
meets this season, the No. 11 
Michigan women’s track and 
field team is already where 
Michigan coach James Henry 
expected it to be. Amongst the 
Wolverines’ five event wins at 
the non-scoring Saginaw Valley 
State Jets Pizza Invitational 
this past weekend, Michigan’s 
runners claimed the top seven 
spots in the one-mile race and 
swept the top four spots in the 
weight throw.
“The pressure is on its way,” 
Henry said. “So this meet we 
just wanted to relax and have 
some fun.”
On Friday, competitors in the 
field events started on a high 
note, as junior Bailey Baker 
notched a personal record in the 
weight throw, tossing for 18.42 
meters. 
Freshman 
Courtney 

Jacobsen, junior Kayla Deering 
and freshman Meagan Malloy 
followed 
suit, 
taking 
the 
second, third and fourth spots 
for Michigan, respectively.
“The first month of the 
indoor season is where you 
work, and the second month is 
where you see results,” Baker 
said. “Our group is seeing 
results pretty early, and I think 
that’s a testament to how hard 
we’ve been training and all the 
work we’ve put in.”
Deering 
claimed 
second 
place in the shot put with a 
14.12 meter heave, while Baker 
finished in fifth.
In the high jump, senior 
Aaron Howell took first after 
clearing the bar at 1.68 meters, 
while freshman Jada Wimberly 
came in second just behind her 
with a top height of 1.63 meters. 
In the pole vault, senior Sarah 
Uhlian 
was 
the 
runner-up, 
clearing the bar at 3.70 meters, 

trailing only Windsor’s Rachael 
Wolfs, who cleared 3.91 meters.
Much of the Wolverines’ early 
success this year has come from 
strong performances from their 
freshmen. The group has been 
headlined by Julia Hall, who 
has finished first and second 
in two 600-meter races at the 
Simmons-Harvey 
Invitational 
and the Notre Dame Invitational, 
respectively. 
This 
weekend, 
in her 400-meter debut, Hall 
claimed first place once again, 
besting the second-place finisher 
by more than 0.5 seconds.
“I 
was 
still 
a 
little 
disappointed with my time, but 
it was a learning race,” Hall 
said. “I know it’s not possible to 
break a record every meet, but 
I’m excited to see what I can do 
with a little more practice.”
Senior 
Courtney 
Munley 
competed 
unattached 
for 
Michigan and won the mile run 
by a large eight-second margin. 

The next six spots were also 
claimed by Wolverine runners, 
five of whom broke five-minute 
miles on the day.
Another Michigan victory 
came in the 4x400-meter relay 
race, 
in 
which 
sophomore 
Lauren Rodriguez, freshman 
Jade 
Harrison 
and 
seniors 
Haley 
Meier 
and 
Gina 
McNamara finished in 3:53.42.
McNamara claimed the fifth 
victory for the Wolverines, this 
time in the 800-meter contest.
While Michigan is heartened 
to see success this early in 
the year, its sights are set on 
remaining healthy and working 
to improve for the Big Ten Indoor 
Championships in a few weeks.
“We want our kids to have an 
outstanding performance later 
in the year,” Henry said. “Our 
goal here in January is just for 
the team to put forth a good 
effort and get ready for the 
result month (February).”

KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Senior Courtney Munley competed unattached for the Wolverines this weekend but still won the mile race at the Saginaw Valley State Jets Pizza Invitational.

TOR THORNE 
Daily Sports Writer

Wolverines break 
records in Boston

For the first time in program 
history, the Michigan men’s 
track team had three athletes 
run a sub-four minute mile in a 
single race.
“It 
was 
outstanding,” 
assistant coach Kevin Sullivan 
said. “My freshman year when 
I competed at Michigan, we had 
two guys go under four minutes 
and we thought that was a pretty 
big deal.”
Graduate students Ned Willig 
and Will Sheeran and senior 
Connor Mora all broke the 
four-minute mark at the Boston 
University John 
Thomas Terrier 
Classic, with all 
three 
reaching 
the milestone for 
the first time in 
their careers.
“I was just very 
excited,” 
Willig 
said. “It’s been a 
goal for a while, so 
it’s cool to finally 
reach that.”
Both Willig and Sheeran 
spent their undergraduate years 
at Brown University, with the 
former bringing home three Ivy 
League Championships during 
his time with the Bears.
“We knew coming in that all 
three guys had the potential 
to run under four minutes,” 
Sullivan added. “I was really 
hoping that at least one of the 
three would.
“It’s such a big barrier in the 
athletic world. … It says a lot 
about where the program is right 
now.”
In addition to the success of 
the runners in the mile race, 
the Wolverines were able to 
showcase some of its younger 
athletes at the meet.
After nearly winning the 400-
meter dash, sophomore Taylor 
McLaughlin was 0.1 seconds 
away from breaking Michigan’s 
record in the 200-meter dash, 

finishing fourth overall in the 
event.
“I think Taylor was a little 
disappointed with his 400,” 
Sullivan said. “For him to come 
back two hours later and run 
the 
second-fastest 
time 
in 
Michigan history showed a lot of 
resilience.”
Since arriving in Ann Arbor, 
the New Jersey native has 
quickly 
established 
himself 
as 
one 
of 
the 
program’s 
most 
promising 
athletes. 
McLaughlin 
has 
already 
managed to win a Big Ten 
championship, set a school 
record 
in 
the 
400-meter 
run and finish second in the 
Under-20 
World 
Junior 
championships 
in 
the 
400-
meter hurdles.
In 
addition 
to taking part 
in the Terrier 
Classic, 
the 
Wolverines 
also 
competed 
in the Saginaw 
Valley State Jets 
Pizza Invitational this weekend, 
where some of the team’s less 
experienced runners had the 
opportunity to showcase their 
abilities.
Notable 
performances 
included sophomore Matthew 
Plowman’s second-place finish 
in the 800-meter run — a career-
best — and sophomore Blake 
Washington’s 
second-place 
finish in the 400-meter run.
Despite that half of the team 
was spread out at different 
competitions, 
both 
Sullivan 
and Willig stressed that the 
dispersed set-up did not impact 
the team’s preparation. Willig 
mentioned that, though the team 
had been split up, he received 
a lot of texts congratulating 
him on his record-breaking 
performance.
“Everyone’s very supportive 
even though we’re not competing 
in the same place,” Willig said.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Imagining the perfect ‘Signing of the Stars’
A 

year ago, Tom Brady, Ric 
Flair and Migos made 
Hill Auditorium home to 
the most star-studded National 
Signing Day in 
the country. 
In case you 
dismissed 
that event as a 
fever dream, 
it bears 
repeating that 
on that day, 
Jim Leyland 
— longtime 
MLB 
Manager 
and least likely rap fan in the 
building — dabbed with the 
up-and-coming Atlanta rap trio 
Migos. Other than being an 
unpredictable collision of worlds, 
it was proof that, at ‘Signing of 
the Stars’, anything can happen.
That got us at the Michigan 
Daily thinking: What would be 
the perfect ‘Signing of the Stars?’ 
Who should introduce whom? Is 
the dab too dead to revive? We 
took a stab at predicting the ideal 
event.
11:00 a.m.: Doors open. 
Fans are stunned when they 
enter and, in place of last year’s 
cardboard cutouts, they find a 
wax sculpture of every single 
commit. There first appear to 
be two sculptures of three-star 
running back Kurt Taylor, but 
fans eventually realize Taylor 
has simply decided to pose next 
to his likeness, completely still, 
until the event begins. Oddly, 
his biceps are even more defined 
than the wax sculpture.
11:08 a.m.: Upon arriving at 
their seats, guests are delighted 
to discover Jordan Brand Signing 
of the Stars headbands. It’s not 
clear whether fans will ever use 
them, but the Jumpman logo is 
enough to send them over the 
moon.
11:59 a.m.: As lights dim in 
Crisler Center, the crowd begins 
to applaud as Randy Sklar takes 

the stage, ready to host the event 
for the second straight year. But 
just as he raises the microphone 
to his mouth, familiar music 
blares over the public address 
system, startling him. Sklar 
looks over his shoulder to see 
John Cena charging toward 
him. Cena steals the mic and 
challenges Sklar to a title match 
for the right to host the event. 
Sklar suggests the two share 
emcee responsibilities, and, for 
some reason, Cena agrees to the 
compromise.
12:12 p.m.: Harbaugh takes 
the stage for the first time. 
He does not seem to be totally 
sure whether he invited Cena, 
of if he just sort of showed up. 
Harbaugh introduces himself 
to the wrestling star and asks 
if Cena has any eligibility left. 

“You’d make a heck of a fullback,” 
Harbaugh tells him.
12:17 p.m.: Migos makes 
their first appearance to get the 
crowd fired up. They perform 
“T-Shirt,” and as the crowd goes 
wild, Quavo requests that “the 
kid in the Brady jersey I always 
saw dabbing on TV” come up on 
stage. A line of 40-50 students 
forms near the stage.
12:28 p.m.: Harbaugh begins 
introducing the early enrollees. 
The first celebrity presenters, 
introducing five-star receiver 
Donovan Peoples-Jones, are 
the Young Pope and the actual 
Pope, both of whom declare 
their fondness for Harbaugh. 
Harbaugh fist-bumps the Young 
Pope and formally asks the actual 
Pope to baptize his newborn son, 
John, at the Vatican this spring. 

The Pope agrees to do so.
12:35 p.m.: Things are 
starting to get weird. Cena goes 
on a minute-long rant about how 
hungry he is and demands that 
sophomore offensive lineman 
Michael Onwenu, seated in the 
front row, share his large bowl 
of grapes. Onwenu refuses. 
Cena challenges him to wrestle 
for the grapes, but when 
Onwenu stands up to accept the 
challenge, Cena inexplicably 
rescinds the offer.
12:46 p.m.: Harbaugh sets up 
a live video stream introducing 
four-star quarterback Dylan 
McCaffrey. But Harbaugh can 
also be seen in the background of 
the video, climbing a tree behind 
McCaffrey’s house. At first, fans 
assume this must just be a taped 
video, but then the quarterback 

starts taking audience questions. 
One asks how it is possible 
Harbaugh is in the background. 
“Oh, that’s just one of his 
recruiting clon-” he starts to 
respond, before Harbaugh cuts 
the feed and abruptly moves on.
12:54 p.m.: The stadium goes 
fully dark for just one moment, 
and when the lights come back 
on, the stage has been turned 
into a courtroom set, Judge Judy 
presiding. Harbaugh and NCAA 
President Mark Emmert emerge 
and debate the NCAA’s recent 
passage of a measure banning 
Spring Break practice trips. 
Emmert spends his entire time 
allotment trying to explain Judge 
Judy doesn’t have jurisdiction 
over the NCAA. Judge Judy asks 
who does have jurisdiction over 
the NCAA. Emmert vanishes into 

thin air.
1:22 p.m.: That last part took a 
while. Sensing the crowd starting 
to get distracted, Harbaugh calls 
in the big guns. Tom Brady walks 
out onto the stage, with fans 
wondering aloud whether it’s a 
good idea for him to be in Ann 
Arbor during Super Bowl week. 
Brady confesses he’s actually in 
town to help the Patriots sign 
star cornerback Jourdan Lewis 
to their Super Bowl roster. “You 
can’t do that!” one Falcons fan 
shouts from the upper bowl. “You 
have to wait for the draft!”
“Who’s going to stop me?” 
Brady responds. “Roger 
Goodell?” Harbaugh and Brady 
look at each other and then burst 
into maniacal laughter. Migos is 
visibly upset.
1:36 p.m.: Harbaugh 
announces that he has a special 
surprise for fans. Najee Harris, 
the nation’s No. 1 overall player 
and an early-enrollee at Alabama, 
emerges from the tunnel and 
announces he has changed 
his mind. He wants to come to 
Michigan. Emmert re-appears 
out of thin air, ready to scold 
Harris, but Cena uses his famous 
“Attitude Adjustment” on the 
NCAA president. Emmert 
decides to allow Harris to 
transfer and play immediately.
1:40 p.m. Grateful for the 
recruiting help, Harbaugh 
convinces Onwenu to share his 
grapes with Cena.
1:41 p.m. – 1:59 p.m.: The rest 
of the event goes on. It’s basically 
the same as last year.
2:02 p.m.: Fans exit the arena 
and realize that those weren’t 
wax sculptures at all. Those were 
the real players. “So how were 
there two Kurt Taylors?” one 
intrepid student asks.
It’s a great question.

Max Bultman knows this was 

super weird. He can be reached 

at bultmanm@umich.edu or 

on Twitter @m_bultman.

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

FILE PHOTO/Daily
Jim Leyland and Migos were among the many famous celebrities that traveled to Ann Arbor to participate in the ‘Signing of the Stars’ at Hill Auditorium last year. 

MAX 
BULTMAN

CHRISTIAN NEUBACHER
Daily Sports Writer

“It’s been a goal 
for a while, so 
it’s cool to finally 
reach that”

