The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
February 20, 2017 — 3B

Wolverines repeat as Big Ten champions

As soon as it became official, 

28 members of the Michigan 
women’s swimming and diving 
team 
— 
donning 
Big 
Ten 

Champion baseball caps and 
T-shirts — hurled themselves into 
the diving well at Boilermaker 
Aquatic Center on Saturday night. 
Coach Mike Bottom followed suit, 
entering the water emphatically 
with a victorious front-flip. When 
the Wolverines began to sing 
a splash-filled version of “The 
Victors,” reality set in — Michigan 
had just won back-to-back Big 
Ten Championships.

“I don’t swim like I used to 

swim,” Bottom laughed. “But 
I float a lot better than I used to 
float.”

After 
sophomore 
Siobhan 

Haughey was disqualified in the 
200-yard IM final on Thursday 
night 
after 
touching 
first, 

Michigan’s chances at repeating 
looked bleak. The Wolverines, 
who would have been in first 
place if Haughey had won, sat in 
third going into the final two days 
of the meet — trailing Indiana by 
30.

But No. 6 Michigan was up for 

the challenge.

“I looked at the team and 

basically said, ‘Hey, what are we 
gonna do about this?’” Bottom 
said. “They responded very well 
the next day. We had incredible 
swims — we had one of the best 
mornings I think this Michigan 
program has ever seen.”

The Wolverines recorded 47 

career bests and 10 new school 
records en route to winning 
their 16th Big Ten title. It marked 
the first time the team took 
home 
consecutive 
conference 

championships since the 1997-98 
seasons. Michigan finished the 
meet with 1,287 points, while 
Indiana placed second with 1,125 
points and Wisconsin rounded 
out the top three with 1,101.5 
points.

Michigan was aided by top-

notch performances when it 
needed them most. Junior G Ryan 
had a dominant showing, tasting 
victory in the 500-yard freestyle, 
1,650-yard freestyle and 800-yard 

freestyle relay.

“I was really just determined to 

score as many points as I could for 
Michigan, that was what I came 
here to do,” Ryan said. “The 500 
and the mile were great because I 
could see my team on the side of 
the pool, so every time I breathed 
that way I knew that I had the 
team behind me.”

In the 200-yard freestyle, 

Haughey defended her Big Ten 
title, posting school, Big Ten and 
Big Ten Championship records 
with a time of 1:42.49. The 
sophomore picked up second 
place in the 100-yard freestyle as 
well.

Junior Clara Smiddy — the 

defending Big Ten champion in 
the 100-yard backstroke — placed 
second in both the 100-yard and 
200-yard 
backstroke 
events, 

while freshman Vanessa Krause 
touched second and third in the 
200-yard and 100-yard butterfly 
events, respectively. Junior Emily 
Kopas set a school record in the 
100-yard 
breaststroke 
(59.54), 

finishing fifth in the event.

From start to finish, relays 

played an integral role in the 
Wolverines’ scoring. Michigan 
kicked off competition with a win 
in the 800-yard freestyle relay 
(sophomore Yirong Bi, Haughey, 

junior Gabby DeLoof, Ryan), 
breaking school, Big Ten and Big 
Ten Championship records. In the 
400-yard medley relay (Smiddy, 
Kopas, Krause, Haughey), the 
Wolverines set yet another school 
record and claimed third. To close 
out the meet, Michigan placed 
second in the 400-yard freestyle 
relay (sophomore Catie DeLoof, 
Haughey, 
sophomore 
Becca 

Postoll, Gabby DeLoof).

On the boards, senior Keegan 

McCaffrey took home 13th in 
the one-meter diving event, 
while freshman Kristen Hayden 
and senior Allie Murphy placed 
16th and 21st, respectively. 
Hayden 
finished 
11th 
and 

McCaffrey finished 19th in 
the three-meter event. In the 
platform diving finals, junior 
Dani VanderZwaag, Murphy 
and McCaffrey placed 11th, 12th 
and 13th, respectively.

“Our divers scored a lot of 

points,” Bottom said. “On this last 
night when we knew we had to 
beat Indiana, all five of our divers 
scored. That was huge.”

For Michigan’s seniors, it was 

certainly an exciting way to finish 
their Big Ten careers. Seniors 
Maddy Frost, Madison Horton, 
Celia Keany and Julia Fiks Salem 
all made finals in at least one of 

their events.

“It was fun to see our senior 

leadership — who have not always 
been the leaders in the water 
because they weren’t the best 
of swimmers — all score today,” 
Bottom said.

But the Wolverines’ success did 

not come easy. When Michigan 
was just about counted out with 
two 
days 
remaining, 
coach 

Bottom delivered one simple 
message to the team.

“We 
talked 
about 

understanding who we are — 
using the emotions, whatever 
the emotions are … to move us 
forward as champions,” Bottom 
said.

Added Ryan: “He talked to us 

about belief — belief in each other 
and what we’re capable of — and 
we never let go of that and that’s 
why we ended up champions 
tonight.”

But for Ryan and many others, 

the magnitude of a conference 
championship still has not set in.

“It hasn’t processed at all 

yet,” Ryan said. “It’s amazing — 
that much I know right now. It’s 
incredible to watch this team 
grow even more year after year.

“It’s an honor to be able to say 

that we’re the best in the Big Ten 
this year.”

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

The Michigan women’s swimming and diving team repeated as conference champions for the first time since 1997-98.

ZACH GAN
For the Daily

‘M’ falls in Madison

MADISON 
— 
With 
just 

under nine minutes left, it 
looked 
as 

though the 
Michigan 
hockey 
team 
might 
be 
gaining 
some 

momentum against No. 20 
Wisconsin (10-4 Big Ten, 17-10-
1 overall) — the Wolverines had 
gained a lead in shots while the 
score sat tied at four.

But 
any 
semblance 
of 

momentum was halted when 
Wisconsin 
forward 
Will 

Johnson fired a shot toward 
the net that Badger defenseman 
Peter Tischke tipped into the 
net for the game-winning goal 
en route to a 6-4 victory.

It was a high-scoring game, 

and the goal-scoring started 
almost immediately.

Wisconsin 
forward 
Luke 

Kunin controlled the opening 
faceoff and shot it into the 
Michigan zone. Fellow Badger 
forward Matt Ustaski reached 
the puck first and passed it up 
to forward Trent Frederic, who 
beat Michigan goaltender Zach 
Nagelvoort just eight seconds 
into the game.

The Wolverines (2-10-2-2, 

9-16-3) didn’t stay down for 
long, though.

Just 35 seconds later, junior 

forward 
Tony 
Calderone 

corralled the puck behind the 
net. He then passed it back in 
front of Wisconsin goaltender 
Matt Jurusik, where freshman 
forward James Sanchez was 
waiting to tie the score at 1-1.

“No one wants to see us get 

scored on so fast, or in general, 
for that matter,” said junior 
forward Cutler Martin. “… I 
think it was the next shift, we 
bounced back, scored a goal. 
That got us back up on our feet, 
back into the game.”

The teams would go back 

and forth to end the first 
period, with Martin scoring 
one himself for Michigan and 
Frederic tallying another one 
for the Badgers.

In the second period, a 

nice individual effort from 
Wisconsin 
forward 
Aidan 

Callini put the Badgers back 
on top. But once again, the 
Wolverines answered back.

This time, it was junior 

forward Joseph Cecconi, who 
ripped one from the blue line to 
beat Jurusik high to his glove 
side, evening the score at 3-3. It 
was the first goal of Cecconi’s 
career, and after a somewhat 
subdued 
celebration, 
the 

sophomore collected the puck 
for himself.

“I’m not a big goal scorer,” 

Cecconi said. “If I score, 
when I do score, I’m not going 
to go down and do the nice 
celebration like some of the 
forwards do. I’ve been there 
before, like any other hockey 
player, so I was excited. It was 
awesome to get the first one.

“(The puck) is in my bag right 

now. I think I’ll probably give it 
to my dad when I get home, or 
my grandpa or something like 
that.”

In the third period, there was 

more back-and-forth action. 
After Wisconsin defenseman 
Jake Linhart scored a goal off 
his leg, freshman defenseman 
Luke Martin handled the puck 
at the Wisconsin blue line. He 
fired a somewhat slow shot 
toward Jurusik, and freshman 
forward 
Adam 
Winborg 

deflected it into the net to tie it 
up at 4-4.

“I thought we played a pretty 

good game,” said Michigan 
coach Red Berenson. “I’m tired 
of saying it with the result 
that we’re getting. We can’t 
outscore our mistakes. We’re 
doing a lot of good things. We 
missed some chances — even in 
the last minute, before they got 
the empty net goal, Sanchez has 
a rebound chance. If that goes 
in, the game’s tied up again.

“But that’s what we’re doing. 

We’re chasing our mistakes, 
and we weren’t good enough.”

After 
a 
disappointing 

weekend against the Badgers, 
Michigan 
will 
travel 
to 

Columbus to take on No. 14 
Ohio 
State 
next 
weekend 

looking to right the ship once 
again. 

ICE HOCKEY

ICE HOCKEY

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor

MICHIGAN
WISCONSIN 

4
6

Michigan’s improvements
not enough to top Badgers

MADISON — Eight seconds 

into Saturday’s game, Wisconsin 
forward Trent Frederic scored. 
After that, it was a game of catch 
up. 

Two Michigan forwards — 

freshman James Sanchez and 
junior Cutler Martin — each 
scored a goal afterward to put 
the Wolverines’ hockey team in 
the lead. And then the Badgers 
scored two goals, and Michigan 
scored one of its own, and on 
it went until Wisconsin finally 
claimed the game at the end of 
the third period, 6-4.

It was the Badgers’ second win 

of the weekend, sweeping the 
Wolverines (2-10-2-2 Big Ten, 
9-16-3 overall) with a similar 5-2 
win on Friday.

Both losses were tough to 

absorb. 
Despite 
the 
sweep, 

though, 
certain 
aspects 
of 

Michigan’s 
game 
appeared 

better this weekend than it has 
in the past.

“We did some good things 

and we have to 
keep 
building 

on 
the 
good 

things,” 
said 

Michigan coach 
Red 
Berenson. 

“And we’ve got 
to eliminate the 
not-so-good 
things. … Our 
mistakes are too 
costly. I don’t 
think 
we’re 

playing high-risk hockey, I think 
we’re playing the right way. 
Right now we’re just not good 
enough.

“We’re not deep enough, we’re 

not good enough, and defensively 
it’s showing up. I mean, we 
scored four goals on the road. 
Most years that’s going to win 
you a game, but not this year.”

In a season in which the 

Wolverines had established an 
unfavorable early trend of being 
outshot by the majority of their 
opponents, the past few weeks 
have 
shown 
improvement. 

On 
Saturday, 

Michigan 
outshot 
Wisconsin 
38-29. 
Last 

Friday, it outshot 
Michigan State, 
31-19. And the 
Friday 
before, 

it topped Ohio 
State 
with 
38 

shots compared 
to the Buckeyes’ 
29.

It’s not perfect and it isn’t 

happening 
every 
game. 
But 

in comparison to earlier in 
the season, when the Badgers 
outshot the Wolverines 41-21 
and 35-19, or when then-No. 6 
Penn State outshot them 58-23 
and 48-29, it’s definitely an 
improvement.

The youth of the team has 

proven to be imperative to the 

team’s 
growth, 

as the freshman 
forward duo of 
Jake Slaker and 
Will 
Lockwood 

are No. 1 and 
No. 
2 
on 
the 

team in points, 
respectively. 
Lockwood 
is 

also second in 
goals with seven, 
while Slaker is in 

a three-way tie for third with six.

Special 
teams 
have 
also 

improved for Michigan. At the 
beginning of the year, its penalty 
kill was ranked, but that ranking 
has since fallen. The decline 
came to a low-point two weeks 
ago when the Wolverines faced 
No. 11 Ohio State and gave up 
seven power-play goals over 

the course of two games. But 
this weekend, the penalty kill 
stepped back up, allowing only a 
single power-play goal.

“Special 
teams, 
we 
were 

good,” 
Berenson 
said. 
“The 

power play was 
pretty good. The 
penalty 
killing 

was pretty good. 
They’ve 
got 
a 

dangerous power 
play, they ended 
up scoring, but 
they’re 
going 

to 
get 
their 

chances. 
I 

thought it was a 
step forward for 

our special teams.”

But even with improvements, 

Michigan still isn’t recording 
wins. Turnovers and defensive 
lapses marred the Wolverines’ 
performances this weekend and 
left them struggling to catch up 
with the Badgers in a lopsided 
back-and-forth series.

And consistency hasn’t been 

friendly to Michigan this year, 
providing yet another hurdle for 
the team to overcome before it 
can tally any additional wins.

Overall, the past weekend 

provided 
insight 
into 
the 

progress the Wolverines have 
made this season. They’re better 
than they have been — but 
they’re still not good enough to 
record their first sweep of the 
season.

“I thought we played a pretty 

good game, and I’m tired of 
saying it with the result we’re 
getting,” Berenson said. “We 
can’t outscore our mistakes. 
We did a lot of good things, we 
missed some chances we needed 
in the last minute before they got 
the empty-net goal. Sanchez had 
a rebound chance. If that goes 
in, the game is tied up again. But 
that’s what we’re doing, we’re 
chasing our mistakes.”

Wolverines go 3-1 in Raleigh

In its first game on Saturday 

against Notre Dame, the No. 11 
Michigan softball team simply 
was not playing good softball. As 
the Fighting Irish set the tone 
with a three-run homer in the top 
of the first, the Wolverines played 
an unfortunate game of catch-
up that did not come to fruition, 
stranding 15 runners on base 
along the way to a 6-4 loss.

But Sunday was a new day for 

Michigan.

The 
Wolverines 
settled 

the score, taking a 9-2 victory 
over the Fighting Irish with a 
complete team effort. Michigan 
notched double the amount of 
hits as Notre Dame with 12 and 
six, respectively. It saw home 
runs from four separate players 
and a 4-for-4 performance at 
the plate from senior shortstop 
Abby Ramirez. But in the circle, 
the efforts of junior right-hander 
Tera Blanco proved essential 
in neutralizing Notre Dame’s 
offensive command.

“In 
(Sunday’s) 
game, 
she 

pitched with purpose and with 
confidence,” said Michigan coach 
Carol Hutchins. “I hope that she 
continues to gain confidence 
because a confident Tera Blanco, 
that’s what we’re striving for.”

Blanco emerged as a force 

to be reckoned with, going 2-0 
in the circle and allowing just 
two runs in 12 innings pitched 
at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge 
this weekend in Raleigh, N.C. 
Despite their sole loss to Notre 
Dame, the Wolverines (6-3) found 
their rhythm at the tournament, 
routing North Carolina State in 
12-0 and 11-0 run-rule shutouts on 
Friday and Saturday, respectively. 
And after exacting revenge on the 
Fighting Irish Sunday morning, 
Michigan finished the weekend 
with a winning record, 3-1.

The Wolverines covered their 

bases with both Blanco and 
senior right-hander Megan Betsa 
frequently finding the efficiency 

and consistency they wanted at the 
mound. The offense also heated up 
dramatically, launching 10 home 
runs on the weekend compared to 
Michigan’s lone homer during its 
opening weekend. 

The 
Wolverines’ 
burst 
of 

offensive 
production 
can 
be 

attributed to their main focus 
in practice last week: timing. In 
the past week, Michigan focused 
on relaxing and being loose at 
practice, as the team was a bit 
bogged down and tight after 
opening weekend. It all seemed to 
pay dividends for the Wolverines.

“We’re really just taking the 

game and making it simple,” 
Blanco said. “We’re playing loose 
and having fun.”

Michigan began its success 

against the Wolfpack on Friday 
when 
senior 
center 
fielder 

Kelly Christner stole the show. 
Christner blasted a trio of homers 
— the fourth Wolverine in history 
to do so in a single game — and 
set a career-high with seven runs 
batted in, boosting her batting 
average to .556 in the process.

“(Christner) was on fire that 

game,” Hutchins said. “She really 
resonated with some of the timing 
things we had done in practice 
throughout the week.”

Taking advantage of an early 

lead, Michigan tallied nine runs 
in the first two innings, and 
NC State could never recover. 
Senior third baseman Lindsay 
Montemarano 
and 
junior 

designated player Aidan Falk 
each had a home run apiece, with 
Montemarano’s notably driving 
in three runs.

Betsa allowed only one hit in 

the shutout against the Wolfpack, 
while 
striking 
out 
nine. 

Sophomore right-hander Leah 
Crockett made an appearance in 
the circle for the fifth and final 
inning, earning two strikeouts 
of her own. Saturday morning 
against 
Notre 
Dame, 
Betsa 

continued with a high strikeout 
count of 11, but gave up six hits 
and two walks, including two 
homers. 
Michigan’s 
offensive 

struggles were highlighted in 
the bottom of the sixth when the 
Wolverines had no outs and the 
bases loaded, yet were unable to 
capitalize. 

Michigan 
returned 
to 
its 

groove 
after 
the 
frustrating 

morning, delivering the Wolfpack 
a similar fate as the previous day 
with a run-rule shutout. The 
Wolverines completely controlled 
the game, tallying 13 hits and 
scoring 11 runs.

Saturday afternoon, Blanco, 

who pitched the full game, didn’t 
let her appearance in the circle 
stop her from succeeding at the 
plate. The hurler went 3-for-3 and 
earned two RBI on the day. 

With the bases loaded in the 

fifth and the score at 7-0 in favor 
of Michigan, sophomore second 
baseman Faith Canfield needed 
only one RBI to secure the run-
rule victory. Instead, Canfield 
crushed a grand slam over the 
leftfield wall — the first of her 
career — ending the game, 11-0.

Canfield carried her power 

hitting 
into 
Sunday’s 
game, 

delivering a two-run homer in her 
first at-bat in the top of the first. 
Falk and sophomore catcher Alex 
Sobczak hit back-to-back home 
runs in the second, and junior 
pinch hitter Amanda Vargas hit 
the Wolverines’ fourth long ball 
of the day in the seventh inning 
to close out the tournament in a 
satisfying fashion.

Though 
largely 
pleased 

with 
Michigan’s 
performance 

this weekend, Hutchins views 
Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame 
as problematic — the Wolverines 
left runners stranded on third 
base in six of seven innings — 
a consequential concern. As a 
result, upcoming practices will 
focus on taking advantage of 
runners in scoring position before 
next weekend’s Mary Nutter 
Classic in Palm Springs, Calif.

“We 
need 
timely 
hitting 

when it appears to be a pressure 
situation,” Hutchins said. “That 
will be what we work on this 
week — just being clutch.” 

LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Editor

SOFTBALL

ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer

“But that’s what 

we’re doing, 

we’re chasing our 

mistakes.”

“Most years that’s 
going to win you a 
game, but not this 

year.”

