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.”