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Sports
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 — 7

Flaherty, Barnes Arico playing numbers game

For the No. 13 Michigan

women’s basketball team (8-2
Big Ten, 19-4 overall), this
season has been all about
numbers. Coach Kim Barnes
Arico
and
senior
guard

Katelynn Flaherty have set
the tone, trading statistical
milestones.

It
all
started
in
mid-

November,
when
the

Wolverines faced then-No. 5
Louisville on the road. Though
her team lost in a lopsided
contest, Flaherty finished with
23 points to reach a career total
of 2,091, breaking Diane Dietz’s
program
scoring
record
of

2,076 points.

With an upcoming trip to

Madison, Barnes Arico decided
to join in the fun.

To
start
the
new
year,

Michigan
conquered

Wisconsin, 80-57. The victory
marked Barnes Arico’s 124th
triumph, and she became the
program’s winningest coach in
history, passing Sue Guevara.

Nine days later, Flaherty

continued her own dominance
as
the
Wolverines
played

Nebraska in Lincoln — where
Michigan fought back from a
late-game deficit to prevail in
overtime.

During the second quarter of

that same contest, Flaherty —

in her usual element — drained
a shot from well beyond the
arc. But that 3-pointer was
different. It propelled Flaherty
beyond Glen Rice’s record of
2,442 points, making her the
program’s
all-time
leading

scorer, man or woman.

Then
last
Sunday
in

Evanston, it was Barnes Arico’s
turn yet again as the Wolverines
dismantled
Northwestern,

80-59.
The
signature
win

was the 400th of her head
coaching career — a career
that began back in 1996 at
Fairleigh Dickinson University
in Madison, N.J.

Barnes Arico then coached

for two years at the New Jersey
Institute of Technology and
then another three at Adelphi
University in New York. Prior
to joining Michigan in 2012,
she held the reins at St. John’s
for 10 years.

Although
Sunday
was
a

notable moment in her career,
before the game she was more
focused on the matchup against
the Wildcats. In fact, she wasn’t
aware of the milestone.

“Yeah, I didn’t know,” Barnes

Arico professed to MGoBlueTV.
“Today I was watching the Big
Ten game at noon and they said
it on the broadcast. So, I was a
little nervous that I might get
swarmed with some water. I
need to start being like coach
Beilein and get a Super Soaker

so I can fight back.

“It’s just a great honor to

be at this university and have
an opportunity to coach the
players that I do. So, it’s me
being old and me having great
players. So, just thank you
for everyone that’s decided to
come here and play for this
great university. It’s made a
difference in my life.”

But it’s not just Flaherty and

Barnes Arico who have been
posting record numbers.

The Wolverines, as a team,

are doing so too. They boast a
six-game winning streak and
sit at their highest national
ranking since hitting No. 12 in
2001.

Michigan
is
also
second

in the Big Ten, just one game
behind No. 14 Maryland.

“The strength of our team is

everybody else is getting better
and better and better,” Barnes
Arico
told
WTKA,
“which

makes us tough to defend.”

If
the
Wolverines
can

maintain
their
momentum,

they could move into that
top
conference
spot.
But

unsurprisingly, Barnes Arico
isn’t fixated on this number
either.

“We’re gonna take it one

game at a time,” Barnes Arico
said. “I like where we are. I like
the confidence in our kids. I like
how they’re staying focused
and they’re staying locked in.”

AARON BAKER/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico (center) reached 400 career wins after her team’s 80-59 win over Northwestern.

‘M’ finds improvement in early season performance

A group of five Michigan

runners came into the Boston
U. John Thomas Terrier Classic
looking to break the four-minute
barrier — the barrier that separates
great from elite.

The year prior, at the same

meet, three Wolverines broke
that barrier, and this year’s group
anticipated a similar result.

None of them could.
But to Michigan distance coach

Kevin Sullivan, that was okay.

“The biggest thing is last year,

we put a lot of focus on trying to
break four minutes this weekend,”
Sullivan said. “What happened
was we were really successful in
that as we had three guys that
were under four minutes, but we
didn’t run as well at the end of the
season.

“This year, there’s much more

of a focus on making sure these
guys run fast at the end of the
season. The key is improvement
instead of having our best race this
weekend.”

For the Michigan men’s track

and field team, burning out too
early is a mistake they want to
avoid making again. Connor Mora,
one of the three runners who broke
four minutes in last year’s Classic,
underperformed by his standards
for the race, but for the coaching
staff, the senior’s performance
was well within its expectations.

“So really for us, (Mora) took a

step forward from where he was
two weeks ago,” Sullivan said. “I
know he’s a little disappointed
that he didn’t run faster, but we’re
moving in the right direction to be
at our best when it really matters.”

Finishing the mile with a time

of 4:06.81, he tied for 23rd in the
non-scoring meet. His co-finisher
was
fifth-year
senior
Aaron

Baumgarten. Traditionally a 3k and
5k distance runner, Baumgarten
lowered his competition distance
for an opportunity to run faster in
the mile.

Making the best of his chance,

he sprinted to a fast start and was
on pace to break four minutes.
However, with a quarter of the
distance left to go, Baumgarten
failed to break away with the
leading pack and fell behind as he

was passed by teammate Chase
Barnett. Placing 15th overall,
Barnett finished with a time of
4:03.96 — the fastest time out of
the Michigan runners.

“I think for (Barnett), it was

a really positive step forward,”
Sullivan said. “He’s a guy who
showed a lot of promise as a
sophomore and basically injured
his entire junior year. For him to
step back in and be at the level that
he’s at is really a positive step for us
and I think that he’s only going to
get better from there.”

Barnett’s promise bloomed as

he positioned himself to make
the finish that he did. With a final
push in the latter half of the race,
Barnett finished runner-up within
his section and only a tenth of a
second shy of his career best.

Freshman Jack Aho shined as

well, setting a personal record.
With a time of 4:07.03, Aho
showed potential that could prove
useful down the road for the Big
Ten Championships.

“Jack as a true freshman,”

Sullivan said, “he was the one guy
who came away with the personal
best today. He beat his previous

best by almost two seconds, so for
him to be doing that in January is a
pretty (good) sign at least for now.”

As the Classic participants

showed
improvement,
the

remainder of the team — which
attended the Saginaw Valley
State Jet’s Pizza Invitational
— followed suit. Many runners
posted career-bests. One such
runner was freshman Josiah
Carpenter, who ran a 22.34 and
49.44 for the 200-meter and 400-
meter, respectively.

In a similar fashion, freshman

Vail Hartman set personal records
in the same distances, posting a
22.64 and 48.66. The Jet’s Pizza
Invitational, an event for less
experienced
runners,
proved

to be a success for the team’s
confidence. The Wolverines used
the race as a display of what they
can bring to the fold come time
when it matters.

“We’re looking to improve

every
week,”
Sullivan
said.

“And I think we’re better than
we were two weeks ago, and
we have a month until Big Ten
Championships, so we’ll continue
to improve until that point.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Chase Barnett (center) finished with a time of 4:03.96, the fastest of any Michigan runner at the John Thomas Terrier Classic.

TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

Fahey finds voice in win

If you were anywhere near

the Varsity Tennis Center on
Sunday, you probably heard
Kate Fahey shouting or hyping
herself up, point after point.

If you weren’t? Well, the

Michigan women’s tennis team
took a thunderous win 4-1
against Tulsa on Sunday.

The junior has undoubtedly

been the voice of the Wolverines,
both figuratively and literally.
Fahey’s play and actions have a
trickle-down effect on the team.
As the No. 1 singles player for
the Wolverines, whenever she is
energized, the rest of the team is
energized.

“She’s done such a great

job at the top of the lineup,”
said Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein. “I feel like no matter
who she plays, we have a good
shot for the next point. When
you have that at the top it gives
everyone below you a lot of
confidence.

“She’s getting off quickly

against a good opponent, I think
she’s a good competitor. Kate’s
tough, it definitely helps us
having her.”

Throughout

both
the

singles
match

and
doubles

match, Fahey’s
exuberant
screams
of

“Let’s
go!”

overshadowed
the play of her
opponents.
Perhaps
that

was the point.
Fahey’s
chants,
along
with

her blindingly fast volleys and
lateral agility, are just some of
the weapons in her arsenal.

“I mean, in the doubles and

singles I use it to get me fired
up and the whole team,” Fahey
said. “If I hear someone else
screaming ‘Come on!’ I know

that it really fires me up so I
think it really helps us all when
we’re loud together as a team.”

During the second set of

her match against Tulsa’s No.
1
player
Ksenia
Laskutova,

Fahey raced out to a 4-0 lead,
but something wasn’t right.
Laskutova took a game. Then
another. The chants that filled
the arena for so long turned
to
deafening
silence
and

frustration. Regardless, Fahey
found a way to persevere, taking
the next two games in dominant
fashion to win the match.

“I
think
looking
at
the

scoreboard, I really wanted to
get the point on the board for my
team,” Fahey said. “So I knew
I really had to dig deep here
and win these few games and I
pulled through mentally.”

Like any tool or weapon,

Fahey
and
Bernstein
know

Fahey has to use her voice at
the right time. While hyping
her teammates and herself up is
certainly beneficial, Fahey has
to be careful to make sure she
doesn’t give her opponent an
advantage by letting her hear
her discontent during a tough
stretch in a match.

“Sometimes we try and bring

it down a little
bit,
but
she’s

definitely got it
under
control,”

Bernstein
said.

“It
can
be
a

problem and she
can get a little
too
hyped
up.

When she can
control it, she’s
such
a
great

competitor. She

wants it so much not only for
herself, but for the team.”

If Fahey can continue to

control her voice, then the results
will speak for themselves: There
will be many more, much louder
cheers coming from the top
court and from Wolverines fans
come postseason time.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

RIAN RATNAVALE

Daily Sports Writer

“When she can
control it, she’s

such a great
competitor.”

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

‘M’ punches ticket to National Indoors

In true recovery fashion, the

Michigan women’s tennis team
came back from a shaky doubles
performance to earn four points
in its singles matches and defeat
Tulsa to tough out a victory in
the ITA Championship round on
Sunday afternoon.

Despite losing two out of their

three doubles, the team rallied
to win all six of their matches in
the singles stage, which helped
the team clinch a spot in the ITA
National Indoor Round.

“It’s a huge opportunity for us,

and these guys did a great job to
get us there,” said Michigan coach
Ronni Bernstein.

A plethora of players stepped up

in Sunday’s competition, the most
notable was no. 33 Kate Fahey.

“Going into indoors, I think I’m

playing really well,” Fahey said.

Fahey—who was nursing an

injury—also praised her teammate

Alyvia Jones, who just joined the
Wolverines for the start of indoor
season.

Despite
struggling
with

doubles partner Chiara Lommer,
Jones rebounded nicely in the
singles portion of the afternoon,
winning both of her matches and
coming through in high-pressure
situations, including a string of
five consecutive matches that
went to deuce.

“I was just trying to be

aggressive and not focus on it
being a big point, instead try and
focus on just trying to win the
point,” Jones said.

Jones was also involved in the

closest match of the afternoon,
defeating Tamara Kupkova 7-6 (2)
in her first match before winning
an abridged second match, 3-0.
Seeing her teammates’ success
helped Jones find her own.

“My court was tight and I

looked around and everyone was
winning easy,” Jones said. “They
were carrying the team as I was

trying to play my match as well.”

After this win, it is clear

that Michigan’s top six singles
competitors — Fahey, Lommer,
Jones, Mira Ruder-Hook, Alex
Najarian and Bella Lorenzini —
are the team’s greatest assets.
However, they will need to
improve their performances in
doubles if they want to make a run
at a title this season.

Despite its early struggles, the

team is excited for its opportunity
to play in the National Indoor
Round.
Bernstein
noted
to

reporters
that
she
sees
the

tournament as a chance to test her
young team.

“Going to the Indoors is always

special,” she said. “We’re gonna
have opportunities to play the best
in the country and see where we
stack up. The girls are excited, and
they earned it.”

Of course, the Wolverines have

much to improve on to find success
in both the Indoor Round and the
rest of the season.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

TEDDY GUTKIN

For the Daily