The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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

