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