Friday, March 16, 2018 | 2-4 p.m.

Poster session with refreshments.
Free and open to the public.

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Weill Hall, Great Hall
735 S. State Street

Info: 734-615-9691

NED GRAMLICH
1939-2007

fordschool.umich.edu 

Follow us: @fordschool 
Join the conversation: 
#fordschoolgramlich

11 T H A N N U A L 
 

G R A M L I C H
STUDENT

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, March 14, 2018— 7A

Too early to start thinking about next year for Barnes Arico, Wolverines?

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team finally got what 
it 
wanted. 
During 
Monday 

night’s 
Selection 
Show, 
the 

Wolverines were chosen as a 
seven seed in this year’s NCAA 
Tournament.

The tournament bid called for 

a moment of celebration for the 
team. The last time Michigan 
(10-6 Big Ten, 22-9 overall) made 
it to the tourney was 2013, during 
Kim Barnes Arico’s first season 
as head coach. The Wolverines 
defeated Villanova and made it 
to the second round, but their 
run ended when they fell to 
Stanford, 73-40.

Since then, though, Michigan 

hasn’t had the same post-season 
luck. 
The 
Wolverines 
have 

come close to getting bids on 
multiple occasions. Last year, 
they finished third in the Big Ten 
and racked up 22 victories by the 
time the Selection Show rolled 
around, yet were shocked to find 
out their efforts weren’t enough. 
Instead, they went on to win the 
WNIT Championship.

Because 
of 
last 
year’s 

disappointment, guard Katelynn 
Flaherty and forward Jillian 
Dunston entered their senior 
years having never played in the 
tournament.

That’s right.
Flaherty, the school’s all-

time leading scorer — man or 
woman — and Dunston, the 
team’s defensive backbone and 
leader, have never played under 
the big spotlight. That’s why this 
year’s opportunity is all the more 
important to them.

“Thrilled 
for 
our 
seniors 

and for our program,” Barnes 
Arico 
said 
following 
the 

Selection Show. “Katelynn and 
Jillian deserve to be watched 
on the national screen. … Just 
happy that they will have an 

opportunity to represent the 
University of Michigan and the 
‘Block M’ before they graduate.”

Given all that’s happening, 

it’s hard not to fixate on what is 
to come over the 
next week. On 
Friday, Flaherty 
and 
Dunston 

will 
live 
out 

their 
dreams 

when 
Michigan 

takes on No. 10 
seed 
Northern 

Colorado (26-6) 
in Waco, Tex.

As 
the 

tournament 
approaches, 
though, the end of the season 
still looms overhead. At any 
moment they could lose and it’s 
all over. With that said, one can’t 

help but wonder — what happens 
next year?

With Flaherty and Dunston 

gone, the Wolverines will have 
big shoes to fill. Junior guard 

Nicole 
Munger 

and junior center 
Hallie 
Thome 

both return and 
will likely play a 
more prominent 
role. The duo has 
started in every 
game this season 
and has played 
an 
integral 

part 
in 
the 

team’s 
success, 

averaging 9.4 and 

17 points, respectively.

Munger’s 
offensive 

contributions will be essential 
next season. She is shooting 41 

percent from beyond the arc, 
which will need to be put on full 
display next year to help make up 
for Flaherty’s departure. With 
Flaherty gone, the offense may 
also shift toward post play by 
giving the ball to Thome more.

Freshman 
forward 
Hailey 

Brown and freshman guard 
Deja Church are also returning. 
Brown 
was 
a 
starter 
until 

suffering an injury in February 
against Michigan State. But 
when healthy, she was an impact 
player. As the season progressed, 
Brown got into her groove and 
shot at least 50 percent from 
the field six games in a row. Her 
recovery and return to the court 
next season will be vital to her 
team’s well-being.

Church 
should 
see 
more 

minutes 
as 
well. 
Prior 
to 

becoming 
a 
starter 
due 
to 

Brown’s injury, Church was 
Michigan’s first player off the 
bench and often gave the team 
a much-needed spark. She will 
likely 
need 
to 

replace 
Flaherty 

at point.

Sophomore 

forward 
Kayla 

Robbins 
and 

sophomore guard 
Akienreh Johnson 
have 
potential 

to 
work 
their 

way 
into 
the 

starting 
lineup, 

too. 
Johnson 

significantly 
improved late in the season — 
when Brown went down — and 
notched 19, 17 and 13 points 
against Minnesota, Maryland 

and Penn State, respectively.

The roster is expected to 

expand next season as well, with 
five freshmen set to join the 
squad.

Five-star guard Amy Dilk 

is Michigan’s top recruit. The 
Carmel, Ind. native is ranked No. 
39 in her class by ESPN. She’s a 
talented ball-handler and scorer, 
so if the transition to the college 
game goes smoothly, she could 
help fill in Flaherty’s spot.

“She has an unbelievable IQ 

for the game and can see things 
happening two steps ahead of 
anyone else,” Barnes Arico told 
MGoBlue on Nov. 8. “She is a true 
point guard with tremendous 
size that we have not had at 
the position before. She has the 
ability to see over smaller guards 
and to really make everyone 
around her better.

“She can score in so many ways 

— off the bounce, from the three-
point line. She runs her team and 
has a great feel for the game. She 
has played for a great high school 
program, and we have watched 
her develop throughout the years 
into one of the top point guards 
in the country. She is going to 
have an immediate impact on 
this program.”

Four-star recruits in forwards 

Naz Hillmon, Emily Kiser and 

guard 
Ariel 

Young 
and 

three-star 
guard Danielle 
Rauch 
will 

also 
look 
to 

contribute.

Though 

it 
will 
be 

challenging 
to 

make 
up 
for 

losing Flaherty 
and 
Dunston, 

the pieces to the 

puzzle are there. And if Barnes 
Arico can put them together 
effectively, then she may be able 
to build another tournament bid.

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

The Michigan women’s basketball team has earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 as a No. 7 seed.

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

“Thrilled for 
our seniors 
and for our 
program.”

The Wolverines 

will have a 
longer roster 
next season.

The Michigan women’s basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament — and has the pieces to make a run next year, too

Michigan’s mental toughness put to test at NCAA Indoor Championships

Mental 
fortitude 
isn’t 

something that comes to mind 
when 
talking 
about 
weight 

throws and shot puts.

But for the Michigan men’s 

track and field team, that wasn’t 
the case this weekend at the 
NCAA Indoor Championships.

“I was thinking too much,” 

said junior Joe Ellis. “That was 
the real bane of the throwing 
events. You just have to let your 
body take over, and I started to 
think, ‘I just really want to blast 
each as far as I could’ instead of 
just letting the process naturally 
happen 
as 
it 
happened 
all 

season.”

The mental aspect of the sport 

was put to the test early in the 
rounds for both weight throw 
participants, Ellis and senior 
Grant Cartwright. Coming into 
the championship, Ellis had 
posted career-highs in all areas. 
He credits the recent success 
to a shift in emphasis towards 
technique.

Whereas 
last 
year 
was 

frontloaded with room strength 
training — specifically squats — 
this year was fully focused on 

improving techniques.

“I added an extra turn,” Ellis 

said on his technique changes. 
“I do four turns in the ring and I 
think that added a more difficult, 
technical aspects, but when I hit 
a good one, it’s usually farther 
because of that. I’m a lot more 
technically sound.

“This year was way more on 

the technical (side), trying to 
figure out how to just throw far 
right away, and I’ve done that 
all season. I threw pretty deep 
all season, and this was kind of 
a shocker, when I fouled my first 
two, because before this meet, 
I had only fouled two or three 
throws.”

The result, despite finishing 

fifth in the event and earning 
First-Team 
All-American 

accolades, was not what Ellis had 
expected or wanted. Breaking 
multiple school records through 
the regular season, expectations 
couldn’t have been higher for 
him.

However, he just couldn’t cash 

in.

“It’s the nature of the event,” 

Ellis said, “and you only get six 
chances or three chances, and if 
you’re lucky, you get all six.”

Though 
disappointed 

he couldn’t do better, Ellis’ 
performance 
wasn’t 
one 
to 

forget.

“I’m phrasing it a lot like it 

wasn’t a successful weekend, but 
in fact it was,” he said laughing. 
“Becoming a First-Team All-
American is super difficult, and 
this is my highest performance 
I’ve done yet at any national meet. 
… You were saying improvement 
from last year. You know seventh 
(last year), I felt like I squeaked 
in, but fifth, I felt like I was really 
part of the conversation all year.”

It just so happens that Ellis 

had found himself in the highest-
leverage situation he’s been in 
all season — and on the biggest 
stage. Fouling his first two 
rounds out of the sector put 
immense pressure to throw a 
big one for the third round with 
the goal of ultimately qualifying. 
Already swamped with thoughts 
that troubled him in the early 
rounds, he stepped back and 
took to his friend and teammate 
Cartwright.

Cartwright calmed him down 

and brought him back into focus. 
As Michigan coach Jerry Clayton 
put it, it was a “competitive 
advantage” to have friends both 
participate in the same event 

— the NCAA Championships at 
that. But for Ellis, it was a helpful 
beacon to remind him it was just 
another throw, allowing him to 
post a 22.55-meter mark.

Cartwright faced a similar 

situation as Ellis, but rather than 
fouling the first two rounds by 
throwing outside the sectors, 
he committed foot fouls. For 
his first attempt, he threw what 
could have been a qualifying 
First-Team All-American throw, 
but he couldn’t hold the front of 
the ring. For his second throw, 
just narrowly, Cartwright fouled 
on another good throw, which 
was met with skepticism from 
the Michigan coaching staff.

After 
filing 
a 
protest 
to 

challenge the call, his throw was 

reviewed and confirmed a foul. 
Just as Ellis had, Cartwright 
had to face his final throw with 
mounting 
pressure 
to 
make 

the final round. He failed to 
qualify, throwing 20.82 meters 
to get a 12th-place finish, good 
for Second-Team All-American 
honors.

“You have to go after the 

throws and hit the rhythm,” 
Clayton said. “The problem is 
you can’t — I guess people say 
to just take a ‘safe throw’ — but 
you can’t really take a safe throw 
at this level and make the finals, 
especially with two fouls.”

Sophomore Andrew Liskowitz 

also 
got 
Second-Team 
All-

American honors with his 18.38-
meter shot put. Just as the other 

Wolverine participants, his first 
two attempts were met with 
fouls.

“That week, you always have 

on your mind, ‘You have to make 
finals,’ and there were 16 other 
people in the heat which was a 
little irregular,” Ellis said. “And 
so when you have your first one, 
you wait about 15 minutes before 
you have a chance to get back in 
the ring, and so it really takes a 
toll on you mentally.”

The 
mental 
strife 
was 

evident 
through 
Michigan’s 

performances 
for 
what 
was 

an underachievement by the 
standards of the players and 
program, but there was plenty to 
learn from for the players going 
forward.

TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Senior Grant Cartwright finished in 12th place in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships. 

