The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, October 25, 2018 — 5A
‘B’ team strong ahead of Big Ten Championships
As freshman Anne Forsythe lined
up at the Hudson Mills Metropark
course Friday in Dexter, Mich.,
she recalled all the ins and outs
of the land in front of her. Having
raced on the course multiple times
throughout her high school career,
the Ann Arbor native had plenty
of experience to draw on — not to
mention world-class talent.
In the end, these factors would
combine to help Forsythe cross
the finish line first at the EMU Fall
Classic and faster than she’s ever
done it before — almost 63 seconds
faster to be exact. Forsythe would
finish the race with a time of 16:57.9.
While not competing in a
Michigan
uniform,
Forsythe
supplemented a stellar Wolverine
performance
that
saw
both
the men’s and women’s teams
dominate.
Forsythe is a freshman at
Michigan, but ran unaffiliated from
the university as to not burn her
redshirt status with the team. But
after two dominant, unattached
performances
in
the
regular
season, coach Mike McGuire has
a tough decision make — maintain
Forsythe’s redshirt status or find
her a spot in an already stacked
postseason squad.
“Obviously, it’s gonna be my
decision, but we’re gonna get
input on where she’s at,” McGuire
said. “She hasn’t had the luxury of
running in uniform up to this point,
so there is a bit of an adjustment
with all the sudden stepping in the
lineup with your teammates, that
kinda thing. We want to make sure
it’s the right time for the team and
the right time for Anne.”
If selected to compete at next
week’s Big Ten Championships,
Forsythe would try to help her team
win its third straight Big Ten title
amid one of the most competitive
conferences in the country.
And
the
Wolverines
look
poised to do just that. Finishing
second at last week’s Pre-National
Invitational, only behind last year’s
champion New Mexico, Michigan
showed its depth and finished first
among Big Ten foes.
On Friday, though, the focus was
on the Wolverines’ ‘B’ team — a
squad that also flexed its muscle in
a top finish in Dexter. The women’s
team claimed a dominant victory
over the likes of Michigan State and
Eastern Michigan.
Leading the pack for Michigan
was
fifth-year
senior
Rachel
Coleman who clocked a 17:32.2
on
the
five-kilometer
course.
She finished fifth overall in the
event and was followed closely by
redshirt junior Faith Reynolds, who
finished sixth with a time of 17:38.4.
Showing
drastic
improvement
from just a season ago, redshirt
freshman Raquel Powers finished
seventh in 17:43.8.
“I’d say of our athletes in
uniform, Rachel Coleman ran
her best race of the season by far,”
McGuire said, “And I thought we
had some really solid performances
from several others such as Faith
Reynolds and Raquel Powers.”
As for the men’s race, the
Wolverines landed another three
runners in the top-10 to show the
depth of its team while closing
out the regular season. Redshirt
freshman
Christian
Hubaker
crossed the finish line fourth
overall and first for Michigan with
a time of 15:22.2.
A
pair
of
fellow
redshirt
freshmen,
Dominic
Dimambro
and Lewis Tate, quickly followed
Hubaker to come in eighth and
ninth with times of 15:33.3 and
15:35.2, respectively.
The men’s team trotted out its ‘B’
squad as well on Friday, while both
‘A’ teams rested up for the start of
the postseason meets. With a week
of rejuvenation under its belts, both
the mens’ and women’s teams are
poised for continued success ahead
of the Big Ten Championships and
are embracing the opportunity to
take on the conference’s best.
“We know it’s gonna be a
challenge,” McGuire said. “There
are five teams ranked in the top
15, so outside of the two real power
conferences at this point in the
nation are ourselves and the Pac-
12. Both meets will be barnburners
in their own right. And we’re just
excited to be a part of the mix. We’ll
be prepared and hopefully set up
a race plan to get us on top of the
podium.”
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
The Michigan cross country teams participated in the EMU Fall Classic on Friday, though many of the top runners sat out ahead of Big Ten Championships.
Hailey Brown is back in action for Michigan
Last season, forward Hailey
Brown
joined
the
Michigan
women’s basketball team as the
most promising player of the
group’s freshmen class. She was a
five-star recruit, had experience
with the Canadian National
Team program and had started
proving her talents early on for
the Wolverines.
Brown earned her spot in
the starting lineup for the first
game and stayed put, averaging
25 minutes, nine points and 5.2
rebounds per game.
Brown
hit
full
stride
in
January, shooting 50 percent
or better from the field in six
straight games. Against Indiana,
on Jan. 10th, she converted 10-of-
12 from the field — including
3-of-3 from beyond the arc — to
finish with 23 points and eight
rebounds. With that standout
performance, she won both Big
Ten and National Freshman of
the Week honors.
“Really transitioned well into
freshman year,” said Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico at the
team’s Oct. 10th Media Day,
“and had a really, really solid
freshman year.”
But
after
starting
27
consecutive
games,
Brown’s
season took a turn in February.
During the Wolverines’ game at
Michigan State, Brown came off
the court with a lower left leg
injury near the end of the fourth
quarter.
Her recovery took time. When
Michigan headed for the NCAA
Tournament, Brown could have
played but rested instead, so not
to risk further injury. Though her
absence on the court burdened
the team, it was not a total loss
for Brown. Rather, she gained
insights from the change of
perspective.
“I feel like by me being out I
see the game differently — how
I can affect what our team does,”
Brown said after practice on
Oct. 22. “So, I feel like I have a
stronger understanding of what
my role is.”
During
the
tournament,
Brown took note of what the
team was missing and discussed
her observations with Barnes
Arico.
“We were both on the same
page for things,” Brown said.
“Now, it’s great to be back on
the court and applying what I
learned from that.”
Around early April, Brown
finally started playing again. To
ease her way back into shape,
she focused her time on both
anti-gravity
and
underwater
treadmills.
As
she
gained
strength,
she
progressed
to
running.
Brown hopes to be a key
contributor on offense this season.
Over the summer, she emphasized
pull-up jump shots and drives to
the rim in her practice regime.
She also wishes to build on and
maintain the shooting success she
established midway through her
freshman year.
Without Katelynn Flaherty —
the program’s all-time leading
scorer, who graduated after
last season — Brown’s ability
to score could be vital to her
team. But Jillian Dunston, who
averaged nine rebounds per
contest, is gone too. Thus, Brown
knows she’ll need to play a more
prominent role under the glass.
“Rebounding
is
a
huge
emphasis,” Brown said. “ …
Definitely I’m gonna have to step
up and rebound as much as I can
and put that effort out there.”
And with the season around
the corner, Barnes Arico is
excited to have her back.
“She is back,” Barnes Arico
said, “and she is better than ever.”
ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer
DARBY STIPE/Daily
Sophomore forward Hailey Brown figures to be a key part of Michigan’s efforts to replace players like Katelynn Flaherty and Jillian Dunston, who both graduated.
For ‘M,’ every weakness
is a learning experience
Just days after the No. 12
Michigan hockey team’s 5-4
loss
to
Western
Michigan,
coach Mel Pearson harped
on a troubling trend for the
Wolverines.
On Saturday night against
the Broncos, Michigan was
plagued with a bad case of
turnovers, especially in the
defensive zone — three of
which resulted in Western
Michigan goals. For a team
that, at times, looks like it can
score at will, Michigan didn’t
do its defense and freshman
goaltender Strauss Mann any
favors.
Pearson, though, has three
different remedies ready for
his
players
come
practice
time to iron out wrinkles like
turnovers. The first one is just
approaching players one-on-
one, and making sure they
know their mistakes, quick and
direct.
“It’s a game of mistakes,”
Pearson said. “You have to
understand where you are on
the ice, the situations on the
ice, and those turnovers were
all in bad spots. So we have to
continue to work on that.”
If that doesn’t work, or
if Pearson senses the team
could benefit from looking
at a player’s mistake, he isn’t
afraid to show the mishap on
tape in front of the whole team.
Pearson breaks down the errors
to his players, educating the
entire team on how to improve.
“We don’t want to embarrass
anybody, but the video doesn’t
lie,” Pearson said. “It’s right
there.”
Once the issue is sniffed
out, Pearson and Michigan fix
those mistakes by playing them
out exactly as they happened
on the ice. With the turnovers
specifically, the team practiced
more full-ice situational drills,
which
emphasize
decision-
making with the puck.
On Michigan’s first turnover
that led to a Broncos goal, the
Western
Michigan
defense
cornered
Michigan’s
wings.
Rather than quickly clearing
the puck, Michigan waited for
the support that never came.
Naturally, the Broncos stole the
puck, forced an odd-man rush
and flicked in the first goal.
“It’s situational,” said junior
forward Jake Slaker. “I think
when we do breakouts out of
the zone, a lot of our turnovers
are
in
the
danger
areas,
whether that’s the blue line in
the offensive zone or the blue
line in the defensive zone.”
Whether it’s a freshman
coughing up the puck or junior
forward Will Lockwood —
whose game on Saturday was
only his third in almost a year
after a season-ending shoulder
injury — going through the
motions of how to better a
certain facet of the game helps
to fix novice or rust-induced
mistakes.
“A lot of our daily drills
are predicated on in-game
situations, so we always show
them how to do it and why we
do it,” Pearson said. “Practice
is practice, but when you get in
games, the speed is different,
the situation is different.”
While mistakes are evident
in the Wolverines’ play —
resulting in a 1-2 record to
start the season — Pearson is
confident these problems can
be mended.
“The beauty of that is that
it’s fixable,” Pearson said. “I’ve
been around a long time, and
some things you see and just
go, ‘Wow, we’re just not going
to be able to fix that, but other
things like this you can fix.’ A
bad read or a bad play.”
ICE HOCKEY
RIAN RATNAVALE
Daily Sports Writer
By C.C. Burnikel
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/25/18
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
10/25/18
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Thursday, October 25, 2018
ACROSS
1 Smudge
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9 Instagram or
Snapchat
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agreements?
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overcome a late
start, say
18 Clemson’s conf.
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setting
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22 Deli order
24 New York prison
in 1971 headlines
26 Wine glass
feature
27 Suffers from
30 Prince Harry’s
alma mater
31 “Any minute now”
36 Org. with Jays
and Rays
39 Elastic bikini top
40 Org. with
an annual
Codebreaker
Challenge
41 Critical shuttle
maneuver
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up?
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50 Sweater pattern
53 Salieri, to Liszt
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of Nizari Ismaili
Muslims
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1965
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loop
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DOWN
1 Go around
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meme
3 Prophecy source
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Time” novelist
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peninsula
6 Pushing
boundaries
7 Soft-drink word
since 1886
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Russian ruler
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stops
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Mariah Carey
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dim sum
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vertically
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mountain peaks
in its logo
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frankly,” in texts
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hitter?
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golf club heads
nowadays
37 __ retriever
38 Blowhard
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47 Memorable
guitarist __ Ray
Vaughan
48 2009 Justin
Bieber hit
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device
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52 Big 38-Down
feature
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or a military
procession
involving a word
sequence hidden
in 15-, 31-, 41-
and 61-Across
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63 Not well