The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 — 7A
Swimmers find home
away from home with ‘M’
Before the start of its senior
day meet, the No. 2 Michigan
women’s swimming and diving
team lined up on the deck for the
playing of the national anthem.
But the Star Spangled Banner
wasn’t the only anthem played.
Michigan played the Chinese,
Japanese and Yemeni national
anthems and hung flags for
each country off the edge of the
diving platforms in honor of its
international teammates.
Four years ago, Yirong Bi
and Siobhán Haughey arrived
in Ann Arbor, traveling more
than 7,000 miles from their
homes
in
Hangzhou,
China
and Hong Kong, respectively.
Saturday’s meet was the last
time Bi, Haughey and their five
senior teammates would swim
in Canham Natatorium for the
Wolverines.
“To hear my national anthem,
in this amazing house is very
different for me,” Bi said. “The
last time I heard my national
anthem was at the Asian Games
where I won a gold medal. But
this I think means more to me
because I’ve treated this place as
home for the past four years.”
In their final home meet
against
No.
22
Ohio
State,
Haughey swam in four events,
and Bi swam in three. Haughey
won all her events—the 100-yard
freestyle, the 200-yard freestyle,
the 200-yard individual medley
and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Bi came in first in the 500-yard
freestyle by an impressive margin
of three-and-a-half seconds. She
finished second in the 100-yard
freestyle and was a member of
the third place 400-yard freestyle
relay B team.
“That’s a good senior class
with those kinds of wins,” said
Michigan coach Mike Bottom.
Both
swimmers
have
an
impressive list of achievements.
Haughey appeared in the 2016
Rio Olympics for Hong Kong
and earned a 13th-place finish in
the 200-meter freestyle. Bi won
gold in the 800 and 400-meter
freestyle events at the 2014 Asian
Games. Both are three-time
All-Big Ten first team and have
numerous CSCAA All-American
honors.
Swimming accomplishments
aside, the Michigan program
holds a very special meaning to
both athletes.
“I think it’s very hard to sum
up what the team means to me,”
Haughey said. “I’m just very
grateful to be on this team. When
I first came here we were still a
team that was building … Last
year we were fourth in the nation
… I’m so grateful to be a part of it.”
For Bi, the team gave her
a
sense
of
belonging.
Her
most
memorable
experience
traces back to the 2016 Big Ten
Championships, where she swam
the first leg of the 800-yard
freestyle for the Wolverines.
“I was a freshman coming
from China, I didn’t really have a
lot of friends,” Bi recalled. “I was
so excited about my first Big Tens
(Big Ten Championships), it was
here. In the 800-free relay I went
first, and I was so nervous and
so excited I forgot to breathe the
first 25 meters.”
The
relay
team,
which
Haughey was also a part of, went
on to win first place by a margin
of over two seconds. Bi swims in
it every year for Michigan, and
the team has won the relay all
three years.
“I didn’t do well for my part, I
felt guilty … my teammates came
to me saying, ‘It’s fine you did a
good job,’” Bi said. “That’s the
first time I felt like, ‘Yeah, I’m
actually in the team now, I’m not
just swimming for myself, my
teammates have my back.’”
This moment not only gave
Bi
comradeship
with
her
teammates—it provided comedy.
“It’s become a joke with the
team and that’s good because
everyone laughs about it now,” Bi
said.
With their days of swimming
meets in Canham Natatorium
behind them, Bi and Haughey
still have the Big Ten and NCAA
Championships to look forward
to and the lifelong bond with
their teammates.
“(I’ll miss) just spending a lot
of time with my teammates,”
Haughey said. “It’s nice just to
be surrounded with positive
and happy people who are as
motivated as you are … I’ve made
a lot of friends that will become
my life-long friends. I’ve just
learned so much here.”
MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer
CAMERON HUNT/Daily
Senior Yirong Bi came to Michigan four years ago from Hangzhou, China.
Looking back on winding career, Taylor Rooks connects the dots
As a five-star recruit back in
high school, Taylor Rooks had
many colleges to choose from to
continue her basketball career.
She wanted a school where she
could excel — both academically
and on the court — and narrowed
her decision down to three schools:
Stanford, Harvard and Michigan.
Still, a tough decision loomed.
“I committed very late,” Rooks
said. “I didn’t know where I wanted
to go, because I felt like all the
schools pretty much equally would
prepare me for what I wanted to do
in life, because they’re all the best
schools in the country.”
After much thought, the two-
time New Jersey Gatorade Player
of the Year committed to the
Cardinal.
Little did she know she’d end up
attending all three.
***
Now on the Michigan women’s
basketball team — and as graduate
student in the Ross School of
Business — Rooks reflects on
the past and puts things into
perspective.
“I had no idea from the
beginning. I thought I was gonna
go to Stanford, graduate after
four years and go on with my life,”
Rooks said. “And as my path has
shown me, it is the exact opposite.
I got to go to all three corners of
the country. But I’m very grateful
that I’ve had that opportunity.”
During her freshman year,
Rooks went to the Sweet 16 of the
NCAA Tournament with Stanford.
After the season, though, she
decided to change paths.
Despite her success in high
school,
Rooks
wasn’t
aiming
for the WNBA after her college
career ended. Rather, she dreamt
of a future beyond basketball — a
career in finance.
“I’d have to credit that to kind of
how my parents raised me, but also
how I kind of changed throughout
high school,” Rooks said of her
career plans. “If you asked me
when I was 10 years old what I
wanted to do, I would say I wanted
to play in the WNBA, no questions
asked. … My parents always told
me to think a lot farther ahead.”
Rooks
remembers
the
experience
that
sparked
her
interest in finance. While thinking
about potential careers back in
high school, her father suggested
that she consider finance. He
helped her shadow a wealth
management expert. Upon seeing
the trading floor, Rooks made up
her mind.
Summer
internships
are
important
for
acquiring
jobs
in finance. With the Cardinal,
though, Rooks’ summers were tied
up due to athletic demands.
She decided to transfer to the
Crimson, as she knew Harvard
would give her summers off.
That decision paid dividends.
The summer after her sophomore
year — which she sat out due to
transfer rules — Rooks interned at
Northwestern Mutual in Boston
as a financial representative. After
junior year, she interned in New
York City with Credit Suisse,
receiving a full-time offer by the
end of the summer.
Rooks made her way to the
court, too. Her versatility helped
her play multiple roles, and from
junior to senior year, she just
about doubled both her minutes
and points per game. Senior year,
she shot 47.7 percent from the
floor while notching 12.5 points a
contest.
“The weather was a little
worse
than
Stanford,”
Rooks
mentioned
about
transferring.
“ … Academically, it was pretty
much the same — even like here at
Ross. It’s all been about the same; I
mean, it’s very challenging, and it’s
a lot of demands.”
Meeting those demands has not
been an issue. Rooks mentioned
her high school — Gill St. Bernard’s
School — was among the top in the
state of New Jersey and that it
prepared her academically.
“I even felt some of my classes
there were harder than the classes
I took in college,” Rooks said.
Rooks seems to have mastered
the student-athlete balance. To
stay on top of things, she makes
use of her free time and avoids
procrastination.
“Procrastination is the absolute
worst thing,” Rooks said. “ … But
at the same time, on our off days,
I’ll make sure most of that day I’m
off — mentally and physically —
just so I’m not always going, going,
going.”
Near the end of her last season
at Harvard, Rooks realized she
wasn’t ready to give up basketball.
So, she decided to use her final year
of eligibility, and she knew exactly
where to go.
“Given that I already went to
Stanford and Harvard,” Rooks
said, “the other school in my top
three was Michigan, and I was
like, ‘Okay, that’s it.’ ”
After
connecting
with
the
Wolverines, she joined the Master
of Management program and
committed to the team, even
without taking a further visit.
Rooks believes business school
nicely complements the economics
degree she received at Harvard.
She also got her job offer extended
and will join Credit Suisse after
graduating.
Since she’s only at Michigan for
one year, Rooks hopes to share the
wisdom she has gained through
her unique past with her younger
teammates. She relies on bringing
positive energy to make her
impact.
And it seems she has been
successful.
***
In the midst of Rooks’ chat with
the Daily, Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico interrupts.
“Thank god for her personality
and what she brings to our team,”
Barnes Arico said. “ … She’s a
rockstar.”
ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer
Taking ownership of penalty kill
Some players thrive with
their backs against the wall.
Few
moments
throughout
a hockey game better reveal
who those players are than on
the penalty kill. The Michigan
hockey team may have found
a pair of skaters who fit that
mold.
With the loss of sophomore
forward
Josh
Norris,
who
would frequently be on the
man-disadvantage, the success
of the penalty-killing duo of
freshman forward Garrett Van
Wyhe and sophomore forward
Dakota Raabe is increasingly
important.
Last season, Van Wyhe was
killing penalties for the Fargo
Force. Van Wyhe, who had a
plus-minus rating of 19 for the
Force last season, was a big part
of that penalty kill. That team
went on to win the 2018 Clark
Cup — the prize jewel of the
USHL.
The six-foot-two, 200-pound
frame of the defensive-minded
freshman forward at times
seems as though it is gliding
faster than it should. Raabe,
the skater who is usually paired
with him on the penalty kill,
is fast and defensive-minded,
much like Van Wyhe.
But with regards to physical
appearance, the two could not
be more different. They are
like foils to one another in that
aspect: Raabe stands at five-
foot-nine and is thirty pounds
lighter than Van Wyhe.
And yet, despite the physical
differences,
the
mentality
hardly differs.
“It starts on the faceoff,” Van
Wyhe said about the mindset
on the penalty kill. “That’s the
first battle. Then it’s one-on-
one battles from there.”
Like a craftsman describing
his work, he continued.
“So, if you get that faceoff,
there’s an automatic 20 seconds
killed getting it all the way
down the ice and resetting and
doing it again. But other than
that just kind of, if you see an
opportunity to jump, you jump
it, and then getting in the way of
shots is a little kind of abstract
— the thought process. You
don’t really want to get in front
of the flying puck when it’s
going that fast.”
One guy who has a propensity
for getting his body in front of a
shot is Raabe.
“He’s blocking shots, last
year he didn’t block many
shots,” said Michigan coach Mel
Pearson about the sophomore.
“He’s sticking his nose in there
this year. He’s grown. He’s
matured. He’s a much better
player.”
And
though
not
clearly
represented by the numbers,
sophomore
forward
Dakota
Raabe has made a leap this
season.
That
may
be
best
demonstrated by the level of
trust
Michigan
coach
Mel
Pearson is showing in Raabe.
He has featured prominently
on penalty kills alongside Van
Wyhe and, along with freshman
forward
Nolan
Moyle,
has
been a part of perhaps the
Wolverines’
most
consistent
line as of late.
Pearson expressed a sense of
pride with the interest that the
linemates have shown on the
penalty kill.
“I think that’s when you
really start to see your penalty
kill improve, when your players
start
to
take
ownership,”
Pearson said. “When they start
to get more involved. They
almost become coaches when
in your meetings they say, ‘Hey,
what about this?’ or ‘Maybe we
can try this instead of that,’
then you know the players
are involved. Then, you know
they’ve got some skin in the
game.”
Currently, Michigan ranks a
middling fourth among Big Ten
teams with a 79.3 penalty-kill
percentage. It is a figure that
will have to improve throughout
the remainder of the season if
the Wolverines hope to make a
postseason appearance.
For now, though, it seems as
though Michigan may be on the
right track.
“I think we finally just
started clicking within,” Raabe
said. “We just kind of sacrificed
more, made (the penalty kill)
kind of a priority in a way. And
we’ve been having success for it
and hopefully keep that going
in the future.”
JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Wrter
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Garrett Van Wyhe and Dakota Raabe are key contributors to the penalty kill.
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Fifth-year senior Taylor Rooks accepted a job in finance after graduation.