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Thursday, April 11, 2019 — 5A
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By Julian Kwan
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
04/11/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
04/11/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Thursday, April 11, 2019
ACROSS
1 Sizzling Tex-Mex
meat
7 Polling results:
Abbr.
11 Adams of “Vice”
14 Boy whose
wings melted in
the sun
15 Four-star review
16 Forest female
17 Gently used
18 Salinger title teen
19 “Let’s get out of
here!”
20 Drawer in the
court
23 Isn’t feeling 100%
26 Grafton’s “__ for
Alibi”
27 Ship stabilizer
28 “You overreact
when you’re
hungry” candy
bar
33 Brand of suit
Bania gave Jerry
in a memorable
“Seinfeld”
episode
34 Lamb’s alias
35 Indiana state
flowers
37 Cast a spell on
42 Banking biggie
44 Acrobatic dive
45 It may contain
curls and
crunches
49 Nice dad?
50 MADD ad, e.g.
51 Holly genus
52 Clinic technician
57 Singer DiFranco
58 Opera set in
Egypt
59 Ex-Met pitcher
known as “Dr. K”
63 __ profit
64 Pitch indicator
65 One way to
travel
66 Carpentry tool
67 __ loser
68 Kids’ card
game ... and
a directive
pertaining to
the four longest
puzzle answers
DOWN
1 Shark tip-off
2 Bandage brand
3 Boxer’s target
4 Biometric
identification
technique
5 Narwhal feature
6 Queens tennis
stadium
7 Sharply defined
8 Transaction
without financing
9 “South Park”
rating
10 Magic 8 Ball,
some hope
11 Brody of “The
Pianist”
12 Revealed the
function of, with
“over”
13 Streisand title
role
21 La Brea __ Pits
22 Ref’s ruling
23 Quickly, quickly
24 Memo lead-in
25 Wheels for a
celeb
29 New York cager
30 Farm follower?
31 Jargon
32 Former
Portuguese
colony in China
36 More senseless
38 Had a great first
date
39 Deep blue dye
40 Aloha State bird
41 “Jurassic World”
predator, for
short
43 “The coast is
clear”
45 Withdrew
gradually
46 Kayak alternative
47 Actor Stephen
who is a
UNICEF Ireland
Ambassador
48 Traitor
49 Course before
contingencies
53 Anatomical
pouches
54 Storage cylinder
55 Excited
56 Words said
with a finger
wag
60 “__ know you?”
61 Canon SLR
62 Unspecified
degree
Peters thriving as hitter and leader
Now in her 35th season,
Michigan softball coach Carol
Hutchins knows a starter when
she sees one.
When it came time to tab
nine of them ahead of the team’s
opening weekend, Hutchins felt
ready to go all-in on just three:
senior second baseman Faith
Canfield, freshman left fielder
Lexie Blair and senior center
fielder Natalie Peters.
It was an open secret that
Canfield, an All-American last
season, and Blair, the No. 28
prospect in the 2018 class, were
shoo-ins. Peters, on the other
hand, came into 2019 coming off
a regression year that followed
a stellar sophomore campaign.
After posting a .361 batting
average en route to second team
All-Big Ten honors in 2017,
Peters’ average tumbled by 49
points to a .312 clip last season.
The beginning of Peters’
senior year suggested her best
days may be in the past. Through
her first 17 games of 2019,
she hobbled to a .234 batting
average across 47 at-bats.
But in the past month, Peters
has put any questions of whether
she peaked as a sophomore to
rest.
“(Peters) has been locked in
at the plate,” Hutchins said.
“She’s starting to see herself in
that role, she seems to be seeing
herself as an ‘I’m going to get
this done’ (player).”
Peters has posted six multi-
hit games and a .434 average
over her last 20 games. She
played an integral role in last
weekend’s sweep of Indiana,
racking up six hits in eight
at-bats. On Friday, she tallied
three hits and drove in two of
Michigan’s four runs before
scoring a third herself.
After singling, stealing a base
and drawing a walk in Saturday’s
game, Peters had herself a series
finale to remember. She doubled
in the seventh inning before
coming around to score on
senior designated player Kenzie
Nemitz’s walk-off double.
Peters has spent most of the
season
sandwiched
between
Canfield and Blair in the two-
hole of Hutchins’ batting order.
Being wedged between two of
the country’s most dangerous
matchups means she doesn’t get
a lot of attention as a slap hitter,
but her bat has quietly played
a major role in the Wolverines’
offensive revival. During its
current 15-game win streak,
Michigan is averaging nearly
nine runs per game — a stark
contrast to the 3.59 runs per
game it averaged through the
first five weeks of the season.
By getting on base, Peters
creates opportunities to drive
in runs for Blair and senior first
baseman Alex Sobczak, who
lead the team with 32 and 25
RBI, respectively. Though the
Wolverines sit atop the Big Ten,
the pressure of being a senior
as the regular season winds
down doesn’t faze Peters in the
slightest.
If anything, it drives her to
embrace the stage that these
opportunities provide.
“I’ve worked so hard my
whole life and now is the time
when I can just finally play,”
Peters said. “I’m really not
trying to think about the fact
that it’s April. Everything I’m
working for is for the team, it’s
not for anybody else.”
Despite her strong numbers
at the plate, Peters’ impact is
most felt as a leader. As the only
senior outfielder on the roster,
Peters has taken a number of
younger players under her wing.
Blair has felt the effects
of Peters’ efforts first-hand,
particularly on defense. After
Blair’s fielding error allowed
the Hoosiers to take a fourth-
inning lead on Sunday, Peters
was the first player by her side.
Peters reminded her that
“there was a lot of game left” —
a sentiment that settled Blair’s
nerves as Michigan began its
eventual comeback.
“I truly look up to (Peters),”
Blair said. “Since day one when
I stepped on campus, from the
first practice, I’ve looked up to
her as a mentor. … She knows
the ropes around here, she’s
experienced, and it’s not like
she doesn’t thinks of herself as
above everyone, which is what
I really look up to. She’s poised
out there, she’s calm, cool and
collected and she’s a great
mentor.
“(Peters) is always talking
to me before every pitch, just
telling me what to do or where
to move. Little stuff like that is
what really helps in the game.
She gets on me about the details
to make sure I’m doing what I’m
supposed to do.”
With the crescendo of her
career on the horizon, Peters
has stepped up to the plate both
as a hitter and leader.
Thome, Munger leave strong legacy
Legacy. What is a legacy?
This question, made famous
by the hit Broadway musical
Hamilton, is one that is often asked
in sports — particularly, it is posed
in collegiate sports.
A little over a year ago, the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team’s all-time leading scorer,
Katelynn
Flaherty,
concluded
her senior campaign in Waco, TX
following a second round NCAA
Tournament defeat to Baylor. Once
Flaherty’s career as a Wolverine
ended, two questions followed:
what is her Michigan legacy and
what is next for the program?
Now, one year later, those
questions are beginning to get
answered
following
another
second-round appearance and the
emergence of a freshmen class with
astronomically high potential.
However, with the impending
graduation of the Wolverines’
two co-captains, seniors Hallie
Thome and Nicole Munger — two
other program legends who played
alongside Flaherty the prior three
seasons —the same questions are,
once again, arising.
To find those answers now,
one could take a look at stats:
Thome is the program’s second all-
time leading scorer and Munger
accumulated over 1000 points after
starting just her final two seasons.
Together, the duo led Michigan to
its first ever back-to-back second
round Tournament appearances
and they brought home the
program’s first banner in the form
of a WNIT championship.
But, to really understand the
lasting impact of Thome and
Munger and what could happen to
the program upon their departures,
once must look back to 2014.
***
From the time Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico began recruiting
Munger and Thome, she knew they
were going to be special.
“They were great and expected
excellence in everything that they
did,” Barnes Arico said. “That’s
what Michigan stands for. So we
knew that when they came here
they were different. Different
kinds of kids with different kinds
of expectations. And they wanted
greatness.”
Before convincing either player
to come to Michigan, though,
Barnes Arico had her work cut out
for her.
For Munger, a kid from a small
Philadelphia suburb, the idea of
playing at Michigan, far from her
home, was tough.
“I was always a home body
growing up. Always,” Munger said.
“Sleepovers I wouldn’t do, so I was
always like ‘I’m going to school in
Philly.’ ”
But, eventually, Munger ended
up getting over her early fears
and committed to play for the
Wolverines.
“I knew that Michigan was a
place that I could never pass up,”
Munger said. “I mean I walked on
campus and just got the chills for
the first time. And it was just the
place that I wanted to be. … It’s just
a place that I couldn’t have said no
to.”
While the Wolverines weren’t
necessarily on Munger’s mind until
the recruitment process began,
for Thome, it was a completely
different story.
Thome is from the suburbs of
Cleveland, just a three-hour drive
away from Ann Arbor. She’s come
to Michigan for multiple reasons
ever since she was in seventh grade.
And while, at first, she wasn’t
positive Michigan was the place
for her, after talking with her AAU
coach, a friend of Barnes Arico, she
came around.
“Being
able
to
perform
athletically and academically at the
highest level, you can’t really pick
any place better than Michigan,”
Thome said.
***
Once they arrived on campus,
the two roomed together and
quickly became friends.
They did everything together,
like go to California Pizza Kitchen
at the Briarwood Mall and befriend
the owners.
The only time the pair really
weren’t connected at the hip was
on the court during game time.
“I thought I would start, maybe,”
Thome said. “And then if I started I
would play a few minutes and that
would probably be it.”
Thome
ended
up
starting
every game her freshman season
and averaged about 25 minutes
per game. Munger, on the other
hand, was put into a much more
minimal role, starting only once
and averaging just over 12 minutes
per game.
Even though Munger did not
have played as much as she may
have liked, Barnes Arico still holds
that she was beloved by all.
“She was a fan favorite from the
first time we put her in a game her
freshman year and she was the
front of the press,” Barnes Arico
said. “And you wonder who was
up there in the front (of the press)
before (freshman forward) Naz
(Hillmon)? It was Nicole.”
Their freshmen year ultimately
concluded in a loss in the semifinals
of the WNIT.
The next year, with both playing
in bigger roles, the Wolverines yet
again failed to qualify for the Big
Dance and instead again went to
the WNIT, despite a 28-9 record
and a third-place finish in the Big
Ten.
This time, though, they helped
Michigan win it.
“We hung the first banner, so
it’s definitely an accomplishment,”
Thome said. “And I remember
coach saying the freshmen, at
that time, went up to her and said,
‘We’re going to hang another one.’ ”
That
championship
came
directly in the middle of Munger
and Thome’s stay in Ann Arbor
— and also helped create a shift in
program expectations.
“The (culture) when we came in
was like, “Let’s have a postseason,’
” Thome said. “… Now it’s time to
show everyone why we think, no
matter what we do, we should be
able to continue our season more
than one or two games. It’s more
(than) being happy we’re in the
Tournament. (It’s) being happy
we’re winning games.”
***
In their junior years, Munger and
Thome made large contributions
to Michigan’s first tournament
team in five years. Munger’s hard
work finally paid off and she joined
Thome in the starting lineup.
And while both Munger and
Thome knew that they were in
supporting roles in the Flaherty
show, they both averaged career
highs in points (9.1 points per
game and 17.4 points per game,
respectively) and rebounds (4.4
rebounds per game and 7 rebounds
per game, respectively) — although
Munger would increase her points
per game mark in her senior season.
Following their junior seasons,
it was finally Munger and Thome’s
time to take over the reins of the
program and assert themselves as
team leaders.
“When we first got our team
together this summer, I just knew
how excited I was,” Munger said.
“This group was a really special
group because we knew we had
each other. … And we knew that we
were missing a lot, but at the end of
the day we still had so much.”
At that first team meeting over
the summer, Munger and Thome
met with their new freshmen.
Munger expected their first
practice with the new players to be
somewhat laid back and relaxing.
The captain, the consensus hardest
worker on the team, Munger
expected to be the one who went
abnormally hard and led the
workout. Instead, the freshmen
came out with a fire Munger hadn’t
seen before.
“They came in and ran this
workout and I was dripping sweat,”
Munger said. “They were doing
each throwing drill, going back and
forth with each other. And there
was no competitiveness, which
there usually is when freshmen
come in because they’re trying to
prove themselves to each other and
see which one’s the best. They were
just trying to get better.”
But that’s just a testament to
what Munger and Thome’s senior
campaigns looked like. There was
no sense of entitlement or feeling
of superiority felt among the
co-captains over the rest of the
time. Even when the co-captains
received All-Big Ten honors, they
did not allow it to go to their heads.
That, in part, is due to Munger
and Thome’s personalities, as well
as the sense of sisterhood instilled
within the program — a sisterhood
Munger
and
Thome
prided
themselves on continuing.
“I think we’ve always been
such a tight group over the years
and we’ve always called each
other sisters and bridesmaids
and all that,” Thome said. “But I
think to become a senior, and to
see it all happening and to see the
relationships being formed … I
think it’s definitely a cool thing to
see.”
That sense of sisterhood became
especially important during the
team’s early season struggles.
After starting out 3-6 in the Big
Ten, things were not looking great
for the Wolverines. It was left up to
the senior co-captains to try to turn
the tide in their final season.
And while Thome and Munger
could have taken a step back and
allowed the season to spiral out of
control, neither was willing to give
up on their goal of making it back to
the NCAA Tournament or throw
away their last year at Michigan.
“This January and February
were a favorite part (of the season)
of mine,” Munger said. “Everyone
counted us out and I think it was
just part of a defining moment
where this program could have
sunk this year and said to hell with
it, but they followed our grit and
our desire to make the tournament.
“We got it done and that was
really special to me.”
***
Now, with their senior seasons
over, Munger and Thome finally
have some free time on their hands
to reflect on the last four years and
do as they please for their final few
weeks.
Munger continues to work out
at the team’s facilities, decked out
in Michigan gear, mulling over her
future plans. She hopes to become a
graduate assistant and, eventually,
a coach.
Thome, meanwhile, has taken
the
opposite
approach.
She’s
spent her time at the public,
university gyms — the North
Campus Recreational Building to
be specific. She’s distanced herself
from the game a little bit more
than Munger and has a summer
internship in Chicago working for
Nike before potentially taking a job
in Fort Myers, FL.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior center fielder Natalie Peters has put to rest any questions as to whether she peaked as a sophomore.
BENNETT BRAMSON
Daily Sports Writer
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Seniors Hallie Thome (left) and Nicole Munger (second from right) will leave Michigan with strong legacies intact.
Read more online at
MichiganDaily.com