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Thursday, May 27, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.
SPORTS

Michigan shows it belongs In competitive debut, Michigan Adaptive 

Sports and Fitness sends a message

SEATTLE — No team had ever 

beaten Washington in a regional 
game it hosted since 1995. The 
Huskies were a perfect 52-0.

Yet there Michigan was in the 

bottom of the seventh, up 2-1, and 
just three outs away from being the 
first team to do so.

Alex Storako clearly was ready 

for the opportunity. 

Three outs later — and without 

throwing a single ball — the game 
was over. The Wolverines won, and 
in doing so, showed the NCAA that 
they belonged.

“We had to just play our game,” 

Michigan coach Carol Hutchins 
said. “And I’ve told them all week, 
you don’t have to be better than you 
are just play the game you know 
how to play, I really thought we did 
that.”

To understand the significance 

of this win you have to go back a 
week to Sunday night — the NCAA 
selection show. Many expected 
Michigan to get a top 16 spot and 
host a regional at Alumni Field this 
weekend.

That did not happen.
Instead, they were seeded 17th 

and were sent across the country 
to play in Seattle against the 16th 
seeded Huskies along with Seattle 
University and Portland State.

“(The 
selection 
committee) 

disrespected our entire conference,” 
Hutchins 
said 
to 
reporters 

immediately after the selection 
show on May 16th. “I’m not very 
pleased with it at all. Disrespect.”

But they still made the most of 

the hand they were dealt. 

After a Friday night win over the 

Seattle Redhawks, the Wolverines 

had their chance at Washington. 
And, 
well, 
you 
know 
what 

happened.

Their 2-1 victory clinched a 

spot in the Seattle regional final 
on Sunday. And with the Huskies 
ace Gabbie Plane having pitched 
nearly two full games already this 
weekend, and Michigan needing to 
only win one more game while any 
other team needs to win three, the 
Wolverines truly sit in the driver’s 
seat.

Michigan’s best performance 

came against its strongest test to 
date. In the final rankings before the 
NCAA selection show, the Huskies 
came in 6th. The Wolverines’ best 
opponent prior to Saturday’s game 

was Minnesota, who was ranked 
24th.

Again, Michigan showed that 

it should have belonged in the 
national 
conversation 
all year. 

The Wolverines showed that they 
deserved more respect. And they 
showed that they should’ve hosted 
a regional.

Because they didn’t just beat 

Washington while Plane was on 
the mound. Michigan controlled 
the game from the second inning 
all the way until Storako’s final 
pitch. The 2-1 scoreline wasn’t 
truly indicative of how the game 
went. Because while two solo 
home runs from senior infielders 
Lou Allan and Taylor Bump did 
provide the scoring for Michigan, 
it had multiple chances throughout 
the 
game 
to 
score 
as 
well, 

while Washington did not. The 
Wolverines had two runners reach 
third base throughout the game, 
the Huskies had zero. Michigan 
outhit Washington and Storako 
outpitched Plane. 

Collegiate 
wheelchair 
tennis 

has grown markedly in recent 
years. Since 2019, the number of 
participating schools and athletes at 
the annual Collegiate Wheelchair 
Tennis 
National 
Championships 

has more than doubled despite the 
hardships imposed by the pandemic. 

However, no program has yet 

come close to challenging the sport’s 
long-time 
heavyweights 
— 
the 

University of Arizona, San Diego 
State University, and the six-time 
champions University of Alabama. 

That is, until this year. 
Michigan was an enigma coming 

into this year’s Collegiate Wheelchair 
Tennis 
Nationals. 
People 
knew 

that the Wolverines were building 
something — word travels fast in the 
tight-knit adaptive sports community. 
But beyond graduate student and 
wheelchair tennis star Chris Kelley, 
the caliber of Michigan’s athletes 
was, for the most part, anyone’s guess. 

Shocking 
everyone, 
the 

Wolverines’ 
inexperience 
didn’t 

prove to be a barrier. Michigan 
 

traveled home with a fistful of finalist 
medals, even managing to give 
Alabama a run for its money in the 
team final.

Undoubtedly, 
the 
Wolverines’ 

performance on the court in its 
first ever competitive appearance 

was remarkable. More remarkable 
still, 
however, 
was 
Michigan’s 

performance off the court. 

Compared 
to 
the 
other 

participating 
schools, 
Michigan’s 

traveling entourage was enormous: 
the most athletes, two coaches, a 
physical therapist, and a host of 
supporting students. All were clad in 
a coordinated display of Wolverine 
pride, donning shirts, shorts, shoes 
embroidered 
with 
“Michigan 

Adaptive Sports and Fitness.” Even 
the spokes on the tires of the athletes’ 
wheelchairs were painted an eye-
catching maize. 

While this level of support and 

coordination at a major collegiate 
competition may strike the seasoned 
college athletics fan as standard 
or unexceptional, this is by no 
means the case for the majority of 
adaptive sports programs across 
the nation. Minimal funding and 
feeble institutional recognition is 
pervasive, stunting their growth. 
Only a few collegiate programs have 
thus far been successful in generating 
the support necessary to begin to 
resemble the average collegiate 
varsity sports team, and it’s taken 
them a long time. 

But this year, Michigan shattered 

that model. In the span of only two 
years, a combination of support 
from key institutional players and 
generous financial backing from the 
Adam Miller Memorial Fund, among 
others, has enabled the Wolverines 

to become a dominant force in the 
collegiate adaptive sports space in 
next to no time. 

“The support we’ve had — that’s 

why we had matching apparel and 
chairs,” Dr. Feranmi Okanlami, 
Director of Michigan’s Adaptive 
Sports and Fitness Program, said. 
“These might seem like superficial 
items, but they made every other 
program look and see that we’re a 
well-oiled machine with organized 
ideas — they brought an energy that 
made people know that Michigan 
was there.” 

Throughout the tournament, that 

energy was an attractive force. A 
significant number of passerby and 
Michigan alumni stopped by the 
Michigan contingent to inquire about 
the program and wheelchair tennis. A 
conversation between Okanlami and 
a hitting partner of former Michigan 
Men’s Varsity Tennis player and 
Wimbledon Finalist Mal Washington 
even led to a video of support from 
Washington himself. 

“People that were not initially 

part of this entourage became part 
of this entourage,” Okanlami said. 
“We had parents of athletes from 
other institutions come and sit 
with us because they were there by 
themselves — they gravitated to the 
Michigan contingent. I think that 
energy really attracted people and 
benefitted the competition.”

 SPENCER RAINES

Daily Sports Writer

 GRAYSON BUNING

Daily Sports Writer

Courtesy of Manuela Davis

Michigan’s Adaptive Sports and Fitness program has come a long way in a short time. 

Read more at michigandaily.com

Read more at michigandaily.com

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

Michigan’s big win over Washington proved it belonged in the national 
conversation. 

