The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2016 THE WOLVERINE 67 OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE the end of the season," he said. "This team has great potential, and we're playing at a high level now. I feel good about where we're at. "But I know there are a ton of areas we can get better at, individually and collectively. That's what excites me the most, knowing that this team is nowhere close to their ceiling. I'm excited about where this team can go, but we have to keep growing and de- veloping, and if we keep doing that, I think our ceiling can be really high." Although Rosen likes what he's seen from his No. 22 nationally ranked Wolverines so far this sea- son, there's always room for more improvement. "Our offense needs to be more bal- anced for all six rotations," Rosen explained. "I think we're a great de- fensive team, but I still think we can get better there. We're getting a ton of defense out of Jenna, but I think we can get more out of the back line." MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY U-M was ranked No. 18 nationally in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Sept. 13 poll … NCAA.com included senior Ben Flanagan as one of "Five faster runners to watch for 2016 sea- son." … Last fall, Flanagan helped lead the men's team to Big Ten and Great Lakes Regional titles, and a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the squad's best showing at the na- tional meet in 20 years … He took eighth at the Big Ten Championships and was 11th at the Great Lakes Re- gional … Four of the top seven run- ners from that team return this fall … In the squad's first meet of the sea- son, the Michigan Open Sept. 2 in Dexter, Mich., redshirt junior Aaron Baumgarten placed first, covering the 5,000-meter course in 15:09.2 … On Sept. 10 at the Indiana State Sycamore Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., U-M fifth-year senior Connor Herr took third place on the 8,000-meter course with a time of 25:15.0 … The team finished second behind No. 3 North- ern Arizona, with the Wolverines ac- counting for five of the top-10 finishes … Michigan will compete two more weekends in September, including ap- pearances at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis Sept. 24 and the Notre Dame Invitational Sept. 30. — Leland Mitchinson WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY Michigan was ranked No. 10 nation- ally in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Sept. 13 poll … The team is led by senior Erin Finn, who holds the school records for the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races … Finn has started the 2016 sea- son with first-place finishes in the first two meets … Her strong start to the sea- son earned Finn Big Ten Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors Sept. 14 … The team began competition with the Michigan Open Sept. 2, where they secured eight of the top-10 finishes, though Finn won the race as an unat- tached athlete with a time of 16:44.5 … The top finisher running as a Wolverine was junior Avery Evenson with a time of 17:43.6, good for third place … Michi- gan traveled to Terre Haute, Ind., Sept. 10 for the Indiana State Sycamore Invita- tional, where the team finished first, with Wolverines clocking nine of the top-10 times … Evenson and redshirt junior Hannah Meier finished in the top 10 at Terre Haute, the first scored meet for the Wolverines … The Wolverines are in action one more time in September, traveling to Minnesota for the Roy Griak Invitational Sept. 24. — L.M. FIELD HOCKEY 6-1-0 Overall, 0-0-0 Big Ten Michigan scored a huge win in its season opener, defeating No. 1 North Carolina 1-0 Aug. 27, when sophomore forward Emma Way scored the game- winning goal with time expired … The win marked the first time the Wolverines had defeated the Tar Heels since 2002, and the first win against a top-ranked team since 2001 … Senior midfielder Eliza Stein has been named the 2016 team captain … Michigan came into the season ranked No. 10 according to the Penn Monto/NFHCA Preseason Poll; the Wolverines finished at No. 13 in the rankings last year … In the first updated poll of the season Sept. 6, Michigan climbed to No. 6, its high- est ranking since it was ranked No. 5 in 2007 … Junior goalkeeper Sam Swenson earned her second straight Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor after she allowed just one goal on Michigan's West Coast trip in wins over then-No. 11 Stanford and Cali- fornia; she has won the award five times in her career … Swenson led the Big Ten with a 0.77 goals-against average through Sept. 18 … The Wol- verines opened with five of their first six games on the road, but played three of their next four at Ocker Field … Michigan shut out Villanova 3-0 Sept. 10 in its home opener, and then swept a pair of in-state foes, Michi- gan State and CMU, the weekend of Sept. 16-18. — Austin Fox MEN'S SOCCER 0-4-3 overall, 0-3-0 Big Ten Junior goalkeeper Evan Louro's blanking of No. 19 South Florida in a 0-0 tie Aug. 26 was the 10th shutout of his career, which tied him with Chris Blais (2007-10) for fourth place on Michigan's all-time list … After being named the Wolverines' MVP, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten in 2015, sophomore mid- fielder Francis Atuahene was named to the 2016 Big Ten Preseason Watch Senior Erin Finn has started the 2016 season with a pair of first-place finishes in U-M's first two meets. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS