The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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12 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2017 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Water polo sophomore center Alex Corbett: She competed for Australia in the FINA World Women's Junior Water Polo Championships from Sept. 3-9. She was tabbed to the roster June 1, and has participated in several training camps since. As a freshman last year, Corbett played in 25 games, and finished with 14 goals and three assists. Her play off the bench helped the Maize and Blue win the CWPA champion- ship for the second consecutive year and advance to the NCAA Championships. Women's swimming junior Siobhán Haughey: The Hong Kong native was one of five current or former women to take part in the 2017 World University Games Aug. 20-27 in Taipei, Taiwan. Haughey claimed a pair of gold medals for her native country, setting a new World Uni- versity Games record in the 200-meter freestyle (1:56.71) and placing first in the 100 freestyle (54.10). The seven-time Big Ten champion and 2016 Olympian also split a 53.83 in the 4x100-meter free- style to lower her own school record in the distance. Men's gymnastics alum Sam Mikulak: The three- time Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, who competed at Michigan from 2011-14, maintained his spot on the United States National Team while taking part in the 2017 P&G Championships Aug. 17-19. He took second on the pommel horse (29.600) and third on the high bar (27.850), and will be a part of the six-man group that will represent America at the 2017 FIG World Champi- onships Oct. 2-8 in Montreal. Field hockey senior goalkeeper Sam Swenson: She was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Aug. 28 after com- piling a conference-best 14 saves in back-to-back victories over No. 1 North Carolina and No. 15 Wake Forest. Swen- son had nine stops and allowed just two goals against the Tar Heels Aug. 26, and followed that performance up with five saves against the Demon Deacons the following day. Men's track and field alum Nick Willis: The 2005 NCAA champion in the mile claimed eighth place in the 1,500-meter final at the IAAF World Championships in London Aug. 13. Willis crossed the line in 3:36.82 for his third career top-10 fin- ish in the outdoor event. The Michigan alum is a two-time Olympic medalist for New Zealand — winning silver in the 1,500 meters in 2008 and bronze in 2016 — who racked up two national titles (distance medley relay was the other), five All-America honors and six Big Ten titles during his career in Ann Arbor from 2003-05. — Austin Fox MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK MINOR REPRESENTS MICHIGAN IN 2017 U.S. OPEN On Aug. 18, Michigan junior women's tennis player Brienne Minor received a wild card from the USTA into the main draw of the 2017 U.S. Open, held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. That made the first African- American to win the women's NCAA title the first Wolverine in program history to compete in the singles main draw of the U.S. Open during her collegiate career. Minor won her first game of the event, but did not win another the rest of the set, as her opponent — Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, the 99th-ranked player in the world — came out on top with a 6-1, 7-5 opening-round win. Former U-M men's standout Evan King also competed in the U.S. Open main draw after winning the qualify- ing round finals. However, he lost to No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). BEILEIN COMPLETES STAFF WITH NEW DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM PERSONNEL On Aug. 29, Michigan men's basketball coach John Beilein announced he had completed his staff with the hiring of Chin- edu Nwachukwu as the team's director of program personnel. Nwachukwu spent last season as the director of operations at Milwaukee under LaVall Jordan, a former Beilein assistant who is now the head coach at Butler. Prior to his time with the Panthers, Nwachukwu spent four years at Saginaw Valley State as an assistant coach and helped the Cardinals post a school- record 25 victories during the 2015-16 season. Before his arrival at SVSU, Nwachukwu was an assistant coach and head coach of the junior varsity team at the University of Findlay for two years. Prior to Findlay, Nwachukwu spent three seasons as a student manager with the Wolverines under Beilein. He graduated from Michigan in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and received his master's degree in business administration from Findlay in 2012. HANNAH NIELSEN SELECTED IN INAUGURAL WPLL DRAFT On Aug. 23, Michigan women's lacrosse coach Hannah Nielsen was selected in the second round of the inaugural Women's Professional Lacrosse League (WPLL) Draft with the No. 10 overall pick by the Philadelphia Fire. Nielsen is just the second coach in Michigan women's lacrosse history and is pre- paring for her first season with the Wolverines. All WPLL games will take place in the summer, which will allow her to compete in them while still serving as Michigan's coach. A native of Adelaide, Australia, Nielsen was a four-time na- tional champion and two-time Tewaaraton Award winner dur- ing her playing days at Northwestern from 2006-09. She continues to compete internationally with the Australian women's team and has played in four World Cups. In fact, she was one of 12 players named to the All-World Team after rack- ing up seven goals and nine assists in the 2017 FIL Rathbones Women's Lacrosse World Cup semifinals. — Austin Fox BRIENNE MINOR