Wolverines to Watch: Week of April 13-19



		Kylee Botterman (New Lenox, Ill.) - Women's Gymnastics Botterman, a sophomore, earned All-America first-team honors at the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships, competing on the floor exercise in the individual event finals. Botterman became the first U-M women's gymnast since Calli Ryals in 2003 to win the Big Ten and NCAA Regional floor exercise crowns and then pick up All-America first-team honors on the event.



		Dan Harmsen (Rockford, Mich.) - Men's Track & Field Harmsen, a fifth-year senior, is on a quest to become the first back-to-back Big Ten Champion in the 400-meter hurdles for Michigan since Neil Gardner accomplished the feat in 1996-97. The Rockford, Mich., native has held the top time in the conference since the first week of the season. Harmsen continued to trim his time at the Eastern Michigan Invitational (April 17) where he finished first with a season-best time of 51.06, just .08 seconds slower than his all-time career best. Currently, only fellow Wolverine Carl Buchanon is within a second of Harmsen's time this season.



		Adrienne Mecham (Lake Stevens, Wash.) - Women's Rowing Mecham, a junior on the women's rowing team, helped the Wolverine first varsity eight capture three more wins last weekend (April 18-19). U-M beat Bucknell, No. 12 (tie) Washington State and No. 12 (tie) Oregon State to finish off the regular season unbeaten (8-0) for the first time since 2005. Mecham has been set in the six seat of U-M's top eight all spring. Enrolled in the College of Nursing, she earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2008 and is a three-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement award recipient.



		Denise Muresan (Lincolnshire, Ill.) - Women's Tennis Muresan, a sophomore, earned a pair of straight-set singles wins at No. 3 this past weekend to finish the Big Ten season with a team-best 9-1 record. She holds a team-best 14-5 mark in dual-match play and needs just two more victories to secure her second straight 20-win campaign. Muresan carries an impressive 32-10 career dual-match record, including a near-perfect mark in the conference (19-1). She has been victorious in 10 of her last 11 outings.



		George Navas (Tampa, Fla.) - Men's Tennis Navas, a junior, posted a 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles to clinch Michigan's huge 4-3 upset win over No. 11-ranked Illinois this past Saturday (April 18) in Ann Arbor, which marked U-M's second win over the Fighting Illini in 17 tries dating back to 1997. Navas has been victorious in all but three of his 14 dual-match outings this season and heads into this weekend's Big Ten Tournament on a three-match winning streak. He needs just one more win to match his career-high total of 18 set during his sophomore campaign in 2007-08.



		Alan Oaks (White Lake, Mich.) - Baseball Oaks, a jurnior RHP/OF, made his career starting debut on the mound for the Wolverines Saturday (April 18) versus Michigan State and lasted a career-best 7.2 innings. Oaks, who entered the game with eight career innings pitched in his U-M career, nearly doubled his career output. Despite taking the loss, Oaks provided a strong outing at a time when the Michigan pitching staff needed a lift, allowing just five hits, three runs and striking out four Spartans.



		Sarah Roberts (Newport, Calif.) - Water Polo Roberts, a sophomore 2-meter, tallied nine points and four steals to help deliver Michigan its eighth consecutive division crown at the CWPA Western Division Championship. Roberts tallied her third career hat trick in the quarterfinals before exploding for a career-high five goals against Gannon to propel the Maize and Blue into the finals. Roberts alone outscored the opposition in both games leading up to the finals. She also tallied an assist in the championship game.



		Casey Taylor (Chicago Heights, Ill.) - Women's Track and Field Taylor, a senior on the women's track and field team, won three individual events and was a member of a winning relay at the Eastern Michigan Invitational. Taylor won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.78, the 200-meter dash in 23.97 and the long jump with a regional-qualifying mark of 20-5 (6.22m). She also ran the anchor leg on U-M's winning 4x100-meter relay that clocked in at 45.79.



		Maggie Viefhaus (Eureka, Mo.) - Softball Viefhaus, a junior third baseman, batted .667 (4-for-6) with four RBI and five walks over the Wolverines' three-game slate last week, including an impressive 4-for-5 showing in U-M's Saturday doubleheader at Illinois (April 18). She gave Michigan an early lead on a second-inning, two-run homer in game one before driving in runs on a fifth-inning double and a seventh-inning single in the nightcap. Viefhaus leads the Wolverines with eight multi-RBI games.

University of Michigan Athletics

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