Michigan's Banner Season With 12 Conference Championships
6/29/2018 10:15:00 AM | Field Hockey, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Golf, Ice Hockey, Men's Soccer, Men's Swimming & Diving, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Women's Tennis, Water Polo, Wrestling, Features
• 2017-18 MGoBlue.com Awards
• 2017-18 Michigan Team Finishes
By Steve Kornacki and Brad Rudner
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- It was a banner season for the Wolverines, both literally and figuratively.
The University of Michigan men's and women's varsity athletic teams combined to win 12 conference regular-season or tournament championships over the 2017-2018 school year. That equaled a school record set in 2004-05, and those two Dandy Dozens are believed to be the most in one school year by any Big Ten school.
Yet, there were impressive triumphs that didn't bring banners.
The Michigan ice hockey team was picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten, but finished third and made it to the conference tournament semifinals in Mel Pearson's impressive first season. The Wolverines then beat strong teams from Northeastern and Boston University to advance to the program's first NCAA Frozen Four in seven years, where U-M lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds against Notre Dame in the national semifinal.
The "Run DMC" Line of Dexter Dancs, Cooper Marody and Tony Calderone showed the way along with the top blue-line combo of Joseph Cecconi and Quinn Hughes, and breakout goalie Hayden Lavigne.
After a couple years of coming heartbreakingly close, Kim Barnes Arico's Wolverine women's basketball team received a well-earned bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years, won one game and featured the standout inside-outside combo of center Hallie Thome and sharpshooting guard Katelynn Flaherty.
Flaherty became Michigan's career scoring leader with 2,776 points, finishing fifth on the Big Ten's all-time scoring list. She broke 1989 All-American Glen Rice's school mark for men or women, and Rice returned to salute her during halftime of a men's game.
Heavyweight wrestler Adam Coon beat Ohio State Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder, who became the AAU's Sullivan Award winner as the nation's top amateur athlete, in a dramatic 3-1 match before more than 8,000 at Crisler Center. Coon lost to Snyder, 3-2, in the NCAA finals, but helped the Wolverines finish fourth nationally in Joe McFarland's final season of a 19-year run of success at Michigan.
Ben Flanagan came into the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the 23 seed of 24 runners in the 10,000-meter run, but became Michigan's first winner in that event since 1989. He ran 39 seconds faster than he ever had before to win down the stretch in a .46-second margin of victory.
Golfer Kyle Mueller set the school record by averaging 70.76 strokes per 18 holes and also won the Les Bolstad Award as the Big Ten's scoring leader.
Under Adam Steinberg, the men's tennis team reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years. For a three-week stretch, the baseball team refused to lose, rattling off 20 consecutive wins -- the longest in the nation. And the lacrosse programs -- in their first year playing at their new home and with first-year head coaches -- each showed promise for the future, both notching upset wins over ranked Penn State squads on the final day of their seasons.
With the athletic year now complete for Michigan, we celebrate our 12 (!!) Conference championships.
— Michigan Athletics (@UMichAthletics) June 16, 2018
Congrats to all of our incredible programs.
WHAT A YEAR! #GoBlue 〽ï¸ðŸ† pic.twitter.com/iLQa7fDSFu
Enjoy these snapshots of each conference championship team:
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Was there a more compelling team in any Big Ten sport than John Beilein's underdog conference tournament champions who went on to become the national runner-up in the Final Four, while setting a school record with 33 wins in the process?
The Wolverines won a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament and once again did it the hard way, with four wins in four days. The top four seeds required only three wins, but the Wolverines sent home three of those teams: Nebraska, Michigan State and Purdue. The Boilermakers and Spartans were ranked in the national top 10 at that time.
Moritz Wagner (14.6 points, 7.1 rebounds) was the team leader, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament before storming through the NCAA field. He had 24 points and 15 rebounds in the national semifinal win over Loyola-Chicago.
Forward Charles Matthews emerged as an impact player down the stretch, earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the NCAA West Regional in Los Angeles, California. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Zavier Simpson ran the team from the backcourt, and Duncan Robinson made numerous critical plays in big games to become the Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year.
But nobody hit a more memorable shot than Jordan Poole, who turned defeat into victory with a 32-footer at the buzzer in the second game of the NCAA tourney in Wichita, Kansas. Isaiah Livers started the play 94 feet downcourt with a baseline pass fired perfectly to Abdur-Rahkman, who dribbled twice before hitting Poole with a two-handed, over-head pass.
Poole did the rest and a celebration ensued that still sends chills down spines. Houston's players fell to the court in grief and Wagner briefly consoled some of them in quite a show of sportsmanship. Michigan was off and running, winning nine consecutive postseason games before losing to Villanova in the championship game.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Head coach Kevin Sullivan got the most out of three fifth-year seniors in their final go at the Big Ten Championships. Flanagan, a first team All-Big Ten selection, finished sixth and was joined by classmates Aaron Baumgarten (11th) and Connor Mora (14th) as the Wolverines had five scorers in the top 25.
It was a true team victory for a squad that went onto finish 10th at the NCAA Championships, with Flanagan claiming first team All-America honors in 20th place.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Jamie Morrissey and Gina Sereno finished third and fourth, respectively, to score the big points that led to back-to-back Big Ten titles for head coach Mike McGuire, who was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
It was the first time since 1993 that the men's and women's teams won Big Ten cross country championships in the same season.
FIELD HOCKEY (2)
Head coach Marcia Pankratz led her team to Big Ten regular-season and tournament championship sweep, and then advanced all the way to the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2003.
Katie Trombetta -- leader of one of the nation's top defenses -- was Big Ten Player of the Year and a first team All-American who helped lead the Wolverines to a program-best 21-3 record as they led the nation with 16 shutout wins.
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS (2)
U-M ran through the Big Ten regular-season slate and added to it with another trophy a week later at the Big Ten Championships, giving head coach Bev Plocki 23 Big Ten championships in 29 years, tying Indiana swimming and diving coaching legend Doc Counsilman for the most in conference history by one coach. It was the fifth consecutive Big Ten championship for the Wolverines.
Paige Zaziski, the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, was joined by conference uneven bars champion and NCAA Championships qualifier Brianna Brown as the team's Co-MVPs.
MEN'S SOCCER
Was there a more dramatic championship than this one?
Watch the highlights of the @umichsoccer 2OT win over Maryland for the #B1G regular season title. pic.twitter.com/wzC2zwbS2n
â€" Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) October 29, 2017
The Wolverines needed Indiana and Michigan State to tie earlier in the day to keep their title hopes alive, and got that required result more than halfway through their own match at No. 9 Maryland, which was deadlocked at 1. A draw would do them no good. They needed to win.
In the 104th minute, Jack Hallahan swung in a cross to the far post and connected with a streaking Francis Atuahene, who put the ball in the back of the net to win the game and give the team its first Big Ten title. Atuahene went on to be selected fourth overall by FC Dallas in the MLS Draft.
Chaka Daley was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, taking Michigan from 4-11-4 to 12-6-2 in one glorious season.
SOFTBALL
Carol Hutchins got her squad back on the championship track. One year after having their streak of nine consecutive Big Ten regular season titles broken, the Wolverines finished atop the standings once again.
Freshman pitching sensation Meghan Beaubien led the NCAA with 33 pitching victories against just six losses, becoming only the second Wolverine to earn first team All-America honors as a freshman, joining Sara Griffin (1995). Beaubien posted a 1.16 ERA, opponents batted just .135 against her and the baffling left-hander struck out 266 in 217 innings.
Second baseman Faith Canfield (.391, seven home runs, 38 RBI) was a third team All-American, and first baseman-pitcher Tera Blanco (.345, 11 homers, 44 RBI) finished third on the school's career RBI list with 203.
WATER POLO
Dr. Marcelo Leonardi's squad finished the season ranked No. 9 nationally, beating Princeton in the CWPA Championship before losing to No. 3 Cal in the NCAA quarterfinals. It was the third consecutive conference tournament title for the Wolverines.
Captain Caroline Anderson set single-season Michigan records with 85 assists and 131 points while running the show. She finished with school career marks of 280 assists and 466 points.
Maddy Steere, a sophomore from Australia, was named a third team All-American, and junior Julia Sellers had a breakout season, leading the team with 81 goals.
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
The Wolverines staged a rare combo with both a comeback and a convincing championship victory for Big Ten Coach of the Year Mike Bottom. Michigan fell into an immediate 50-point hole by being disqualified in the first relay, but roared back from there to win by a margin of 235 points. It was the program's first three-peat in 20 years.
Siobhan Haughey was the national runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle and also swam a leg on the 800-yard freestyle relay that posted the third-fastest time in history at the NCAA Championships. Michigan finished fourth for its highest podium finish in 22 years.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
It made perfect sense that a turnaround season concluded with a reversal of fortune down the stretch of the Big Ten Tournament championship faceoff with Northwestern.
Ronni Bernstein's team started the season slowly, going 4-8, but focused on starting over in the Big Ten regular season to go 14-2 the rest of the way. Against the Wildcats and down 3-2 in matches, Kate Fahey and Chiara Lommer won their showdowns to secure the title with a dramatic 4-3 victory.
ACADEMICS
And then there were the many accomplishments of our student-athletes in the classroom. The 2017-18 year highlighted by engineers, nursing students, future sports reporters and businessmen. [ more Scholar-Athlete Stories ]
In total, 358 sophomores, juniors and seniors this year received Academic All-Big Ten honors, an honor which requires at least a 3.0 grade point average. The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar lists -- requiring at least a 3.7 GPA -- won't be released for another couple of weeks, but expect a decent chunk of those 358 students to make that list as well.
Four student-athletes were Academic All-Americans: Coon (wrestling), Ivo Cerda (men's soccer), Erin Finn (women's track and field) and PJ Ransford (men's swimming and diving). Ransford, a 4.0 student in the College of Engineering, was the Elite 90 Award winner for the second year in a row and was Academic All-American of the Year.
All told, it was a good year, one of the school's best.
What's in store for 2018-19? We'll find out soon.
Players Mentioned
