Conqu'ring Heroes: Pankratz Ready for Wolverines to Peak in Second Half of Season
10/6/2022 9:47:00 AM | Field Hockey, Features
By Mishal Charania
The University of Michigan field hockey team is "right there" according to head coach Marcia Pankratz. The Wolverines are celebrating their 50th season as one of the original six female teams at U-M and are ranked No. 10 nationally with a 6-4 overall record after battling teams including No. 6 Penn State and No. 3 Maryland. Pankratz feels the team is peaking at the right time and is going to be a threat to opponents the rest of the season.
"Our record of 6-4 doesn't look good on paper, but the teams we've played have all been in the top six in the country," said Pankratz on Thursday's (Oct. 6) edition of the "Conqu'ring Heroes" podcast. "We're starting to pull it together and I think as we start heading down the stretch we're going to be quite a dangerous team."
Pankratz recognizes that there is no magical answer as to how the team is going to get over the hump, but the players continue to seize every opportunity in front of them. For the rest of October, the team will finish out their Big Ten Conference schedule in preparation for a run in the Big Ten Tournament.
"We need to be competitive every day in practice, there is just a razor-thin difference between all these teams coming down the stretch," said Pankratz. "You have to capitalize on your opportunities and be able to execute under pressure because those are big-time games."
Among those looking to capitalize on upcoming opportunities are the super-senior and senior classes, who are looking to bring another trophy back to Ann Arbor.
"We've got COVID seniors that want to stay around for a fifth year because they want to bring another championship home to Ann Arbor, and we've got our regular seniors that are also finishing their career and moving onto greater things in life," Pankratz said. "They're just the epitome of a Michigan student-athlete. I couldn't be more proud of them."
Pankratz and Michigan field hockey knows a little bit about being the epitome of a Michigan student-athlete as the Wolverines were part of the original six women's sports added at the university with the passing of Title IX 50 years ago.
"The women that play today on our team probably don't really understand the struggles that we all went through, but that's exactly what we're fighting for," said Pankratz.
Even with all of the positive change that has occurred within the college athlete community, there is a long way to go. According to Pankratz, seeing women in positions of leadership, especially as coaches of women's sports, is one of the major areas that still needs improvement.
"As you see financial compensation grow, you see men start to transfer over into the women's game and start coaching women's teams where we need women to be coaching because they're great mentors and role models," said Pankratz. "The opportunity to get out there and learn all of those transferable life skills to be great leaders and be accomplished later in life really happens in sports. Our women deserve to have those opportunities as well."
Pankratz and her squad will travel to East Lasing to face rival Michigan State on Friday (Oct. 7) at 5 p.m. before returning to Ann Arbor to celebrate 50 years of Michigan field hockey and Title IX the following weekend when they host Indiana on Friday, Oct. 14 and Iowa on Sunday, Oct. 16 at Phyllis Ocker Field.
