In celebration of Women's History Month, Michigan Athletics will feature great moments in U-M women's athletics history throughout March 2021. We will profile current and past student-athletes, coaches and staff who have helped build and carry on the culture, tradition and success that make the Wolverines Leaders and Best. Check back for a new post (or two) each weekday throughout the month.
Cross Country: NCAA Runner-up
Led by four top-40 individual finishers, Michigan placed runner-up at the 1994 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which at the time was the best-ever NCAA result for any U-M women's team. It remains tied for the top finish in program history, matched by the 2016 squad.
Cheer: Double Dip
At the 2019 NCA & NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship, the Michigan cheer team captured its first Game Day IA category victory and won its fifth Intermediate Coed Division IA championship in seven years.
Voices of the Staff
In the "Voices of the Staff" series, we will learn about members of the Michigan Athletic Department staff and what women's history means to them.
Wanda Smith
Ann G. Vollano
Claire Coates
Sanhita Hoskeri
Kat Hart
Jenny Scherer
Lora Durkee
Lacrosse: NCAA Tournament Debut
The Michigan women's lacrosse program made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 as the No. 8 seed. The Wolverines hosted the first two rounds at U-M Lacrosse Stadium and defeated Jacksonville, 13-9, in their NCAA debut.
Video Vault: Softball Field Trip
In January 2017, Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins took her team on an inspirational field trip to Lane Hall to view an exhibit entitled "The Empowerment of U-M Women Through Physical Activity," which detailed the history of women's athletics on campus.
Swimming and Diving: Back on Top
In 2016, the Michigan women's swimming and diving team won its first Big Ten title in 12 years -- and did it in front of the home crowd at Canham Natatorium. U-M won seven Big Ten individual or relay titles and set 10 school records.
Track and Field: First of Many
In 1983, in just the second year of the women's Big Ten Indoor Championships, Michigan claimed its first track and field team title in an 82-71 victory over defending champion Wisconsin. Joanna Bullard led the way, winning the high jump for the second year in a row.
Pam St. John: The Lessons and Memories Sports Have Given Me
Since first stepping onto the sidelines at Michigan Stadium in the 1970s as one of the University of Michigan's first female cheerleaders, long-time cheer coach Pam St. John has spent many a fall Saturday at the Big House.
Tennis: First Trip to Quarterfinals
A 4-3 win over Miami in the round of 16 put the 2015-16 Michigan women's tennis team in the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in program history. Ronit Yurovsky clinched the win over the Hurricanes by winning 11 of the final 12 games in her three-set victory at No. 1.
Water Polo: CWPA Title No. 6
In 2016, the Michigan water polo team captured its first CWPA title in six years with a 9-2 victory over Indiana. It was the sixth CWPA crown for the Wolverines, who ended up finishing fourth in the NCAA Tournament.
Rowing: National Contenders
In the spring of 2001, just five years into the team's run as a varsity sport, head coach Mark Rothstein led the Michigan rowing program to its second straight Big Ten title and a national runner-up finish. The Wolverines matched that program-best NCAA team performance in 2012.
Dance: UDA Jazz Finals
The Michigan dance team reached the finals of the UDA College Dance Team National Championship in 2019 for the second straight season in the Division IA Jazz category. The Wolverines placed sixth after finishing fourth the previous year.
Volleyball: National Semifinalist
Michigan was unranked at the start of the 2012 NCAA volleyball tournament but took down Tennessee, No. 9 Louisville, Michigan State and No. 2 Stanford to reach the national semifinals. Jennifer Cross and Lexi Erwin each claimed All-America honors for the Wolverines, who received a program-best No. 5 ranking in the final AVCA poll.
Basketball: Career Scoring Leader
Katelynn Flaherty scored 2,776 points during her four-year career, the most ever by a Michigan basketball player -- man or woman. She was named the 2018 Michigan Female Athlete of the Year, won the 2018 Marines 3-Point Championship, and was a three-time All-Big Ten first teamer.
Conqu'ring Heroes: Jennifer Klein
Women's soccer coach Jennifer Klein discusses the first few weeks of a unique 2020-21 season, the team's upperclassmen, an early scouting report on the March 12 clash with Michigan State, and what Women's History Month means to her.
Soccer: Starting a Sweet 16 Run
Clare Stachel netted the tying goal with 40 seconds left in regulation and Nkem Ezurike scored the game-winner in the 95th minute in Michigan's NCAA women's soccer tournament first-round match vs. Central Michigan on Nov. 10, 2012. The Wolverines went on to reach the Sweet 16.
Field Hockey: First U-M Women's Title
Michigan captured its first NCAA team championship in a women's sport on Nov. 18, 2001, when the field hockey program defeated top-ranked Maryland, 2-0. With the win, U-M avenged a 2-1 loss to the Terrapins in the 1999 NCAA championship game.
Golf: First Trip to Nationals
The Michigan women's golf team reached its first NCAA Championship in 2002 after a team score of 929 at the NCAA Central Regional. The Wolverines finished 17th overall with a school-record score as Bess Bowers led the squad with a 13th-place finish.
Gymnastics: Twenty-Four
In 2019 women's gymnastics coach Bev Plocki broke Indiana men's swimming and diving coach James "Doc" Counsilman's record for the most conference championships by any coach, in any sport, in Big Ten history with her 24th title.
Softball: National Champs
On June 8, 2005, Michigan softball became the first program from east of the Mississippi River to claim the NCAA Division I softball championship, defeating UCLA, 4-1 in 10 innings.
Spotlight: Marie Hartwig
Marie Hartwig was synonymous with women's athletics and the University of Michigan for more than 75 years. From 1925-29, Hartwig was a gifted student-athlete and leader in the Women's Athletic Association, the sponsor of all women's sport activities at Michigan at that time.
She was hired to oversee the Women's Athletic Association from 1930-69, while rising from instructor to professor to interim director of the Department of Physical Education for Women. She directed the national Athletic Federation of College Women -- predecessor of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) -- from 1939-47.
Marie was part of a University committee that assessed the feasibility of a women's athletic department in the early 1970s. With the approval to proceed with a women's varsity athletic program, she was named the inaugural Director for Women's Intercollegiate Athletics at Michigan and was appointed Associate Athletic Director in 1973. She retired in 1976 but remained actively involved in the progress of women's athletics at Michigan until her death in 2001.
On Dec. 11, 1990, the building that was once Ferry Field clubhouse and later the women's athletics building was renamed the Marie Hartwig Building in her honor. In 1989, she was inducted into the Michigan Athletics Hall of Honor.
