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SAMI RUUD 2021 Daily Sports Writer

The 2021 gymnastics National Championship came down to the very last routine of the meet. Junior Abby Heiskell stared down the beam as she mounted it. As she performed her routine, she completed each skill with an intention to do it perfectly, a lesson Michigan coach Bev Plocki has drilled into the mind of her gymnasts all season. Heiskell showed no ounce of doubt in any of her skills, and when she finished the routine with a stuck dismount, she proved that she was capable of being there for her team in the moment it needed it most.

Heiskell, joined by her teammates, could not peel her eyes from the scoreboard, and neither could Oklahoma. Waiting for only junior Olivia Trautman’s score on floor and Heiskell’s score on beam, the teams sat tied at 198.0750.

When the number came in on the scoreboard, a 9.9250, the team, the coaches and the fans erupted. Michigan would be the 2021 National Champion, the first Michigan women’s gymnastics team to ever win a National Championship.

“We’ve talked about this for so long, and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is actually happening. Oh my gosh, the meet is over, and we’re national champions,’ ” sophomore Sierra Brooks said. “So much went into this, it’s so amazing seeing our hard work pay off.”

Michigan clinched the win, in the end, by securing the lead they held onto the entire meet. Coming into the Finals, Oklahoma was ranked first and Michigan second, based on the semifinal scores, but the Sooners were never given a chance to shine.

Michigan started the meet on floor with six strong routines, all counted scores at a 9.9125 or higher. Junior Natalie Wojcik led the pack, scoring a 9.9500, landing all of her tumbling passes smoothly and without fault. Sophomore Gabby Wilson also posted an impressive score of 9.9375, and the solid performance from the rest of her teammates landed the Wolverines at a 49.6250.

Michigan carried that energy to the vault for the second rotation, where it extended its lead over the rest of the field even further, gaining a 0.1375 lead over Oklahoma at the halfway mark.

“(Vault’s) just been amazing,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. “At the beginning of the year, we were doing big vaults, but we couldn’t get the landings, and it was a process. We absolutely peaked at the right time this year. … Right before the championship part of the season, we started being able to nail those 1.5s.”

Heiskell started off Michigan’s next rotation on bars with a stuck dismount. The Wolverines’ top scores of the rotation came from Brooks and junior Abby Brenner in her first competitive routine in months since hurting her ankle at the Big Five meet on Feb. 27, and Michigan maintained its lead.

That lead, though, was deceptively large. The Wolverines had to move to the beam, a nerve-racking event to conclude a meet on, while the Sooners ended on floor, whose scores were the highest of any event throughout the whole meet.

“I just said to them: ‘Take a deep breath, exhale out all of the nervous energy and let’s just go do what we do, one routine at a time for six routines,’ ” Plocki said “We got this, breath in the confidence, be aggressive. That’s what we wanted them to do, was just go do confident, aggressive balance beam.”

Michigan’s beam rotation did not start as strong as it would have liked, but Brooks turned the rotation around for the Wolverines.

“Before I even went, I was on the verge of tears because I wanted it so bad for this team,” Brooks said. “I knew those routines were semi off, but I also trusted myself and the rest of the lineup, so I wanted to get out there and do my thing. I got on the beam and I just honestly approached it with as much confidence as I could ever have.”

Brooks performed her beam series perfectly, making up for some of the points her former teammates had lost, but Wojcik and Heiskell still had to nail their routines for Michigan to have a shot at the win.

Wojcik one-upped her teammate, sticking every skill just as solidly and scoring a 9.9875, the highest beam score of the day, then Heiskell handled the pressure of a tied score with ease.

“It’s very hard to describe how it feels,” Plocki said. “This is 32 years I’ve been waiting for this feeling … It’s just an unbelievable pride and just an admiration for what our team has been through and the sacrifices that they’ve made. I knew this was possible because, for the first time, they have belief in themselves.”

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Michigan won its first National Championship in school history.

Michigan escapes Sweet Sixteen with win over South Dakota, 52-49

ABBIE TELGENHOF 2022 Assistant Sports Editor

WICHITA, KAN. — The Michigan women’s basketball team knew it was do or die.

With a trip to the Elite Eight on the line — potentially the first in program history — the third seeded Wolverines (25-6 overall) rose to the challenge.

Taking down No. 11-seed South Dakota (29-6), 52-49, in the Sweet Sixteen, the Wolverines once again made history.

“The moment we had today is never going to go away,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “So I’m just so happy for this group. … We’re still playing. There are eight darn teams left in the country playing and we are one of them. That’s pretty incredible.”

From the opening tip, it was a gritty, back and forth game. Throughout the entire game Michigan struggled to score, never truly finding an offensive groove. Instead, short spurts of efficient scoring kept the Wolverines afloat against a physical Coyote defense.

In the first quarter, sloppy turnovers plagued Michigan. The Wolverines looked to their one-two punch of senior forward Naz Hillmon and senior guard Leigha Brown, but to no avail.

Hillmon — who was triple-teamed on every possession — notched zero points in the first quarter and just six in the second. Brown fared slightly better, but any limited success she had was unsustainable. Working deep into the rotation early, Michigan tried to get something going. A short run at the end of the first quarter kept the Wolverines from fully breaking.

But opening the second quarter with two missed 3-pointers from junior guard Maddie Nolan and a shot-clock violation, Michigan quickly fell out of what little rhythm it had gained. Short offensive spurts from freshman guard Laila Phelia kept the Wolverines in the game — and a strong defensive showing forced South Dakota into tough shots — but nothing seemed to stick.

It quickly became clear Michigan wouldn’t magically overcome its struggles, but would have to fight for every possession. On this night, nothing would come easy.

With their offense faltering, the Wolverines dug into their defensive identity, trying to keep South Dakota contained on offense. Clogging the paint and hedging high on ball screens, Michigan tried to disrupt the Coyotes offensive game plan.

“We play a different style than a lot of the teams that (South Dakota) played,” Barnes Arico said. “Just going back and watching the film of their first two tournament games, who they beat, two Power Five opponents that are awesome teams, they defended it differently than we did tonight. We wanted to give them a different look. I think it sped them up and made them take quicker shots than maybe they wanted to take.”

Yet, South Dakota still jumped out to an early lead. Failing to put together a complete game, the Wolverines allowed the Coyotes to hang around throughout the half, entering the locker room down by two points.

Despite obvious halftime adjustments, the third quarter followed the same narrative of offensive struggle. Doubling down on finding Hillmon and senior forward Emily Kiser in the paint, Michigan finally found the shots it wanted — but failed to capitalize.

The Coyotes continued to force the Wolverines out of rotation and score at every level. Draining 3-pointers and finding their forwards inside, South Dakota kept Michigan from gaining any momentum. With the game very much within reach for either team throughout the entirety of the fourth quarter, Michigan continued to struggle finding offensive consistency.

Coming down to the final play, the Coyotes had a chance to secure the lead with 20 seconds left on the clock. South Dakota launched an open 3-pointer for the lead — only for the ball to bounce off the rim into Hillmon’s hands, with a foul following. The next possession, another Coyote foul sent Brown to the line for the first time all night. Draining both, Brown put the Wolverines back in control with a four point lead.

Michigan would hold on, emerging victorious.

And for the first time in program history, with just eight teams left vying for a national championship, the Wolverines are still dancing.

EMMA MATI/Daily Michigan beat South Dakota to secure its first ever spot in the Elite Eight.

LEGAL NOTICE

If you are currently enrolled as a student at the University of Michigan, your rights are affected by a class action settlement

A federal court authorized this notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

A proposed settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit entitled Graham v. University of Michigan, et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-11168-VAR-EAS (E.D. Mich.) (the “Settlement”). Class Members must decide now if they want to do nothing, object to this Settlement, and/or attend the Final Approval Hearing.

What is this about? Plaintiff Josephine Graham filed this lawsuit alleging that the University of Michigan and the Regents of The University of Michigan (“Defendants”) do not maintain or properly enforce sufficient policies and procedures for preventing and responding to sexual misconduct on campus. Defendants do not admit any liability, fault, or violation of law and deny all allegations and claims filed against them. The Court has not decided who is right or wrong. Instead, Plaintiff and Defendants have agreed to a Settlement to avoid the risks, burdens, and expense of continued litigation. This is not a settlement about money compensation. The Settlement is for noneconomic relief. Defendants are incorporating practice changes only, and no Class Members will receive any money or release any claims they may have for money. Who is affected? If you are currently a student at the University of Michigan, you are a Class Member.

What does the Settlement provide? Defendants have agreed to implement additional operating and oversight procedures for identification, prevention, and reporting of improper sexual conduct at the University of Michigan (the “University”). The University will establish a Coordinated Community Response Team (“CCRT”), which will have the authority and the duty to assess, plan, monitor, and evaluate campus prevention and response efforts at the University of Michigan, and make official recommendations regarding the University’s sexual misconduct prevention and response efforts. The CCRT will meet as needed throughout the year, but no less than once a semester during the academic year, and once during the summer.

The CCRT’s Co-Chairs will regularly communicate regarding policy, procedure, and practice changes to the President of the University and meet with the President to discuss the CCRT’s ongoing efforts. In addition, the CCRT will regularly provide public updates online concerning what it is doing, what it has found, and its recommendations regarding policy, procedure, and practice changes. The University will seek an appropriate budget for the CCRT, which will, at minimum, cover the cost of the External Co-Chair and a $10,000 annual discretionary fund. The University will also seek other appropriate support for the CCRT.

The University will cooperate reasonably with the CCRT’s requests for information to assist with its efforts.

This agreement will continue for five years from the date of Court approval. More details about the settlement benefits and the CCRT can be found at www.UMStudentClassSettlement.com.

What are my options? As a Class Member, you may do nothing or object to the Settlement. Objecting is telling the Court what you do not like about the Settlement. Go to www.UMStudentClassSettlement.com for details on how to object. All objections must be postmarked by June 27, 2022. What happens next? The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on July 26, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. At the hearing, the Court will determine whether the proposed Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and in the best interests of the Class. The Court will also rule on applications for attorneys’ fees and expenses for Class Counsel (not to exceed $5,000,000) and a service award for the Class Representative ($2,500). The Court will also hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the proposed Settlement. You are not required to attend the Final Approval Hearing. If you or your own lawyer want to speak at the Final Approval Hearing, you must send your “Notice of Intent to Appear” no later than June 27, 2022. Questions? This notice is only a summary. For more information, go to www.UMStudentClassSettlement.com or call tollfree 888-964-2138.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Michigan shocks Ohio State, ends eight-game losing streak in The Game

JARED GREENSPAN 2022 Managing Sports Editor

For 3,653 days — long, arduous, hollow days — the Michigan football program lived in the shadows of its unremitting failures against Ohio State.

There won’t be a 3,654th day. At long last, that futile streak is over.

After eight consecutive bitter losses to the Buckeyes, the Wolverines emerged from The Game victorious. No. 5 Michigan (11-1 overall, 8-1 Big Ten) shocked No. 2 Ohio State (10-2, 8-1), 42-27, clinching the Big Ten East and punching a ticket to next Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game.

“One of my favorite sayings of all time is, ‘When there’s a will, there’s a way,’ ” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “And the will was very strong for our team.”

As the fourth quarter wound to a close, reality melded with imagination. Senior running back Hassan Haskins stood in the endzone with outstretched arms, celebrating a touchdown that handed Michigan a 15-point lead with 2:17 minutes to play. He blew kisses to the crowd, beckoning the raucous sea of maize pom poms that serenaded him for an electric five touchdown performance.

Pandemonium had officially set in.

When the clock struck doublezeroes, everyone seemed to forget about the freezing cold and the endless nightmares from previous defeats. Droves of fans plunged from the stands and spilled out onto the turf, reveling in their newfound glory.

Michigan, champions of the Big Ten East.

“It was a surreal moment,” junior quarterback Cade McNamara said. “It’s something we’ve dreamed of. Every 6 a.m. (practice), that feeling is the reason why we do it.”

Saturday offered an opportunity for the Wolverines to exorcise past demons, escaping the recent doldrums and persistent pain of the rivalry. A win would vault them into the Big Ten Championship Game and buoy aspirations of a berth in the College Football Playoff, two hurdles that the program had yet to clear as of the morning, seven years into Jim Harbaugh’s tenure.

But just as toppling the Buckeyes began to feel sisyphean, the Wolverines punched first on an A.J. Henning touchdown — and refused to relent.

“It was really like a war out there,” senior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who wreaked havoc on Ohio State’s offense with three sacks, said.

In the second quarter, even as Ohio State took a brief 10-7 lead, Michigan proved unfazed, embodying its season-long serenity. A 13-play, 82-yard touchdown drive sent the Wolverines into halftime clenching a 14-13 lead.

In past years, Michigan unraveled in similar moments, particularly in The Game. On Saturday, the team merely grew stronger.

The second half started to a tee. The Wolverines’ defense forced a crisp three-and-out, and the offense blazed down the field, running the ball three times for a total of 81 yards; Haskins capped the drive with a touchdown.

They had kicked Ohio State back onto its heels, and the Buckeyes would never recover.

So hapless were the Buckeyes that only a brief kerfuffle could slow down the Wolverines. After a scrum triggered an unsportsmanlike conduct on Ohio State’s Cameron Brown, Michigan found the endzone again. Haskins bounced outside, scoring for the third time on the day, staking the Wolverines to a stunning 15-point lead.

The result incited delirium and momentarily broke the Michigan Stadium scoreboard — an apt microcosm for the shock of The Game’s result.

In the game’s waning minutes, when Stroud’s fourth-and-18 heave fell shy of a first down, the reality set in. Bleachers rattled. The stadium shook. Hutchinson and fifth-year safety Brad Hawkins shed tears.

“We have (a sign) inside Schembechler Hall, ‘What are you doing today to beat Ohio State,’ ” Hawkins said. “And today, we beat them. It’s a blessing.”

A blessing, perhaps, but certainly not a product of luck.

“Every workout, every practice, every game, everything that we put into this season — that’s something that we kept in the back of our minds every single day that we entered Schembechler Hall,” McNamara said of Ohio State. “We did enough to beat them today.”

After nine years of perpetual suffering, Michigan had achieved the unthinkable. It’s a game that no one will soon forget.

“We’ve got a lot of hours left today,” Harbaugh smirked, allowing himself to digest the gravity of the moment. “… Celebrating long into the night.”