Burns, Mead Lead Five Wolverines Named to All-Big Ten Teams
5/4/2022 2:00:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Five University of Michigan women's lacrosse student-athletes were named to All-Big Ten teams, the conference announced Wednesday (May 4).
Senior Kaitlyn Mead and sophomore Maddie Burns become the sixth and seventh Wolverines to earn first-team honors, while seniors Kaley Thompson, Arielle Weissman and Morgan Whitaker were second team selections for the first time in their careers.
Mead earned her second conference honor as she was named to All-Big Ten second team at-large in 2021. The midfielder led Michigan on the draw control with 65 wins and 12 games with three wins or more, including nine against No. 17 USC which ranks second in U-M single-game history. Mead also ranked second with 31 points (24 goals, seven assists). The Sparta, N.J., native had four hat tricks this season and was named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Week once and is a 2022 Tewaaraton Nominee.
Burns earned Big Ten accolades for the first time as she helped lead the Michigan defense in 2022. She was second on the team with 15 caused turnovers and fourth with 20 ground balls. The Philadelphia, Pa., native helped the Wolverines defense rank as high as No. 3 nationally (7.3 goals allowed per game), while ending the regular season at No. 10 (8.81 goals allowed).
Thompson paced the U-M offense with a team-best 29 goals. The senior attacker also added one assist for 30 total points, making her one of three Wolverines to eclipse 30 points in the regular season. She scored at least two goals in 11 of Michigan's 16 games, including five hat tricks, and added eight caused turnovers, 10 ground balls and three draw control wins.
Weissman was the starting goalie for the in all 16 games this season and played 852:13 of Michigan's 968:23 total game time. The graduate senior made 123 saves in the cage and carried a .506 save percentage. Weissman recorded four games with double-digit saves, including a season-best 14 against No. 4 Northwestern.
Whitaker also was a leader in the backfield, starting all 16 games on defense. The Glen Allen, Va., native led the Wolverines with 17 caused turnovers, ranked second with 29 ground balls and added four draw control wins. She registered four games with two or more caused turnovers and had a season-high five ground balls against No. 18 Johns Hopkins.
Senior Julia Henry was named Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient after appearing in three games and scoring one goal and adding one assist.
The honorees and the rest of the Wolverines will wait to find out if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament during the selection show, Sunday (May 8) at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
