11/12/2026 8:31:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
00:00:00 Brian Boesch
While men's basketball was earning a win over Marquette at Crisler, you can hear all about that on Defend the Block.
00:00:05 Brian Boesch
Volleyball was doing the same against Ohio State in front of a sold out crowd at Cliff Keen.
00:00:11 Brian Boesch
The Wolverines dominated in a Wednesday sweep of the Buckeyes who never reached 20 points in a set to officially clinch a spot in the Big Ten tournament.
00:00:21 Brian Boesch
Jenna Hanes, a career effort, 8 blocks, her best showing individually.
00:00:26 Brian Boesch
She added nine kills.
00:00:28 Brian Boesch
And this Wolverine, Cymarah Gordon
00:00:30 Brian Boesch
had a remarkable 667 in the match, 12 kills and six blocks.
00:00:35 Cymarah Gordon
We just went into this week's practice playing hard, knowing that what we have to do, it's Ohio State.
00:00:41 Cymarah Gordon
So I mean, we had to come out and play our best game.
00:00:44 Cymarah Gordon
And we keep all of our opponents in the same category, but I mean, this is a rivalry match. So who isn't excited to play in a rivalry match?
00:00:51 Cymarah Gordon
But yeah, I'm so proud that we came out, did our best game and had a lot of fun.
00:00:57 Brian Boesch
Any sweep of Ohio State is a lot of fun.
00:01:00 Brian Boesch
Wolverines now 16 and 10 overall, 7 and 8 in Big Ten play and they'll close out the home slate on Saturday.
00:01:07 Brian Boesch
It's a 6 o'clock battle with number 13 Purdue inside Crisler Center and it is senior night.
00:01:13 Brian Boesch
Women's soccer got a big win over top ranked Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament, but they could not keep the match
00:01:20 Brian Boesch
going in St.
00:01:20 Brian Boesch
Louis last weekend as the Wolverines lost a tough one in the Big Ten tournament semifinals, 1 to nil to MSU.
00:01:28 Brian Boesch
Michigan 8, 6 and 5.
00:01:30 Brian Boesch
That's where they'll stand as they await their NCAA tournament fate on Monday.
00:01:35 Brian Boesch
Follow along 4 o'clock on ncaa.com for the selection show.
00:01:40 Brian Boesch
Wrestling a strong showing in the Michigan State Open last Saturday.
00:01:44 Brian Boesch
6 Wolverines claiming individual championships and the Wolverines went 70
00:01:49 Brian Boesch
and 23 against outside competition, including 13 pins.
00:01:54 Brian Boesch
This Friday, it's the lone meet at home until after the holidays.
00:01:58 Brian Boesch
Columbia is in town for a Friday night clash, 7 o'clock at Cliff Keen.
00:02:03 Brian Boesch
Swimming and diving, the 5th ranked women's and 11th ranked men's swimming and diving teams earned victories at Oakland on Friday.
00:02:11 Brian Boesch
The women rolled 198 to 94, while the men took care of the Golden Grizzlies 155 to 136.
00:02:18 Brian Boesch
Up next for both
00:02:19 Brian Boesch
It's the Ohio State Fall Invitational down in Columbus, November 17th to the 20th.
00:02:26 Brian Boesch
Other events coming up this weekend, hockey back in action after an idle weekend, the second ranked Wolverines entertaining Penn State.
00:02:33 Brian Boesch
It's Friday and Saturday at Yost, both games at 7.
00:02:37 Brian Boesch
The NCAA Great Lakes Regional is this weekend for cross country.
00:02:42 Brian Boesch
And water polo plays four games up in Providence, Rhode Island, 2 Saturday, 2 Sunday.
00:02:48 Brian Boesch
The action starts at 10 a
.m.
00:02:49 Brian Boesch
Saturday against Siena.
00:02:51 Brian Boesch
Speaking of water polo, we continue our Hall of Honor interviews this week with the second water polo inductee in Michigan history.
00:02:59 Brian Boesch
Shana Welch turned an All-American career in the Maize and Blue into an outstanding coaching career elsewhere.
00:03:06 Brian Boesch
She reflects on all of that and more this week on Conqu'ring Heroes.
[music builds]
00:03:13 Jeff Laurence
Welcome to your one-stop podcast for all things Michigan Athletics.
00:03:18 Jeff Laurence
Updates on every team on campus and interviews with players and coaches are all on the way.
00:03:23 Jeff Laurence
This is Conqu'ring Heroes.
00:03:25 Jeff Laurence
Here's your host, Brian Boesch.
00:03:28 Brian Boesch
Continuing our Hall of Honor inductee interviews here on Conqu'ring Heroes.
00:03:33 Brian Boesch
Great to visit with Shana Welch.
00:03:35 Brian Boesch
What an incredible career she had with Michigan water polo.
00:03:39 Brian Boesch
Shana, first off, just take me back to when you found out that you were going into the Hall of Honor.
00:03:44 Brian Boesch
What was your initial emotion?
00:03:48 Shana Welch
It was a little bit of disbelief, I guess, right?
00:03:51 Shana Welch
Getting that call and, Warde telling me that they're going to induct me for this class.
00:03:57 Shana Welch
Really just, I think the word honor really is part of that, right?
00:04:03 Shana Welch
I felt honored to be a part of that class.
00:04:05 Shana Welch
What an amazing group to be inducted with.
00:04:08 Shana Welch
And when you think about all the amazing athletes that have come through, so just really humbled, honored.
00:04:15 Shana Welch
I cried.
00:04:15 Shana Welch
I was really emotional that day.
00:04:17 Shana Welch
I called my parents and you just start going thinking about all those the people that got you there.
00:04:22 Shana Welch
And so it was really, really one of those moments.
00:04:25 Shana Welch
It meant a lot.
00:04:26 Brian Boesch
And then your foremost memories from the weekend.
00:04:29 Brian Boesch
I'm sure there were emotions during the weekend back in September, but how would you describe the some of the highlights?
00:04:37 Shana Welch
I would say similarly, I mean, everybody keeps asking how it was and I don't know if it's good or bad, but I said besides my wedding day and the birth of my two children, it's up there.
00:04:47 Shana Welch
So, as we know, it's one of the reasons why we love Michigan.
00:04:51 Shana Welch
They know how to do it.
00:04:52 Shana Welch
They do it right.
00:04:52 Shana Welch
And so the celebration was just awesome.
00:04:54 Shana Welch
And getting to see all those, teammates and coaches and my parents and my family and, it does feel a little indulgent in moments, right?
00:05:04 Shana Welch
You're like, these people came out for me and they flew out and it's
00:05:08 Shana Welch
Pretty cool, but also again, humbling in those moments to get to go back and revisit some of those moments.
00:05:14 Shana Welch
But Michigan does it right, I'll tell you.
00:05:17 Shana Welch
It was just such a fun weekend and just the combination of the dinner and the game and a nice win over Oklahoma.
00:05:26 Shana Welch
So thank you to our boys in blue out there, you know, getting that win.
00:05:30 Shana Welch
And so it was just really a good cap to the weekend to get that win out on the football Saturday.
00:05:36 Brian Boesch
Speaking of teammates, you're the second water polo player in the Hall of Honor now at U of M and a former teammate of yours was the first in Betsy Armstrong to have that correlation and to be in there with Betsy.
00:05:49 Brian Boesch
How does that land you?
00:05:51 Shana Welch
Oh, it's so fun.
00:05:52 Shana Welch
I mean, Betsy and I have always been friends and just so much fun being teammates with her.
00:05:58 Shana Welch
And then the fact that he's back in Ann Arbor and got to come out to dinner and celebrate is such a really cool honor.
00:06:06 Shana Welch
And I told her on that night, I said, it's always been fun following her footsteps, even though we were different positions.
00:06:14 Shana Welch
You know, she helped blaze that path and just so really fun and just such a good relationship.
00:06:21 Shana Welch
with her and such a fun teammate to have and someone to follow with that work ethic and the things that she's achieved.
00:06:27 Shana Welch
So it was really fun.
00:06:29 Brian Boesch
Take me back to how you got into the sport.
00:06:31 Brian Boesch
It's a unique one.
00:06:32 Brian Boesch
It's a growing one.
00:06:34 Brian Boesch
So was this back when you were living in Pennsylvania growing up or how did you get involved in the sport?
00:06:42 Shana Welch
Yeah, unique, especially if you're not from California.
00:06:45 Shana Welch
So anybody who's outside of California will tell you, right?
00:06:48 Shana Welch
I mean, my high school coach started a program.
00:06:51 Shana Welch
I was the youngest of three siblings.
00:06:53 Shana Welch
So my brother and my sister played and I was just lucky enough to get thrown in the pool and get to play.
00:06:59 Shana Welch
I enjoyed it.
00:07:00 Shana Welch
You know, we were all swimmers, but I liked water polo because I got to be more social, right?
00:07:04 Shana Welch
Swimming, your head down, you're staring at the black line and water polo, I got to talk.
00:07:08 Shana Welch
And so it was, I enjoyed it.
00:07:11 Shana Welch
And
00:07:11 Shana Welch
It just kind of morphed from there where Navy Aquatics Club needed an extra player and they had called my high school coach and I got an opportunity to go play with them in the summers.
00:07:22 Shana Welch
And that got me some exposure as I got to come out to the West Coast and play in some of those tournaments in the summer.
00:07:29 Shana Welch
And that gave me the exposure to be seen by some of the college coaches and get the opportunity that I did to eventually obviously come and play at Michigan and so on.
00:07:37 Shana Welch
So yeah, I'm just thankful that my high school coach, Frank Tremendous, thank you.
00:07:42 Shana Welch
I appreciate you.
00:07:43 Shana Welch
know, he's still out there, you know, he's reffing swim meets and he's still on pool decks.
00:07:48 Shana Welch
But yeah, I mentioned this at the Friday night dinner.
00:07:51 Shana Welch
He was actually my dad.
00:07:52 Shana Welch
football coach.
00:07:53 Shana Welch
So he was, he coached and almost, every sport.
00:07:58 Shana Welch
I think he coached track, he did swimming, he was our gym coach.
00:08:02 Shana Welch
So he just was passionate about creating opportunities for student athletes.
00:08:07 Shana Welch
And I'm just thankful that he carried that through at our high school.
00:08:11 Brian Boesch
It's cool you mentioned former coaches and all that.
00:08:14 Brian Boesch
Yes, because I'm sure the weekend was indulgent, but it also gives you a chance to prop up others.
00:08:19 Brian Boesch
What drew you then to Michigan?
00:08:21 Brian Boesch
Why did you become a Wolverine?
00:08:24 Shana Welch
I said this, I mean, why not, right?
00:08:26 Shana Welch
I mean, I got to be careful, right?
00:08:29 Shana Welch
Because now I coach at another university.
00:08:32 Shana Welch
But when you're out there, I mean, my recruiting trip, it's everything that you would want in a college experience, right?
00:08:40 Shana Welch
So being able to go and I remember Matt taking me to a football game and just hanging out with the team.
00:08:46 Shana Welch
I think the other piece of that is in the recruiting process and we tell this to student athletes now is you want to find somewhere that feels like home.
00:08:53 Shana Welch
It felt like
00:08:54 Shana Welch
home for me.
00:08:55 Shana Welch
And there's something for everybody out there, but Michigan was the fit for me.
00:09:00 Shana Welch
And I had some former teammates from Navy there.
00:09:02 Shana Welch
So that was a little bit of a comfort zone for me to go and have
00:09:06 Shana Welch
teammates that I already knew.
00:09:08 Shana Welch
But when I went on that trip, Betsy actually, I stayed with Betsy on my recruiting trip.
00:09:13 Shana Welch
And we went to the movies, we just hung out and it was just, it felt like the right place for me.
00:09:18 Shana Welch
And so I was just absolutely blown away.
00:09:21 Shana Welch
Again, I was 17 years old.
00:09:23 Shana Welch
I didn't know, you know, you don't know what you know.
00:09:25 Shana Welch
So it was just such a fun trip and it really felt like home and it still feels like home for me.
00:09:32 Shana Welch
And I think that's the ultimate goal.
00:09:34 Shana Welch
And I feel very blessed
00:09:36 Shana Welch
and happy that I was able to have that experience.
00:09:41 Brian Boesch
And little did anybody know you would then score still a program record 297 goals.
00:09:47 Brian Boesch
As you reflect back, and we'll get into your coaching careers you alluded to now, but why do you think you were so successful as such an offensive threat and someone who was able to get so close to a 300 goal mark?
00:10:01 Brian Boesch
It's remarkable.
00:10:02 Shana Welch
Yeah, I got to yell at Matt.
00:10:03 Shana Welch
He probably could have thrown me in there for a few more minutes and get a couple, but I just had great teammates that gave me the ball.
00:10:09 Shana Welch
I mean, I tell people, like, if you don't have teammates around you and you're not playing as a unit, or if you don't, if your teammates don't want to give you the ball, right?
00:10:18 Shana Welch
So I was just really lucky that I had teammates that were around me that were willing to give me the ball and feed me those opportunities.
00:10:26 Shana Welch
My swimming background definitely helped from the offensive side.
00:10:29 Shana Welch
You know, I grew up a swimmer, I was a sprinter, so you know, I sprinted for the
00:10:32 Shana Welch
team, that speed to get up and down always helps to be an offensive threat.
00:10:36 Shana Welch
Matt might say otherwise.
00:10:38 Shana Welch
I can't say that my defense matched my offensive prowess, but probably could have used some work on the defensive end, but happy to do my part on the offense.
00:10:48 Shana Welch
it was just, it was fun.
00:10:49 Shana Welch
And I had great teammates that helped out.
00:10:51 Brian Boesch
Spoken like a true coach on that one.
00:10:53 Brian Boesch
And now you're at Long Beach State.
00:10:56 Brian Boesch
Before we mentioned that there was a stretch where you were a firefighter.
00:11:00 Brian Boesch
Is that correct?
00:11:00 Brian Boesch
How'd that come to you?
00:11:03 Shana Welch
I was playing overseas for a little bit.
00:11:05 Shana Welch
When I came back, I was trying to decide, do I want to keep playing?
00:11:08 Shana Welch
Do I want to keep coaching?
00:11:10 Shana Welch
Kind of that crossroads of, what do I want to do as a, 25, 26 year old?
00:11:16 Shana Welch
And I had some friends that were in the fire service and they said, hey, we have a lot of athletes that end up going to the fire service and think you'd really like it.
00:11:22 Shana Welch
So I tried my hand at it and dabbled with that.
00:11:26 Shana Welch
And ultimately, you work 24 on, 48 off at the department I was at.
00:11:30 Shana Welch
And in my off time, I was
00:11:32 Shana Welch
back in Long Beach.
00:11:33 Shana Welch
So I was volunteering and ended up getting back into coaching in my off time.
00:11:38 Shana Welch
So short stints with the fire service, I think five or six years and then back to coaching.
00:11:43 Shana Welch
Yeah.
00:11:45 Brian Boesch
Tell me about why you wanted to go into coaching and how Michigan helped shape you to become the person that could not only become one, but climb to the level that you are as a head coach at a great program.
00:11:58 Shana Welch
Yeah, I think there's, it's multifaceted.
00:12:00 Shana Welch
I mean, just coming out as an athlete, I think I've just always had an athlete mindset and sports and I just love being around athletes and sports and coaches.
00:12:09 Shana Welch
And so I knew I wanted to do something in the athletics realm.
00:12:14 Shana Welch
And it's funny, I actually,
00:12:17 Shana Welch
my first job out of college was down in the weight room with Coach Jay, with Jason down there, and did an internship.
00:12:24 Shana Welch
And I actually thought I wanted to go in the strength and conditioning realm before I left to go play in Australia.
00:12:31 Shana Welch
And so when I came back, I just thought, you know, water polo is what I know and the water is what I know.
00:12:39 Shana Welch
And so an opportunity opened up at Bucknell and I applied for it and ended up getting it.
00:12:43 Shana Welch
But funny enough, it was actually for the swim coaching position.
00:12:47 Shana Welch
And so I was the assistant men's and women's swim coach at Bucknell, knowing that I wanted to find my way back to water polo.
00:12:53 Shana Welch
But that got me in the door.
00:12:56 Shana Welch
I got my foot in the door, got to get a taste of what it was like to be coaching Division I collegiate student athletes and be on the other side of it.
00:13:04 Shana Welch
I knew what it was like to be an athlete, but to kind of get a taste of the other side of it.
00:13:09 Shana Welch
And I enjoyed it.
00:13:10 Shana Welch
I had great mentors.
00:13:12 Shana Welch
I had great people around me.
00:13:14 Shana Welch
And I think that's the other piece is having good
00:13:17 Shana Welch
coaches and having people that you look up to and respect and say, this might be something that I want to do.
00:13:24 Shana Welch
And I think just having the opportunity to give back to the sport is the other piece.
00:13:27 Shana Welch
We're a very small sport.
00:13:29 Shana Welch
We're a small, tight-knit community.
00:13:30 Shana Welch
So the opportunity to give back to the sport that gave me so much, this is kind of my way to be able to do that.
00:13:36 Shana Welch
So I'm happy to be back and I've really enjoyed it.
00:13:40 Brian Boesch
What do you wish player Shana knew from coach Shana?
00:13:48 Shana Welch
I think just, you know, it's a short-lived moment, right?
00:13:53 Shana Welch
I mean, I think we go into it thinking four years and when you're young and you're just ready to experience college, I think you don't realize it.
00:14:02 Shana Welch
And we say it all the time now and it makes me feel old, but like that those are the good days, right?
00:14:07 Shana Welch
Those really are the best days.
00:14:09 Shana Welch
And so I think just
00:14:12 Shana Welch
I remind my athletes, enjoy it.
00:14:14 Shana Welch
Enjoy every second of it.
00:14:16 Shana Welch
And I think, again, COVID was a great reminder, right?
00:14:19 Shana Welch
That things could end very quickly.
00:14:21 Shana Welch
And we went through a season, my very first season at Long Beach was a COVID year as a head coach, that it could end very quickly.
00:14:29 Shana Welch
And so just enjoying it.
00:14:31 Shana Welch
And I think sometimes I was moving so fast as an athlete that you forget that, right?
00:14:36 Shana Welch
That it's not always about the wins.
00:14:38 Shana Welch
And that was, I think, a very hard concept for athlete Shana to understand.
00:14:42 Shana Welch
that it wasn't about the wins.
00:14:44 Shana Welch
So I think just enjoying all the other pieces of being a student athlete and exploring Ann Arbor, like get out of your bubble, go, there's arts, there's music, there's good food, there's all these other things, right, in the city of Ann Arbor and getting out there to enjoy those things.
00:15:01 Shana Welch
If I could go back and do it again, that'd probably be the one thing is just to slow down and really enjoy those moments.
00:15:09 Brian Boesch
Before I let you go, you have faced now Michigan before.
00:15:13 Brian Boesch
You have made a road trip to Ann Arbor to square off with the Wolverines.
00:15:18 Brian Boesch
Is it strange?
00:15:19 Brian Boesch
Are there moments where you do kind of snap out of what is, I think, about the most locked in that any human being can be, and that is a coach in the midst of competition?
00:15:29 Shana Welch
Yeah, absolutely.
00:15:30 Shana Welch
I mean, it's always, it's always a funny kind of moment.
00:15:33 Shana Welch
I love coming back to Ann Arbor.
00:15:35 Shana Welch
I think being a coach, it's a great opportunity to come back.
00:15:38 Shana Welch
We actually have a game scheduled already out in Arizona against Michigan this next season.
00:15:44 Shana Welch
So any opportunity we get to match up, I always think is fun.
00:15:48 Shana Welch
But yeah, it's, I say, you know, I'm always cheering for Michigan, except we're planning that, you know, while on Long Beach State, it's the one time I gotta flip the
00:15:59 Shana Welch
jersey inside out and you know, I have now at Long Beach, I'm going to 13th here there.
00:16:04 Shana Welch
So I, you know, I will always love and lead maize and blue, but that's that one moment in that game.
00:16:11 Shana Welch
I'm locked in.
00:16:12 Shana Welch
I'm all Long Beach State and you know, I got to give everything to my team and my program in that moment.
00:16:18 Shana Welch
And you know, thankfully we've we've been successful in those last couple matches.
00:16:24 Shana Welch
So we got to keep the streak going, but that's the only time, you know, otherwise we're all we're
00:16:29 Shana Welch
Go blue.
00:16:30 Brian Boesch
Shana, thank you so much.
00:16:32 Brian Boesch
Really appreciate the time and congratulations.
00:16:34 Brian Boesch
All the best this coming season and I hope to see you back in Ann Arbor here soon.
00:16:38 Shana Welch
Absolutely.
00:16:39 Shana Welch
We appreciate it, Brian.
00:16:40 Shana Welch
Thank you so much and go blue.
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00:16:48 Brian Boesch
Thanks so much to Shana Welch for her time during a busy stretch.
00:16:52 Brian Boesch
We mentioned water polo for Michigan coming up this weekend.
00:16:55 Brian Boesch
We wish her all the best with Long Beach State's season.
00:16:59 Brian Boesch
All right, one more Hall of Honor episode to bring you next week, and we'll be talking women's gymnastics.
00:17:06 Brian Boesch
Of course, Bev Plocki, the legend.
00:17:08 Brian Boesch
She'll join us as will her former pupil, Nikki Peters, who was also a part of the class of 2026.
00:17:15 Brian Boesch
That will conclude all of our conversations this
00:17:19 Brian Boesch
All right, can't wait for that next week.
00:17:20 Brian Boesch
We'll keep you updated on hockey and volleyball and women's soccer and a whole lot more next week with our update on Conqu'ring Heroes as well.
00:17:29 Brian Boesch
Thanks for listening and Go Blue.
[music builds]
00:17:33 Jeff Laurence
Thanks for listening to Conqu'ring Heroes, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast Network, M Go Blue Podcasts.
00:17:40 Jeff Laurence
The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
