University of North Carolina Athletics
Michael Named Tar Heel Performer Of The Week
February 21, 2011 | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2011
Junior shortstop Levi Michael of the Carolina baseball team is the Tar Heel Performer of the Week for February 14-20, 2011 after leading UNC's baseball team to a 4-0 record on the opening weekend of the season.
Following is a complete list of nominees for this week's award.
Levi Michael
aseball
Junior, Shortstop
Welcome, N.C.
Michael helped lead the baseball team to a perfect 4-0 opening weekend trip to California by going 9-for-18 (.500 avg.) at the plate. Michael drove in the first run of the season on a triple in the first inning against Cal Poly before finishing the day 3-for-5. The junior continued the hot hitting against No. 8 Cal State Fullerton as he picked up three more hits before closing out the weekend by going 3-for-8 with four runs scored and a pair of RBI. The Welcome, N.C., native also tallied a stolen base in each game during the weekend.
GINA SUAREZ-MALAGUTI
Women's Tennis
Sophomore
Pembroke Pines, Fla.
Gina Suarez-Malaguti helped lead UNC to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships semifinals with a pair of wins against Washington and Northwestern. The sophomore standout defeated Washington?s Andjela Nemcevic at No. 4 singles,6-3, 6-2 in Friday's opening round, then topped Northwestern?s Nida Hamilton at No. 4 as well, 6-2, 6-3 to help UNC advance to the semis. Suarez-Malaguti was in a tight three-setter with No. 20 Kristie Ahn of Stanford when that match was halted.
TYLER ZELLER
Men's Basketball
Junior Forward
Washington, Ind.
Zeller had 18 points and nine rebounds in UNC's 78-64 win over Wake Forest and 16 points and nine boards in the 48-46 win over Boston College. He was the game's high scorer against BC and shared scoring honors in the Wake game. Zeller shot 13 of 22 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line in the two games. He averaged 17.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two wins.
ELIZABETH DURKAC
Gymnastics
Sophomore
Yorktown, Va.
Sophomore Elizabeth Durkac performed her best meet of the season, helping the Tar Heels get their first win at home versus the Pittsburgh Panthers. She set or matched career-high scores on every event she competed in--bars, beam and floor. Durkac tied for first place with teammate Zoya Johnson on bar,posting a 9.825. She then continued to beam where she hit every element in her set, scoring a 9.85 and once again took first place. The sophomore finished out her day on floor, sticking dynamic tumbling passes for her personal-best score of 9.775 and a sixth place finish.
CARLY SMITH
Women's Swimming
Sophomore
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Smith had an outstanding Atlantic Coast Conference championship meet as she won a pair of championships in the backstroke events, setting school records at both 100 and 200 yards. Her time in the 200 backstroke was also an NCAA "A" qualifying time. Smith also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly. She also led off a pair of medley relay teams which captured ACC championships and in the process set school records. UNC had not won a medley relay at the ACC Championships since 2001.
COREY DONOHOE
Women's Lacrosse
Senior, Attacker
Jarrettsville, Md.
Donohoe tied her career highs with five goals and seven points in Wednesday's 14-10 win at No. 11 Vanderbilt, then scored a game-high four goals in Sunday's 14-8 victory over Richmond. Through three games this season, Donohoe has 13 goals and two assists for a team-high 15 points. She was named the ACC and National Player of the Week last week.
ISAAC PRESSON
Men's Track and Field
Freshman
Asheville, N.C.
Presson ran the fastest men's indoor mile time in Carolina history this weekend at the Virginia Tech Challenge. Presson took fourth in the event out of 35 runners at the meet with a time of 4:03.81 and is now one of only six freshman ranked in the top 50 in the event in the country. Presson also moved into the No. 3 spot in the event the ACC.
ASHLEY VERPLANK
Women's Track and Field
Junior
loomington, Ill.
Verplank won the women's mile at the Virginia Tech Challenge Friday with a season best 4:39.76 to move into the No. 12 spot in the NCAA. Verplank, ranked fourth in the ACC, took first in the event out of 19 runners.
