The Saline Reporter
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Former Hornet Frost helps Wolverines to championship berth
2005 SHS graduate enjoying first trip to NCAA finals
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 8, 2008
This weekend, one former Hornet will have the chance to bring home a NCAA championship.
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Carrie Frost, a 2005 Saline High School graduate, is a key member of the Michigan women's water polo team that will take on Southern Cal Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division 1 national championship tournament, to be held on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
Frost said last week that despite this being the Wolverines' first appearance in the national championships since 2005 — and the first of her career — she and the rest of her U of M teammates are confident they can upset the third-seeded Trojans or even come home with a title.
"As a team, we have so much talent," she said. "We all believe in ourselves and in the team. We know what we're capable of. If we can beat USC, that's going to open a lot of doors."
Whatever happens in Palo Alto, the 2008 campaign has already been a successful one for both Frost and the Wolverines. The junior scored in Michigan's 7-4 semifinal victory over Princeton in the College Water Polo Association Eastern Championship tournament, then had two steals as the Wolverines saw off Hartwick 10-7 at home April 27 to earn the CWPA title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
"We were real excited," Frost said of the win, adding that there was a "sense of relief" when the final buzzer sounded and Michigan had won the title. "Every year, we'd gotten so close. We knew there was no way Hartwick wanted it more than we did. We knew that game was ours."
The victory over Hartwick, Frost said, was the culmination of countless hours of practice in the pool.
"We definitely put the effort in," Frost said. "We've been working hard for three years to get to that point. This year we just crossed our T's and dotted our I's, and we beat Hartwick."
Michigan head coach Matt Anderson said that Frost has shown that level of work ethic and drive since her arrival in Ann Arbor, and that it has played a huge part in her becoming the major contributor she is today.
"She's worked extremely hard," he said. "She's one of the best athletes on our team and she's made the most of that.
"She can do whatever it is we need her to do — start inside, move outside, whatever. It's a huge help to have someone who's that versatile."
Frost admits that with so many of her teammates coming from the water polo hotbed of California and a background in year-round water polo, she came to U of M as an underdog who had some catching up to do.
But she also said her four years competing for the Saline girls' swimming program still stands out as time well spent.
"The (swimming) sets we do in college were the ones I was doing in high school," she said. "It helped a lot with my speed."
That speed, Frost said, is one of the strongest parts of her game.
"If I can beat the person who's guarding me down the pool," she said, "either I'm open or someone else is. "
The end result of Frost's combination of athleticism and hard work has been 35 goals and 59 steals during the 2007 season, both good for third on the team. Frost has gone on to add 27 more goals and a pair of hat tricks this season and has been one of just seven Wolverines to have played in all 42 Michigan games this year.
But as successful as her Michigan career-to-date has been, Frost's focus is now on doing everything she can to help the Wolverines prove that they deserve to share the national stage with the California powers — and that they're capable of winning a national championship.
"We're really expecting to finish anywhere from fifth to first," she said. "I don't want to put an exact place on it. But we have the talent to win."
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