Weekly Release #15
5/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Friday, May 5 -- at Cardinal Invitational (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Fri-Sat., May 5-6 -- at Toledo Invitational (Toledo, Ohio)
Fri-Sat., May 12-13 -- host Len Paddock Invitational (Ferry Field)
Michigan Splits Up Again This Weekend
The University of Michigan women's track team will have athletes in different states again this weekend. Katie Clifford (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Catholic HS), Sarah Hamilton (Canton, Mich./Salem HS), Erica Murdock (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights HS) and Rachel Sturtz (Traverse, Mich./Traverse HS) will travel to Palo Alto, Calif. to compete at the Cardinal Invitational at Cobb Field and Angell Track on Friday (May 5) at Stanford. The rest of the squad will compete at the Toledo Invitational in Toledo, Ohio, on Saturday (May 6).
Stanford Invitational
The four Michigan distance and middle-distance runners competing at Stanford will be up against some impressive company. The host Cardinal, ranked 13th, boast some of the top distance runners in the country. Their distance medley relay team of Sally Glynn, Danielle Spurlock, Lindsay Hyatt and Lauren Fleshman broke the Stanford school record with a time of 11:06.23, bettering the old school record of 11:14.90 set in 1996. The run was fastest outdoor time in the nation this year.
Katie Clifford has flourished in California this season. She provisionally qualified for the NCAA 10,000-meter run, placing second at the Mt. SAC Relays (April 15) in Walnut, Calif., with a time of 34:15.36, besting Stanford's 10th-place finisher Mary Huang, whose time of 35:18.71 was also an NCAA provisional qualifier. Clifford also provisionally qualified in the 3,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational (March 25) with a time of 9:27.04.
Toledo Invitational
The rest of the Maize and Blue will run in the Toledo Invitational hosted by the University of Toledo. Michigan will be without some of their best distance runners, so will have to contend with Toledo's Emily Loroupe, Kia Minkkinen and Katherine Smyth. These three Rocket runners fared well at the Penn Relays (April 28). Smyth's school-record 34:43.10 and Loroupe's 35.23.37 times in the 10,000 meters qualify both of them for the NCAA Championships. Minkkinen set a school record in the 3,000 meters, placing eighth with a time of 9:48.41.
Ryan Does the Job at the Penn Relays
Katie Ryan (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) made her lone representation for the Wolverines count at the 106th running of the prestigious Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, with an NCAA provisional qualifying performance in the 10,000-meter run. Ryan placed ninth with a pace of 35:22.55, which is the second best Michigan time in that event in the outdoor season. Ryan's time of 35:22.55 would rank her 37th in the country in that event for performances prior to last weekend's action.
Bentley Shines at the Drake Relays
Michigan competed against some of the nation's best at the 91st annual Drake Relays on Friday and Saturday (April 28-29) in Des Moines, Iowa, at Drake Stadium. The top performance from the Maize and Blue came from Brandi Bentley's (Detroit, Mich./Marian HS) winning effort in the long jump with a leap of 20-3 (6.17m). The jump barely missed the provisional NCAA qualifying mark of 6.20m and it equaled her season best.
Wolverines Notch Victories at the Hillsdale Relays
Michigan sent five student-athletes to the Hillsdale Relays on Saturday (April 29) in Hillsdale, Mich., at the Ken Harrick Track. The Wolverines delivered solid performances in both the middle distances and the field events, paced by Erin White's (Battle Creek, Mich./Central HS) victory in the 1,500-meter run (4:36.15). White's time of 4:36.15 in the 1,500-meter run is the third best by a Wolverine in the outdoor season and shaved nearly five seconds off her previous season best of 4:41.10, which she recorded at the Sea Ray Relays (April 15).
Michigan's other event championship came from Charo Sweet in the triple jump, with a mark of 37-4 3/4. Sweet was one of two Wolverines among the top three in that event as Djenawa Watkins (Atlanta, Ga./Duluth HS) placed third with a leap of 35-7 1/2.
Distance Qualifiers
Katie Ryan became the second U-M NCAA provisional qualifier in the 10,000-meter run with her ninth-place 35:22.55 performance at the Penn Relays. She will join Katie Clifford, who provisionally qualified with a time of 34:15.36 at the Mt. SAC Relays (April 15). Clifford is also provisionally qualified for the 3,000-meter run, in which she ran a time of 9:27.04 at the Stanford Invitational (March 25).
Relay Team Gets Disqualified
At the Drake Relays, Michigan's 4x100-meter hurdle relay team of Tanisha Williams (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS), Robin Landfair (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS), Ashlie Wilbon (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon HS) and Tasha Phillips (Sarasota, Fla./Booker HS) posted the second-best time in the preliminary heats with a time of 56.87, but was disqualified.
Sturtz Keeps Dropping
Rachel Sturtz has improved her 800-meter run time in every race since the beginning of the outdoor season. She ran a 2:16.50 at the Stanford Invitational (March 25), won the Purdue Invitational (April 8) with a time of 2:14.71 and this past weekend improved to 2:10.10 at the Drake Relays (April 28).
Season Improvements
The most significant improvements in times and distances this weekend:
1,500-Meter Run -- Erin White improved from 4:41.10 to 4:36.15 at the Hillsdale Relays.
Hammer Throw -- April Phillips (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) bettered from 136-8 (41.56m) to 141-09 (43.20m) at the Hillsdale Relays.
High Jump -- Breanne Tenclay, (Grandville, Mich./Grandville HS) improved from 5-0 1/2 (1.54m) to 5-2 (1.58m) at the Hillsdale Relays.
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
