Weekly Release #18

Upcoming Schedule
Wed-Sat., May 31-June 3 -- at NCAA Outdoor Championships (Durham, N.C.)

Bentley, Clifford Head to NCAA Championships
Brandi Bentley (Detroit, Mich./Marian HS) and Katie Clifford (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Catholic HS) will represent the Michigan women's track and field squad at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday through Saturday, May 31-June 3, at Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C. Bentley qualified in the long jump and Clifford qualified in the 10,000-meter run.

Clifford is making her first NCAA Championships appearance, while this will mark the third such appearance for Bentley and her second during the outdoor season. Clifford qualified in the 10,000-meter run after placing second in that event at the Mount San Antonio College Relays (April 14), with a personal-best time of 34:15.36. Clifford's pace of 34:15.36 ranks her No. 10 in the nation heading into the NCAA Championships.

Bentley, whose best NCAA finish of 16th came in the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships, enters this year's NCAA Championships ranked fifth in the nation with a mark of 21-6 1/4. Bentley achieved that personal-best leap while winning the long jump at the Len Paddock Invitational in the final home meet of her career.

Clifford will be the first Michigan competitor of the meet when the women's 10,000-meter run goes off on Wednesday (May 31, 9:25 p.m.). Bentley will begin the women's long jump on Thursday (June 1, 7 p.m.).

Tracking Bentley in the Long Jump

March 16 19-7 Florida State Relays April 15 20-3 Sea Ray Relays April 29 20-3 Drake Relays May 7 20-11 3/4 Jesse Owens Classic May 14 21-6 1/4 Len Paddock Invitational May 21 18-8 1/2 Big Ten Championships

Tracking Clifford in the 10,000-Meter Run

April 15 34:15.36 Mt. SAC Relays

Wolverines in the NCAA Rankings

10,000-Meter Run 1. Amy Yoder, Arkansas 33:06.84 10. Katie Clifford, U-M 34:15.36 Long Jump 1. Jenny Adams, Houston 21-9 1/2 (6.64m) 5. Brandi Bentley, U-M 21-6 1/4 (6.56m)

U-M Sixth at the Big Ten Championships
The Wolverines finished in sixth place at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships May 19-21 at Iowa's Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track in Iowa City, Iowa. Michigan tallied 94.5 points to finish behind champion Indiana (135), Minnesota (118), Wisconsin (105), Ohio State (105) and Purdue (96).

Winning individual titles for the Maize and Blue were Katie Clifford, Sarah Hamilton (Canton, Mich./Salem HS) and Carly Knazze (Southfield, Mich./Southfield HS) in the 3,000-meter run, 800-meter run and the 400-meter dash, respectively. Hamilton won the 800 meters with a time of 2:09.15, edging out teammate Erica Murdock (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights HS), who finished second with a time of 2:12.64. Knazze took the 400-meter dash with a career-best time of 53.54, and she placed fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.23. Clifford nearly became a multiple conference champion. After winning the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:21.92 -- her career bst -- during Day 2 of the meet, she placed second in the 5,000-meter run with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:32.85, her career best.

Others earning points for the Wolverines included: April Phillips (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS), who placed fourth in the shot put with a career-best 48-2 3/4; TaNisha Williams (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS) took fourth in the long jump with a leap of 19-4 1/4; Tasha Phillips (Sarasota, Fla./Booker HS) finished seventh in the heptathlon with 4,607 points; Tamika Craig (Inkster, Mich./Dearborn Robichaud HS), who took second place in the 400-meter hurdles with a season-best 1:00.73; Erin White (Battle Creek, Mich./Central HS), who ran a fourth-place time of 4:31.12 in the 1,500-meter run; Tasha Phillips (Sarasota, Fla./Booker HS) and Teyonna Simpson (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose), who placed sixth (39-5 1/4) and eighth (38-6 1/4), respectively, in the triple jump; Nicole Denamur (Algoma, Wis./Algoma HS), who finished in seventh in the high jump with a leap of 5-5 1/4; Maria Brown (Kingston, Jamaica/Immaculate Conception HS), placed eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.60. In addition, the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams came in fourth (45.55) and sixth (3:45.66), respectively.

Final Team Standings

 1. Indiana 135 2. Minnesota 118 3. Wisconsin 105 4. Ohio State 105 5. Purdue 96 6. MICHIGAN 94.5 7. Penn State 62 8. Illinois 57.5 9. Iowa 25 10. Michigan State 20

Bentley Named Athlete of the Week
Brandi Bentley earned Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Week honors for her efforts at the Len Paddock Invitational on Saturday (May 12) at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor. Bentley won the long jump competition with a personal record and Michigan season-best leap of 21-6 1/4, which is an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423