Michigan
Michigan Intercollegiate
Wolverines Win Fifth Straight Michigan Intercollegiate
1/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Behind solid performances by April Phillips (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS), Rachel Sturtz (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City HS) and Ursula Taylor (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg HS), the University of Michigan women's track and field team won its fifth consecutive Michigan Intercollegiate championship with 175 points on Saturday (Jan. 26) at the U-M Track Building. The Maize and Blue's nearest competitor was Central Michigan, which finished with 117 points.
The Wolverines received eight first-place and seven second-place finishes en route to their fifth Michigan Intercollegiate title. Phillips had two of U-M's eight first titles as she won the weight throw for the third time this season, throwing 52-4 to finish just in front of teammate Melissa Bickett (Akron, Ohio/Revere HS), who finished second with a toss of 50-3 1/4. Phillips' second victory of the day came in the shot put (48-10 1/4).
Sturtz was part of a pair of first-place finishes, with victories in the 800-meter run and the 4x400-meter relay. Sturtz's victory in the 800 was her third of the season in that event and fourth by a Michigan runner. Taylor was the other Wolverine who won the event, as she filled in for Sturtz last week at the Red Simmons Invitational (Jan. 19) and won with a time of 2:11.19.
TaNisha Williams (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS), Sharifa Jones (Marietta, Ga./Wheeler HS) and Robin Landfair (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) captured the top three spots in the 60-meter high hurdles for the second consecutive week, as all three posted personal-best times in the race. Williams led the trio as she crossed the line in 8.57 seconds, followed by Jones with a time of 8.71 and Landfair at 8.76.
Both Sturtz and Taylor were on the first-place team in the 4x400-meter relay along with leadoff runner Vera Simms (Mililani, Hawaii/Mililani HS) and anchor Mora Arnold (Gregory, Mich./Chelsea HS). Simms set the pace early but fell behind on her second lap around the 200m track and handed the baton off to Taylor with the Wolverines in fifth place. Taylor made up the difference in a hurry, as she caught the lead pack along the back straightaway of her first lap, then passed them on the final turn of the lap to take a lead the team would not relinquish. Sturtz and Arnold ran legs three and four, respectively, as the Maize and Blue won the event with a time of 3:49.27.
Stephanie Hirtle (Salmon Arm, B.C./Salmon Arm Senior) won the mile with a personal-best time of 4:57.67 after a strong kick down the stretch allowed her to pass second-place finisher Sarah Debruyn of Eastern Michigan, who crossed the line at 4:58.02. Hirtle's victory in the mile was followed by a dominating performance in the 3,000 meters by Katie Ryan (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS). Ryan and a pack of others set the pace early, but with three laps remaining she pulled away and never looked back, crossing the line in first place with a time of 10:01.20.
Nicole DeNamur (Algoma, Wis./Algoma HS) set a new personal best in the high jump when she cleared 5-10, besting her old mark by over an inch. DeNamur, the defending Big Ten Conference outdoor high jump champion, had a previous best of 5-8 3/4. Teyonna Simpson (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose HS) won the triple jump for the third time this season with a season-best jump of 39-4 1/2.
The Wolverines will travel to Fairfax, Va., next Saturday (Feb. 2) to compete at the George Mason Patriot Games, held at the George Mason Fieldhouse. Field events are slated to begin at 11 a.m. and running events to start at noon.
N O T E S
Pole vaulter Anna Fisher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Gabriel Richard HS) broke her own school record in front of the home crowd when she cleared 11-7 3/4, breaking her year-old mark of 11-7.
Eastern Michigan's Hanna Palamaa set a new U-M Track Building record in the pole vault when she cleared 12-3 1/2 for first place. Palamaa's vault broke the three-year-old record (12-0) set by Kansas' Andrea Bransen in 1999.
Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
