Weekly Release #18
5/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sat., May 30-31 -- at NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (Columbus, Ohio)
Wed-Sat., June 11-14 -- at NCAA Outdoor Championships (Sacramento, Calif.)
This Week: NCAA Mideast Regional Championships ...
Following its first-place finish at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships, the University of Michigan women's track and field team looks to build upon its triple crown season as the Wolverines will send 18 athletes who have qualified during the outdoor season to Columbus, Ohio, for the first-ever NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, which will take place Friday and Saturday (May 30-31) at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Each day's action begins with field events at noon, while running events get started at 4 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Schedule of Events for U-M Competition
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Break It Down ...
As of the 2003 outdoor season, four regional meets will now be held to determine the participants for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Michigan is in the Mideast Region and will compete in its regional May 30-31 at the Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. In order for an athlete to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, she must finish in the top five of an individual event or be a member of a top-three relay at the regional championship. The track and field committee will also select a group of at-large athletes to round out the remainder of the Championships field in each event, similar to provisional-qualifying marks in the past.
Where the Wolverines Are ...
The Wolverines enter the 2003 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships with 18 athletes qualified to compete in 17 events at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Senior tri-captain April Phillips (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) leads the Wolverines onto Ohio State's campus as she enters the weekend's action as the No. 1 seed in both the hammer throw (199-3) and shot put (53-11). On the track Sierra Hauser-Price (Van Nuys, Calif./Notre Dame HS) has qualified to run in two individual events as well as with two relays. Following is a list of how the Maize and Blue stack up with regional competition:
100m Dash 1. Muna Lee, LSU 11.04 7. Sierra Hauser-Price, U-M 11.51 200m Dash 1. Muna Lee, LSU 22.74 10. Sierra Hauser-Price, U-M 23.66 14. Carly Knazze, U-M 23.86 800m Run 1. Tiffany McWilliams, Miss. St. 2:02.74 7. Rachel Sturtz, U-M 2:06.17 10. Theresa Feldkamp, U-M 2:07.32 1,500m Run 1. Tiffany McWilliams, Miss. St. 4:12.18 5. Lindsey Gallo, U-M 4:16.35 16. Chelsea Homan, U-M 4:29.87 5,000m Run 1. Molly Huddle, Notre Dame 15:36.95 2. Rebecca Walter, U-M 16:18.29 22. Andrea Parker, U-M 16:57.51 100m Hurdles 1. Perdita Felicien, Illinois 12.88 9. Robin Landfair, U-M 13.42 400m Hurdles 1. Josanne Lucas, Auburn 57.81 4. Vera Simms, U-M 58.43 4x100m Relay 1. Louisiana State 42.63 8. Michigan 45.36 (Landfair, Knazze, Simms, Hauser-Price) 4x400m Relay 1. Louisiana State 3:40.28 8. Michigan 3:40.58 High Jump 1. Alexandra Church, Kent St. 6-0 3/4 (1.85m) 7. Stephanie Linz, U-M 5-10 1/2 (1.79m) 17. Jennifer Kulchar, U-M 5-8 3/4 (1.75m) 41. Porsha Ellis, U-M 5-7 (1.70m) Pole Vault 1. April Steiner, Arkansas 14-0 (4.27m) 10. Elizabeth Boyle, U-M 12-10 (3.91m) 27. Anna Fisher, U-M 12-0 (3.66m) Triple Jump 1. Nicole Tooney, LSU 44-4 (13.51m) 30. Teyonna Simpson, U-M 40-2 1/4 (12.25m) Discus 1. Krista Keir, Ohio State 186-1 (56.72m) 3. Melissa Bickett, U-M 178-1 (54.27m) Hammer Throw 1. April Phillips, U-M 199-3 (60.74m) 16. Melissa Bickett, U-M 180-0 (54.87m) Shot Put 1. April Phillips, U-M 53-11 (16.43m) 3. Melissa Bickett, U-M 52-4 (15.95m)
Recapping the Outdoor Championships ...
The Wolverines hoisted their third Big Ten team trophy of the 2002-03 season last weekend at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., as they totaled 137 points over three days of competition at Bierman Stadium to complete the league triple crown of team hardware (cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field). Defending its team championship from 2002, Michigan received four Big Ten individual titles as well as four individual runner-up showings to lift the Maize and Blue past Indiana and Penn State.
Heading into the final two events -- the high jump and 4x400-meter relay -- three points separated the top three teams, with Indiana (120) holding a one-point cushion on Penn State (119) and Michigan resting in third with 117.
In the first of those two events, sophomores Stephanie Linz (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) and Jennifer Kulchar (Burton, Mich./Atherton HS) took it upon themselves to make sure the Wolverines would take home the triple crown hardware as they went 2-3 in the high jump with NCAA Regional qualifying clears of 5-10 1/2 and 5-8, respectively. The 2-3 finish earned U-M a much-needed 14 points, pushing it into sole possession of the team points lead with a 10-point cushion with one event remaining.
It was scene much like the 2002 outdoor conference championships: all the Wolverines needed to do was finish the final race, the 4x400-meter relay, with no baton faults and they would again be hoisting the hardware. Michigan did more than that though as the foursome of Shavonne Maclin (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Beaumont School), Rachel Sturtz (Traverse City, Mich./Central HS), Sierra Hauser-Price and Vera Simms (Mililani, Hawaii/Mililani HS) finished ahead of both Indiana and Penn State (sixth and seventh respectively), crossing in third place with a time of 3:40.58. The third-place finish improved U-M's three-day total to 137, 13 points better than the Hoosiers and Nittany Lions, who finished tied for second with 124.
April Phillips, Sturtz and Simms were the Wolverines' three individual victors. Phillips posted a pair of first-place finishes, winning both the hammer throw and shot put. Sturtz won her fifth career 800-meter title and third straight at the outdoor championships, while Simms defended her 400-meter crown.
Senior/junior Robin Landfair (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) did her part to rewrite the Michigan record book, as she shattered her own school 100-meter hurdles mark, crossing the finish line in 13.42 for fourth place in the event's final on Sunday.
Following the championships, Phillips was selected the Big Ten Outdoor Athlete of the Year and Michigan head coach James Henry collected Big Ten Outdoor Coach of the Year accolades.
Hail to the Victors Valiant ...
Following its team title at the 2003 Big Ten Conference outdoor track and field championships the Wolverines captured their second league triple crown and first since the 1993-94 academic school year. In order to claim a triple crown a program must win the cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field championships in a given academic year.
U-M got things started off on the right foot during the fall semester winning the cross country team title in West Lafayette, Ind. The Maize and Blue achieved the second leg of its triple crown journey as it earned a first-place finish at the indoor track and field championships in Bloomington, Ind. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place last weekend (May 16-18) as the Wolverines totaled 137 points to hoist the outdoor team championship trophy, their third of team title of the 2002-03 season.
Michigan is one of only two teams in the Big Ten Conference to claim the league triple crown. Wisconsin has accomplished the feat on four occasions, mostly recently in 1996-97.
A League of Her Own ...
With the announcement of senior tri-captain April Phillips as the Big Ten Outdoor Athlete of the Year, she becomes the first member of the women's track and field program ever to receive the honor. During the outdoor season, Phillips won a pair of Big Ten individual titles (hammer throw and shot put); set two school records (hammer throw, 199-3; shot put, 53-11), one Michigan Ferry Field record (hammer throw, 199-3) and a conference hammer throw record (199-2); and helped her team to its fourth straight conference championship (two indoor, two outdoor).
She's Far Out ...
April Phillips earned a pair of Big Ten individual titles as she posted victories in the hammer throw and shot put at the conference's outdoor championships last weekend (May 16-18) in Minneapolis, Minn. Phillips began her weekend with a come-from-behind win in the hammer throw on day one of the meet, marking her Big Ten outdoor meet record 199-2 on her first throw of the event's final. The senior return to the throwing circle a day later when she recorded a put of 53-8 1/2 on her second throw of prelims, a mark which no one could match.
She's Hammered the Conference ...
April Phillips' winning distance of 199-2 in the hammer throw at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships (May 16-18) surpassed the year-old conference meet record of 196-6 set by Ohio State's Katy Craig in 2002. A week prior to the conference championships, Phillips posted the all-time Big Ten hammer throw record as she marked a throw of 199-3 in her final home meet wearing the Maize and Blue, the Len Paddock Invitational (May 9).
Gold Doesn't Weigh Her Down ...
With a pair of victories at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships (May 16-18), April Phillips became the eighth Wolverine in Michigan women's track and field history to win four or more Big Ten individual titles. In her four years of conference action Phillips has three shot put victories (2002 outdoor and 2003 indoor and outdoor) and one hammer throw crown (2003 outdoor).
High Five ...
Senior tri-captain Rachel Sturtz completed her Big Ten career as the winningest 800-meter runner and second most decorated athlete in Michigan women's track and field history, after winning her fifth career 800-meter title last weekend at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships (May 16-18). In four years of Big Ten competition, Sturtz has won three outdoor titles (2001, 2002 and 2003) and two indoor crowns (2001 and 2003). She is one of only two U-M track and field athletes ever to win an event at both the indoor and outdoor championships twice in a career. Tania Longe (1995-98) accomplished the feat in the pentathlon and heptathlon in 1997 and 1998.
The Four or More Club ...
Senior tri-captain's Rachel Sturtz and April Phillips are among the best in Michigan women's track and field history as each has won four or more Big Ten individual titles in four years of league competition. Sturtz is currently tied for second on Michigan's all-time conference crown list with Katie (Clifford) Jazwinski (1999-2002), each having won five league titles. Phillips is currently tied with Nicole Forrester (1996-99), Molly McClimon (1990, '93-94) and Mindy Rowand (1988-90) for fourth place in Michigan history as each athlete has won four league titles since Big Ten women's competition began in 1982. Debbie Williams (1979-82) won the javelin four straight years, however, three wins came prior to 1982.Tania Longe (1995-98) boasts the most conference crowns with seven.
Record-Setting Robin ...
Senior/junior Robin Landfair obliterated her previous U-M school record in the 100-meter hurdles when she sped across the finish line in 13.42 for a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships (May 18) in Minneapolis, Minn. Landfair's time was a blistering 0.23 seconds better than her previous record clocking of 13.65 set earlier this year at the Sea Ray Relays (April 12).
A Tropical Treat ...
Junior Vera Simms earned her second consecutive Big Ten crown in the 400-meter hurdles when she outran the eight-member field at the Big Ten Championships (May 18). Running in lane four, Simms nearly made up the entire stagger on the first turn as she had a great start out of the blocks. Along the back straightaway, the junior school record holder in the event made a push toward the front and came out of the final turn with a slight advantage over home-crowd favorite Shani Marks of Minnesota. Simms was able to hold off Marks' late charge and cross the finish line for her third career conference crown. Simms was a member of Michigan's winning distance medley relay team at the 2002 indoor conference championships.
All-Big Ten Honors ...
Three Michigan athletes earned All-Big Ten first-team honors as April Phillips (hammer throw and shot put), Vera Simms (400-meter hurdles) and Rachel Sturtz (800-meter run) all stood a top the podium following event victories.
The Wolverines also received four All-Big Ten second team accolades from Melissa Bickett (Akron, Ohio/Revere HS) in the shot put, Carly Knazze (Southfield, Mich./Southfield HS) in the 400-meter run, high jumper Stephanie Linz and Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves HS) in the 10,000-meter run.
Big Ten Indoor Champs ...
With their most points (129.5) since winning the Big Ten Indoor Championships in 1998 (133), the Wolverines defended their Big Ten team title with a 14.5-point victory over meet host Indiana in the Hoosiers' Gladstein Fieldhouse (March 1-2). It marked the Wolverines' third straight track and field team championship (2002 indoor and outdoor) and fourth consecutive running team title (2002 cross country). Leading the way for the Maize and Blue were Big Ten individual champions April Phillips, Rachel Sturtz and Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac HS).
Phillips, one of three Michigan captains, got things started for the Wolverines with her first career Big Ten indoor shot put title, with an NCAA provisional mark of 54-2 on Saturday. In Sunday's action, U-M received its second individual title when Sturtz, another tri-captain, ran a Big Ten Championships and school-record time of 2:06.02 for the second indoor 800-meter title of her career. Erdman, the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the year, gave the Wolverines their third event crown, crossing the finish line of the 600-meter run in 1:30.54. During prelims of the event on Saturday, Erdman set the 600-meter school record, clocking in at 1:30.33.
Earning All-Big Ten second team honors with runner-up performances were Stephanie Linz, high jump; Vera Simms, 400-meter dash; Rebecca Walter, 5,000-meter run; and the distance medley relay team of Andrea Parker (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS), Keri Kirk (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS), Sturtz and Chelsea Loomis (Traverse City, Mich./West HS).
Looking Ahead ...
Those Wolverines who qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships will take a week off from competition before heading to Sacramento, Calif., to compete against the best in the country June 11-14 at Cal State-Sacramento's Hornets Stadium.
Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
