Weekly Release #5

2/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sat., Feb. 4-5 -- at Meyo Invitational (South Bend, Ind.)
Fri-Sat., Feb. 11-12 -- at Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup (State College, Pa.)

This Week: Meyo Invitational
The Wolverines travel to the Meyo Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 4-5 in South Bend, Ind. The meet begins on 5 p.m. Friday with the long jump and continues until 9 p.m. when the 500-meter run will commence. Friday will also feature the weight throw, high jump, 300-meter dash, 1,000-meter run, 5,000-meter run and distance medley relay. Saturday's action begins at 10 a.m. with the 3,000-meter run and concludes around 4 p.m. with the 4x400-meter relay.

No. 12 Notre Dame, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Wake Forest, No. 25 Mississippi and No. 18 Georgia Tech will highlight the field at the Meyo Invitational.

Host Notre Dame finished second to Miami in the 2004 Big East Women's Indoor Championship and had two athletes earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championship. Molly Huddle finished third in the 5,000-meter run and seventh in the 3,000-meter run, while Kerry Meagher took seventh in the mile, right behind sixth-place Lindsey Gallo. In the fall, Meagher took 34th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, one better than junior/sophomore Rebecca Walter's 35th-place finish. Meagher returns for her senior season, while Huddle is back for her junior campaign. Freshman Alyson Kohlmeier's sister, Amy, also competes for the Fighting Irish.

Georgia Tech hurdler Dana Rogers is sixth in the 60-meter hurdles in the Dandy Dozen, while Ashlee Kidd is 11th in the 400-meter dash. Michigan high jumper Stephanie Linz will have a chance to rematch with the Yellow Jackets' Chaunte Howard who edged her out at the Kentucky Invitational where both had NCAA automatic qualifying clearances of 6-0 1/2.  

Last Week - Winning the First Scoring Meet at Michigan Intercollegiate
The University of Michigan women's track and field team claimed six event titles to capture its eighth straight Michigan Intercollegiate title in its first scored meet of the 2005 season. The host Wolverines topped the six-team field with 145 points, finishing ahead of Eastern Michigan (121), Michigan State (96), Central Michigan (94), Western Michigan (66) and Detroit (4).

Michigan won the distance medley relay, and received individual event wins from senior Sierra Hauser-Price in the 200-meter dash, senior Anna Jones in the 800-meter run, freshman Nicole Edwards in the mile run, fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo in the 3,000-meter run and senior/junior Stephanie Linz in the high jump.

In the mile, Edwards moved around freshman Alyson Kohlmeier into first place entering the final turn and registered an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:45.98. Kohlmeier also posted a provisional mark, crossing the line just a second behind her teammate with a time of 4:46.90. Edwards bettered her own Canadian Junior National indoor mile record -- set two weeks ago at the Kentucky Invitational -- and Kohlmeier set an Ontario indoor junior record.

Gallo led from the gun to win the 3,000 meters with an NCAA provisional time of 9:23.40, bettering her personal best.

The Wolverines went 1-4-5-6 in the 800-meter run, running as a group for a majority of the four-lap race, led by Jones.

Hauser-Price pulled triple-duty to earn several points for the Wolverines, capturing the 200-meter dash title, clocking 24.51 for her second individual win of the season. She also placed second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7:53 before anchoring the 4x400-meter relay to a fourth-place performance in 3:54.56.

Linz cleared 5-10 in the high jump for her second win of the season, and was followed by senior Jennifer Williams in third place.

U-M throwers had an excellent showing with sophomore Bridgette Maynard throwing a personal best of 45-4 1/4 to place third in the shot put and senior Ashley Eckel recording a season-best 44-11 3/4 in fourth. Eckel claimed runner-up with another personal-best in the weight throw (58-3 3/4).

"We did very well as a team in our first scoring meet," said head coach James Henry. "I think we really did all the necessary things to be competitive and to win in the end. I'm just very happy with the overall team performance. It takes a team to win, and we certainly performed as a team today."

NCAA Automatic and Provisional Qualifiers So Far...

Automatic Qualifiers
Stephanie Linz, high jump: Cleared 6-0 1/2 at Kentucky Invitational.

Provisional Qualifiers
Lindsey Gallo: mile: 4:45.28 at Kentucky Invitational (1/15)
Lindsey Gallo: 3,000m: 9:23.40 Michigan Intercollegiate (1/29)
Nicole Edwards: mile: 4:45.98 Michigan Intercollegiate (1/29)
Rebecca Walter: 3,000m: 9:23.15 at Kentucky Invitational (1/15)
Alyson Kohlmeier: mile: 4:46.90 Michigan Intercollegiate (1/29)
Alyson Kohlmeier: 3,000m: 9:23.57 at Kentucky Invitational (1/15)

Trackwire 25 and Dandy Dozen
Michigan fell from fourth into a tie for seventh in the Trackwire 25 with 30 points (down from 31 a week ago). U-M remains the highest ranked Big Ten school on the list, tied with Southern California. Tennessee heads the list at No. 1, LSU is No. 2, Stanford is No. 3, Florida is No. 4 and BYU and Texas are tied for No. 5.

In the Dandy Dozen, Michigan's distance medley relay team still ranks atop the nation, opening the season with a time of 11:47.08 in the Michigan Intercollegiate. Fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo is unchanged at second place in the mile and junior Katie Erdman remains third in the 800-meter run. Senior/junior Stephanie Linz dropped two spots in the high jump to number eight, while a pair of freshmen distance runners - Nicole Edwards and Alyson Kohlmeier fell off the list after debuting last week. Edwards fell after ranking fifth with a bullet in the 800-meter run, while Kohlmeier slipped from 12th in the 3,000-meter run. Both have set a pair of NCAA provisional qualifying times with Edwards putting up a pair of mile marks and Kohlmeier setting provisional qualifying marks in the mile and 3,000m. Junior/sophomore Rebecca Walter remains eighth in the 3,000-meter run. Walter had an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 3,000-meter run at the Kentucky Invitational on Jan. 15.

Back-to-Back Big Ten Weekly Awards
Michigan has dominated the Big Ten Conference's weekly awards this season, winning the first two laurels of the season with record-breaking performances. Junior/sophomore Rebecca Walter won the intial Big Ten Athlete of the Week award with a personal best 4:51.54 in the mile, just 3.94 seconds shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying standard. The next week, senior/junior Stephanie Linz automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championship with a clearance of 6-0 1/2 at the Kentucky Invitational, a personal best.

All-American Returns to the Fold - Qualifies for NCAA Indoors
After a year at Oakland University, 2003 All-American high jumper senior/junior Stephanie Linz returned to action after a year's hiatus and promptly recorded an NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the high jump in her first road meet. She cleared 6-0 1/2 at the Kentucky Invitational to finish second to 2004 U.S. Olympian Chaunte Howard, who also cleared 6-0 1/2. Linz was an All-American at Michigan in 2003 before transferring to Oakland University where she played volleyball for the Grizzlies.

Michigan Dominates the Mile
Michigan has set four NCAA provisional qualifying times in the mile this season and boasts five of the top six Big Ten milers this season. Fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo led the pack at the Kentucky Invitational with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:45.28 (the second fastest mile in the nation), while freshman Nicole Edwards won the mile in the Michigan Intercollegiate (4:45.98) and took second with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:46.05. At the Jack Harvey Invitational, junior/sophomore Rebecca Walter paced the field the entire way, finishing first with a personal-best 4:51.54, while sophomore Jackie Gaydos had a personal best, taking first place at the Red Simmons Invitational with a time of 4:53.43.

800-Meter Supremacy
Fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo ran the Big Ten's fastest 800-meter time of the season at the Red Simmons Invitational, clocking in at 2:10.22, just 0.85 seconds shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying standard. Senior/junior Theresa Feldkamp paced the field in her first 800-meter performance of the year at the Kentucky Invitational, clocking in at 2:11.92 for first place, the third fastest time in the conference so far.

Michigan has claimed the last two 800-meter Big Ten titles (Theresa Feldkamp in 2004 and Rachel Sturtz in 2003).

Pentathletes Kick Off Season
Senior Jennifer Williams and junior Beth Vinckier competed in the pentathlon for the first time all season at the Michigan Intercollegiate, placing fifth and sixth respectively. Williams set four career highs, including new bests in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put and total points, while Vinckier set new career highs across the board in five events as well as putting up a new personal-best point total.

Hauser-Price - From the Hardwood to the 400-Meter
Senior Sierra Hauser-Price competed in her first career indoor meet and her first 400-meter event at the Jack Harvey Invitational, claiming the title in a time of 57.57. She followed it up with a fifth-place finish at the Kentucky Invitational, clocking in at 56.54 and shaving 1.03 seconds off her time from the Jack Harvey. Hauser-Price competed with the Michigan women's basketball team the last three seasons, averaging 26 minutes, 3.5 points and recording 37 steals last season. Hauser-Price has typically competed in the 100 and 200-meter dash in the outdoor season.

4x800-Meter Relay Team Sets Kentucky Indoor Record
Michigan's 4x800-meter relay team set a Nutter Field House indoor record at the Kentucky Invitational clocking in at 8:47.75, shattering the previous record by 6.01 seconds (set by Auburn University in 2003.) Sophomore/freshman Laura Glynn, freshman Nicole Edwards, senior/junior Theresa Feldkamp and fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo finished nearly 26 seconds faster than the second-place Clemson Tigers.

Captains of the Ship
Head coach James Henry selected four captains to lead the 2005 Wolverines. Fifth-year seniors Lindsey Gallo and Lynn Gasparella, senior Keri Kirk and junior/sophomore Rebecca Walter will serve as co-captains for Michigan in 2005.

Record Breaking Intrasquad
Michigan held its Maize and Blue Co-Ed Intrasquad on Dec. 11 and 12, shattering five intrasquad records in a preseason tune-up. The women's Maize squad took 12 of 14 events to help the Maize squad capture a 660-550 victory. Fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo broke two intrasquad records en route to victories in the 1,200 and 3,000-meter events. Gallo shaved five seconds off the previous best in the 1,200-meter and lapped the 13-person field in the 3,000-meter to better the previous high water mark by 18 seconds, clocking in at 9:41.02.

Senior Sierra Hauser-Price led an 11-person field in the 200-meter dash to set a new intrasquad record with a time of 25:05, 0.53 seconds faster than the old record. Senior/junior Stephanie Linz won the high jump with a clearance of 5-10 3/4, adding a full three inches to the previous high. Junior Elizabeth Boyle bettered her own intrasquad record with a mark of 12-0 1/2, more than a foot higher than the previous best.

Returning Champions
Michigan returns four Big Ten champions from last year's indoor and outdoor teams. Junior Katie Erdman returns after winning the 600-meter in the indoor season, joining senior/junior Theresa Feldkamp, the 800-meter indoor champion. Outdoor returning champions include junior pole vaulter Elizabeth Boyle and double Big Ten champion fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo who is the defending 800 and 1,500-meter champion.

Five of Six or Eight of Ten - Dominating Either Way in the Big Ten
With Michigan's 2004 Big Ten Outdoor championship, the Wolverines have captured the last three outdoor conference titles and two of the last three indoor championships, taking second in 2004. If cross country titles are added to Michigan's totals, the Wolverines' 2002, '03 and '04 cross country titles would give Michigan eight of the last 10 Big Ten cross country and track and field titles.

Recordholders Return
Six Wolverines, holding eight school records, return for the 2005 season. Junior Katie Erdman holds school records in the indoor 600 and 800-meter and was a member of Michigan's record-breaking 4x800-meter outdoor relay team. Fifth-year senior Lindsey Gallo returns with two records in her holster - the outdoor 800 and 1,500-meter - while also holding a chunk of the 4x800-meter outdoor relay record.

Junior Elizabeth Boyle returns with both the indoor and outdoor pole vaulting records, while fifth-year senior Andrea Parker returns with Michigan's 3000-meter steeplechase record. Fifth-year senior Anna Jones and senior/junior Theresa Feldkamp are the other half of Michigan's 4x800-meter outdoor relay team.

Looking Ahead
Michigan travels to the Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup in State College, Pa. on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12.