Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 1)
Michigan in Sixth Place After Day One at Big Ten Meet
5/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Team Standing: 6th Place of 10 Teams (11 Points) After Day 1
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., May 14-15 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Columbus, Ohio)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team finds itself in sixth place with 11 points after day one of the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Championships Friday (May 13) at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Senior thrower Ashley Eckel (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) placed sixth in the hammer throw to account for three points, and all three U-M entrants in the 10,000-meter run -- senior/junior Ana Gjesdal (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley), senior/junior Sarah Pizzo (Golden, Colo./Mullen) and senior/junior Chelsea Loomis (Traverse City, Mich./West) -- placed in the top eight, combining for eight points.
Gjesdal scored in the 10K for the second straight season.
After a weather delay pushed back the start of the 10,000-meter run by one hour, Gjesdal took fifth place with a time of 36:08.31, Pizzo crossed two seconds later in 36:10.34 for the sixth spot, and Loomis came in eighth (36:39.76). Gjesdal bettered her sixth-place finish at the 2004 outdoor championships, while Loomis scored in the 10K for the first time since her third-place finish in 2003.
Eckel took sixth in the hammer throw with a regional-qualifying and season-best toss of 179-6. She bettered her eighth-place showing at the 2004 Big Ten Outdoor Championships by two spots to score Michigan's first points of the 2005 meet.
Senior/junior Jennifer Williams (Burton, Mich./Atherton) and junior Beth Vinckier (Yale, Mich./Yale) also competed in the first day of the heptathlon in a field of 17, with Williams standing in seventh with 3,048 points and Vinckier in 16th with 2,765 points after four events. Williams finished first in the high jump with a regional-qualifying clearance of 5-9 3/4 in her first-ever heptathlon at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Vinckier's best event was the 100-meter hurdles, in which she took ninth, clocking in at 15.00.
Michigan's pole vaulters failed to score at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships for the first time since 2002. Fifth-year senior Lynn Gasparella (New Hudson, Mich./South Lyon) cleared a season-high 11-9 3/4, which was equal to six other athletes. The results went to a tiebreaker and two competitors -- Minnesota's Laura Massey and Penn State's Kelly Nesbit -- were flawless at 10-10 and 11-3 3/4, with one miss at 11-9 3/4, while Gasparella missed on her first attempt at 10-10, bumping her to ninth spot.
The second day of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships begins Saturday (May 14) at 10:15 a.m. with the heptathlon long jump.
Team Standings (After Day 1)
1. Wisconsin 24
2. Penn State 19.50
3. Michigan State 18
4. Ohio State 17
5. Minnesota 15.50
6. MICHIGAN 11
7. Purdue 6
Illinois 6
9. Indiana 0
Iowa 0
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 1)
Heptathlon (After 4 Events) 1. Melissa Talbot, Wisconsin 3285 points 7. Jennifer Williams, U-M 3048 points 16. Beth Vinckier, U-M 2765 points Heptathlon 100-Meter Hurdles 1. Melissa Talbot, Wisconsin 13.93# 9. Beth Vinckier, U-M 15.00 15. Jennifer Williams, U-M 15.78 Heptathlon High Jump 1. Jennifer Williams, U-M 5-9 3/4# (1.77m) 16. Beth Vinckier, U-M 4-11 (1.50m) Heptathlon Shot Put 1. Maggie Jaunich, Minnesota 39-2 1/4 (11.94m) 11. Jennifer Williams, U-M 35-1 (10.69m) 15. Beth Vinckier, U-M 32-8 1/4 (9.96m) Heptathlon 200-Meter Dash 1. Melissa Talbot, Wisconsin 24.19 12. Jennifer Williams, U-M 26.07 14. Beth Vinckier, U-M 26.26 Hammer Throw 1. Jennifer Leatherman, PSU 199-3# (60.74m) 6. Ashley Eckel, U-M 179-6# (54.71m) 12. Tara Kennedy, U-M 168-3 (51.29m) 17. Jamie Barbour, U-M 158-5 (48.28m) 21. Amy Bicknell, U-M 142-1 (43.31m) Pole Vault 1. Mickie Rzepka, MSU 13-1 1/2# (4.00m) 9. Lynn Gasparella, U-M 11-9 3/4 (3.60m) 13t Kelly Catino, U-M 11-3 3/4 (3.45m) 15. Jen Mehl, U-M 11-3 3/4 (3.45m) 10,000-Meter Run 1. Katrina Rundhaug, Wisconsin 35:26.85% 5. Ana Gjesdal, U-M 36:08.31 6. Sarah Pizzo, U-M 36:10.34 8. Chelsea Loomis, U-M 36:39.76 # NCAA regional qualifying standard % Jesse Owens Stadium record
Players Mentioned
