Michigan
Michigan Intercollegiate
U-M Earns Ninth Straight Michigan Intercollegiate Title
1/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team claimed eight event titles and set two meet records to capture its ninth straight Michigan Intercollegiate title in its first scored meet of the 2006 season on Saturday (Jan. 28) at the Eastern Michigan's Bob Parks Track. The Wolverines topped the six-team field with 162 points, finishing ahead of Eastern Michigan (123), Western Michigan (103.5), Central Michigan (83.5), Michigan State (45) and Detroit (8).
After taking control of the intercollegiate meet today in the same fashion as a year ago, Michigan witnessed a case of deja vu, setting a Michigan Intercollegiate meet record in the distance medley relay. The 2006 DMR team jump-started the Wolverine victory by taking first place with a time of 11:41.93, which was 5.15 seconds faster than the 2005 Michigan Intercollegiate DMR record also set by Michigan.
The U-M distance corps continued its dominance as the Wolverines took the titles in the mile and 3,000m and scored four points in the 5,000m. In the mile senior/junior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) took first place with a time of 4:55.14. Junior/sophomore Arianne Field (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett Catholic Central) also scored in the mile, coming in third with a time of 4:58.49. Redshirt freshmen Lisa Montgomery (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) and Linda Montgomery (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) took eighth and ninth, respectively.
In the 3,000m, Michigan took four out of the top five places, as sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) won the title with a time of 9:39.35 to lead the way. Senior/junior Ana Gjesdal (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley/Glendale CC) and freshman Heather Sirko (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) took second and third, respectively. Closing out the Wolverine bunch with a fifth-place finish was junior/sophomore Jeni Frudden (Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa West).
Finishing the distance events was junior/sophomore Elisabeth Uible (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill), who earned four points with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000m, clocking in a personal-best 18:12.66.
In the 800m, Michigan scored 25 by taking the top three places and adding a sixth-place finish in the 19-person field. Freshman Amber Hay (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) took first place, while senior Jennifer Williams (Burton, Mich./Atherton) won her section and was second overall with personal-best of 2:14.29. Redshirt freshman Laura Glynn (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison) finished third.
Freshman Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) played her role in U-M's 162-point total by scoring 12 points. In the 60-meter dash, Ofili scored four points with a fourth-place finish and a time 7.81. In the 60-meter hurdles she earned eight points with a second-place finish with a meet-record time of 8.45. Ofili also took seventh place in both the 200m dash and the long jump.
In the field events the Maize and Blue took the top three spots in the high jump and first-place finishes in both the long and triple jumps. In the high jump senior Stephanie Linz (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) and Williams tied for first place with a clearance of 5-10. Coming in third was freshman Bettie Wade (Northville, Mich./Farmington) with a clearance of 5-8. Wade also took first place in the long jump with a distance of 18-7. In the triple jump, freshman Casey Taylor (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic) took first place with a jump of 39-5 3/4.
The Maize and Blue will travel to South Bend, Ind., next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 3-4) for the annual Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame's Loftus Sports Center.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach James Henry
On the team's performance... "It was a good team performance for us, it was our first scored meet. Our goal first of all was to win the meet and not over exert ourselves as far as doubling and tripling, and also rest some of our top line kids. We managed to do all three, and were happy about it."
On DMR meet record It was the first time we ran the relay this year, our goal was to win it and we were able to get some good performances in.
On the victorys impact on the freshman heading into the season It gives our young kids a time to realize that were all about being a team. For the first two or three weeks we were getting individual performances, and now its different with a scoring system. It was a good chance for them to see that we are a team, we won a competition and everyone contributed to that.
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
