Michigan
NCAA Indoor Championships
Wolverines Tied for Sixth After Opening Day at NCAAs
3/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team earned a total of 12 points during Friday's (March 10) seven scored finals and is in sixth place with Southern Illinois after day one of the NCAA Indoor Championships at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center. Six Wolverines earned All-America honors, with two top-eight finishes in the 5,000-meter run and a fourth-place effort in the distance medley relay, and two individuals qualified for Saturday finals.
The Wolverines earned their first points of the day in the 5,000m with sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) taking fifth and junior Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) placing sixth, giving Michigan seven of its 12 points. After winning the Big Ten Conference crown in the 5,000m, Kohlmeier posted a time of 16:00.86, while Webster came in with a personal-best time of 16:00.95 as both earned All-America honors. Coming in just three places shy of scoring was senior/junior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) with an 11th-place time of 16:24.00.
With Harvard's Lindsey Scherf leading the 17-person field through a quick 4:56 opening mile, Kohlmeier and Walter hung near the front -- running within the top seven -- as the competition strung out in single file around the track. Webster stayed at the rear through much of the race until moving up around the 3,000-meter point, switching positions with Walter, who started to fade in the middle stages of the race. Kohlmeier climbed into the fourth spot as Providence's Mary Cullen pushed the pace to put considerable distance between herself and the pack. Cullen could not maintain the lead as the pack caught her with several laps remaining, with Kohlmeier alternating between the second and third positions. A couple runners used strong kicks to move around the Wolverine sophomore in the final lap as she and Webster crossed the finish line together, separated by just 0.09 seconds.
For the second year in a row Michigan had an All-America distance medley relay squad, but this year's team could not repeat the first-place showing of 2005 as it took fourth with a time of 11:15.41. The team of senior/junior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac), freshman Amber Hay (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance), freshman Geena Gall (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) and sophomore Nicole Edwards (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey) was 7.17 seconds shy of last year's championship time.
The Wolverines were fourth at the final exchange, and Edwards was forced to run nearly the entire 1,600-meter anchor leg on her own with a 30-meter distance separating her from the leaders and a 30-meter distance between her and the fifth-place squad. The anchors from Villanova and Baylor almost caught Edwards in the final lap, pulling even with her down the final backstretch, but the Wolverine sophomore used her kick to stay ahead, crossing the finish line nearly a full second quicker.
In the 800-meter run prelims Erdman and Gall were both in the first of the three heats. Erdman clocked 2:05.36 to win the heat and automatically advance to the final, while Gall, in her NCAA Championships debut, was passed in the final backstretch for the second automatic qualifier and placed third in the heat (2:06.77). She missed advancing on time by 0.64 seconds as the fourth fastest of the non-automatic qualifers.
Edwards was the lone Wolverine in the mile prelims, and the 2006 Big Ten mile champion took second place in the second heat with a time of 4:42.99 to earn a spot in the final. After running most of the race within the top three, she was boxed in late in the race and pushed back to sixth with only 400 meters remaining. The Wolverine cut to the outside lane entering the bell lap, using to the bend to pull back within the top three before kicking into the second automatic spot down the final stretch.
In the high jump the Wolverines were represented by senior/junior Jennifer Williams (Burton, Mich./Atherton), who tied for 11th place in the high jump as she cleared 5-9 1/4 on her second attempt after clearing the opening height of 5-7 3/4 on her first try. Fifth-year senior Stephanie Linz (Okemos, Mich./Okemos), who also cleared 5-9 1/4 on her second attempt but took three tries to clear the opening height, placed 16th.
In addition to finalists Erdman (800m) and Edwards (mile), Bettie Wade (Northville, Mich./Farmington) and Williams will compete in the pentathlon Saturday on the final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships. The first action for the Maize and Blue will be the pentathlon 60m hurdles at 11:30 a.m. CST.
Top 10 Teams (After Day 1)
1. Texas 25 2. North Carolina 20 3. Southern Cal 19 4. Stanford 18 Georgia 18 6. Michigan 12 Southern Illinois 12 8. Arizona State 11 Maryland 11 10. South Carolina 10
Michigan Results (Day 1)
High Jump 1. Sheena Gordon , UNC 6-1 1/4 (1.86m) 2. Levern Spencer, Georgia 6-1 1/4 (1.86m) 3. Destinee Hooker, Texas 6-1 1/4 (1.86m) 4. Caroline Wolf, Texas A&M 6-1 1/4 (1.86m) 5. Jessica Stringer, Ohio State 6-0 (1.83m) 6. Gaelle Niare, SMU 5-10 3/4 (1.80m) Peaches Roach, Iowa 5-10 3/4 (1.80m) 8. Sheree Francis, Texas A&M 5-10 3/4 (1.80m) 9. Natalie Sako, Akron 5-10 3/4 (1.80m) 10. Misty Coley, Texas Tech 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) 11. JENNIFER WILLIAMS, U-M 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) Sara Jane Baker, Nebraska 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) Britney Rogers, Northern Arizona 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) 14. Debra Vento, Duke 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) Jacquelyn Johnson, Arizona State 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) 16. STEPHANIE LINZ, U-M 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) 17. Miruna Mataoanu, Alabama 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) 18. Patricia Sylvester, Georgia 5-7 3/4 (1.72m) 800-meter Run (Prelims) Heat 1 1. KATIE ERDMAN, U-M 2:05.36Q 2. Jenny Holmroos, Texas-El Paso 2:05.84Q 3. GEENA GALL, U-M 2:06.77 4. Egle Uljas, Nebraska 2:07.16 5. Lavera Morris, Kentucky 2:08.51 Heat 2 1. Heather Dorniden, Minnesota 2:05.36Q 2. Alysia Johnson, California 2:05.49Q 3. Ashley Patten, Missouri 2:05.94q 4. Georgia Kloss, North Carolina 2:06.13q 5. Linda Feldberga, Wichita State 2:07.06 6. Shay Shelton, South Carolina 2:08.02 Heat 3 1. Rebekah Noble, Oregon 2:05.72Q 2. Morgan Uceny, Cornell 2:05.97Q 3. Ada Anderson, Iowa State 2:06.49 4. Tanya Osbourne, LSU 2:06.92 5. Georganne Way, Kentucky 2:07.48 6. Shannon Leinert, Florida 2:11.59 Mile Run (Prelims) Heat 1 1. Johanna Nilsson, Northern Arizona 4:40.11Q 2. Arianna Lambie, Stanford 4:40.50Q 3. Dee Olson, Idaho 4:40.60Q 4. Desiraye Osburn, Wichita State 4:41.31q 5. Amber McGown, Oregon 4:41.48q 6. Kali Baker, Nevada-Reno 4:43.86 7. Callie Wells, Rice 4:46.93 8. Ramsey Kavan, Notre Dame 4:49.63 9. Michaela Courtney, Marquette 4:54.26 Heat 2 1. Marina Muncan, Villanova 4:42.85Q 2. NICOLE EDWARDS, U-M 4:42.99Q 3. Meghan Armstrong, Iowa 4:43.09Q 4. Natalie Hughes, Florida State 4:43.35q 5. Lindsay Donaldson, Yale 4:43.56q 6. Kathleen Trotter, Stanford 4:43.72 7. Maggie Infeld, Georgetown 4:46.33 8. Meghan Owen, Providence 5:06.14 5,000-meter Run 1. Amy Hastings, Arizona State 15:51.63 2. Clara Horowitz, Duke 15:52.47 3. Maureen McCandless, Pitt 15:56.51 4. Stephanie Madia, Notre Dame 15:59.01 5. ALYSON KOHLMEIER, U-M 16:00.86 6. ERIN WEBSTER, U-M 16:00.95 7. Katrina Rundhaug, Wisconsin 16:08.46 8. Victoria Jackson, Arizona State 16:14.90 9. Angela Homan, Auburn 16:18.67 10. Andrea Walkonen, Boston U. 16:20.20 11. REBECCA WALTER, U-M 16:24.00 12. Christine Bolf, Colorado 16:36.13 13. Penny Splichal, Arkansas 16:38.05 14. Lindsey Scherf, Harvard 16:38.47 15. Salome Kosgei, Iona 16:47.67 16. Maggie Grabow, Wisconsin 17:08.31 -- Mary Cullen, Providence DNF Distance Medley Relay 1. North Carolina 11:01.97 (Megan Kaltenbach, Danielle Rodgers, Georgia Kloss, Brianna Felnagle) 2. Stanford 11:05.03 3. Minnesota 11:07.27 4. MICHIGAN 11:14.47 (Katie Erdman, Amber Hay, Geena Gall, Nicole Edwards) 5. Baylor 11:15.41 6. Villanova 11:16.30 7. Oregon 11:18.89 8. Brown 11:20.10 9. Oklahoma 11:28.90 10. Tennessee 11:29.69 11. Arizona State 11:34.49 12. Northern Arizona 11:39.98 13. Georgetown 11:50.62 Qq indicates qualification for final
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734)763-4423
Players Mentioned
