Weekly Release #10

3/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

Upcoming Schedule
START OF THE OUTDOOR SEASON
Fri-Sat., March 24-25 -- at Cal Irvine Invitational (Irvine, Calif.)
Fri-Sat., March 31-1 -- at Stanford Invitational (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Saturday, April 1 -- at Yellow Jacket Invitational (Atlanta, Ga.)

This Week: Outdoor Season Opens in California
Michigan starts its outdoor season at the Irvine Invitational, from Friday to Saturday (March 24-25) at the Anteater Stadium in Irvine, Calif. Michigan will compete against teams such as host UC Irvine, Air Force, Arkansas, Cornell, Loyola Marymount and UC Riverside. The Wolverines are coming off a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships and look to improve on last season's 29th-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Senior/junior captain Katie Erdman is the only returning 2005 outdoor All-American, finishing fourth in the 800-meter run in Sacramento, Calif., last season. Senior/junior Stephanie Linz is Michigan's other returning outdoor All-American, earning the honor in the high jump in 2003.

NCAA Indoor Championships Recap
Michigan finished the indoor season with a 13th place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 10-11) for the second year in a row. The Wolverines earned a total of 17 points the second highest point since 1998, when the Wolverines took fifth place with a total of 24.5 points. The Maize and Blue also had a program-high seven Michigan individuals earn All-America honors, bettering by one the previous best from 1994 and 1998. U-M's All-Americans who placed in the top eight of their respective events were Alyson Kohlmeier (5th place, 5,000m), Erin Webster (6th, 5,000m), and the fourth-place distance medley relay team of Katie Erdman, Amber Hay, Geena Gall and Nicole Edwards. Jennifer Williams (9th, pentathlon) earned All-America honors as one of the top eight Americans in the pentathlon.

History 101
At the Big Ten Indoor Championships (Feb.25-26) the University of Michigan women's track and field team set a new precedent within the Big Ten by winning its eighth conference crown. The Wolverines now lead the conference with the most team titles in Big Ten history, with Wisconsin following in second with seven. In the past five indoor championships the Maize and Blue have been crowned victorious four out of five times (2002, '03, '05 and '06), and have won the team title back-to-back. Michigan has also won 11 of the last 13 Big Ten cross country and track and field titles (four straight cross country titles, three of the last four outdoor titles, and four of five indoor titles). Michigan's distance medley relay squad has also won the Big Ten title four out of the last five championships (did not win in 2003). This year, the DMR team beat last year's time of 1:33.88, by 8.38 seconds, both squads set indoor facility records (2005: U-M Indoor Track Building and 2006: Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center). The 2006 team also set a new indoor Big Ten Championship meet record with its winning time of 11:25.50.

Erdman's Excellence
Senior/junior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) became the first athlete to win the 600m Big Ten crown three times. She won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004 before redshirting the 2005 indoor season, and regaining the crown in 2006.

Titles, Titles and More Titles
With four individual titles (600- 3,000- and 5,000-meter events and the mile) from the 2006 indoor Big Ten championships the Wolverines now have 30 individual track titles in program history. Combined with U-M's 12 field titles, the Wolverines have a total of 42 individual indoor Big Ten titles. Along with the 42 individual Big Ten titles, the Maize and Blue have won six relay titles (two-mile, 3,2000-meter and four distance medley relays).

Point Winners
The Wolverines sent 32 athletes to the Big Ten Indoor Championships (Feb. 25-26), with 12 of them scoring, allowing Michigan to earn a total of 126.67 points. The Maize and Blue scored 50 of the 126.67 points with five first place finishes (DMR, mile, 600-, 3,000-, and 5,000-meters). Leading the Wolverines in points was junior Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) with 18 points, from a first place and second place finish in the 3,000- and 5,000-meters, respectively. Tying for second was sophomore Nicole Edwards (Winnepeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey) and senior/junior Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) with 14 points apiece.

Nation's Best Middle Distance
Katie Erdman holds the nation's fastest time in the 800m (2:04.21) with her performance at the Meyo Invitational (Feb.3). In the mile, Erdman is ranked 13th nationally with a time of 4:44.34 which she posted at the Tyson Invitational (Feb. 10).

Geena Gall is also making her mark in the nation as she ranks fifth nationally in the 800m with a time of 2:05.23 which she also posted at the Meyo Invitational.

Just a Few Big Ten Records
The Wolverines won their Big Ten title in record setting fashion, as they set three new records at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The first record of the meet came from freshman Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) when she set a Camp Randall facility record in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.48.

The second record came from the DMR team as they set a new facility record as well as a new Big Ten Championships meet record with a time of 11:25.50. The record-setting team consisted of sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's), freshman Amber Hay (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance), freshman Geena Gall (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) and senior/junior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac).

On the second day, Kohlmeier set a new 5,000m facility record with an NCAA qualifying time of 15:58.61.

Two More Records for the Books
At the Michigan Intercollegiate meet on Jan. 28, Michigan set two new meet records. The first record came from the distance medley relay breaking last year's record with a winning time of 11:41.93, which was 5.15 seconds faster than the 2005 Michigan Intercollegiate DMR record, also set by Michigan. The second record was set in the 60-meter hurdles by freshman Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti), she earned eight points with a second-place finish with a meet-record time of 8.45. Ofili beat the 2005 record of 8.51, which was set by Central Michigan's Tamera Thomas.

Same Ol' Katie, New Record
Senior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) continued to leave her mark in the Michigan record books, setting a new 600m record with a time of 1:29.99. The first-place finish broke the old record of 1:30.64 which was set in 1994 by former Michigan athlete Kristine Westerby.

Webster Sets Kentucky Indoor Record
Junior distance runner Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) set a Nutter Field House indoor record at the Kentucky Invitational clocking in at 9:19.37, breaking the six-year old facility record by nearly two seconds (set by Donna Garcia in 1999).

2006 Captains
Head coach James Henry selected four captains to lead the 2006 Wolverines. Seniors Shavonne Maclin (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont School) and Jennifer Williams (Burton, Mich./Atherton) join senior/junior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) and junior/sophomore Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) as the leaders for Michigan. Each of the captains are coming off of a strong 2005 outing, with Erdman and Walter assisting the cross country team in winning its seventh Big Ten title and fifth Great Lakes regional title. The two middle distance runners also scored in the Big Ten outdoor track championship, with Erdman taking the 800m title and Walter finishing as the runner-up in the 5,000m. Williams and Maclin were able to produce very important scores for Michigan in the indoor and outdoor Big Ten championships. In the indoor championships Williams took fourth place in the pentathlon and the high jump. For the outdoor championships Williams and Maclin each finished in sixth place in the heptathlon and 400m, respectively.

Looking Ahead
The Wolverines will travel back to California, for the first of two back-to-back trips to Cali, as they compete in the Stanford Invitational (March. 31-1) in Palo Alto, Calif., on Cobb Track and Angell Field.

Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423