Michigan
Red Simmons/Jack Harvey Invitational
Ofili, Edwards Qualify for NCAAs at Home Invitational
1/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team secured two NCAA automatic qualifying spots and a pair of NCAA provisional marks Saturday (Jan. 20) to close out the two-day Red Simmons/Jack Harvey Invitational at the U-M Indoor Track Building.
Ofili broke her own school record in the hurdles and placed first in the long jump.
A large crowd witnessed sophomore Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS) topple U-M's 60-meter hurdles record for the second consecutive week. Ofili set an NCAA automatic qualifying time, clocking in at 8.06 to beat her own fastest time by 0.18 seconds and cross 0.09 seconds faster than the automatic qualifying threshold. Ofili's performance was all the more impressive coming on the heels of her long jump title, earned earlier in the afternoon when she set a personal best with a jump of 19-11 -- 7 1/2 feet farther than her previous best.
Ofili's remarkable day was not over, however. She watched the men's and women's 400m dash and the men's 60m dash before stepping into the starting blocks for the 60m women's final. Having already raced three times in the afternoon and won the long jump, Ofili capped the meet with a personal best in the 60m dash, clocking in at 7.55 for third place.
Junior Nicole Edwards (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey HS) was the Wolverines' other automatic qualifier, clocking in with a career-best time of 4:40.14 in the mile run to shave 1.07 seconds off her previous best.
Sophomores Geena Gall (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc HS) and co-captain Bettie Wade (Northville, Mich./Farmington HS) each earned NCAA provisional marks at the meet, with Gall qualifying in the mile run with a time of 4:41.47, while Wade earning her provisional ticket on day one of the meet with 3,911 points in the pentathlon. Gall's time in the mile obliterated her previous personal best by 13.36 seconds.
Michigan sparkled in the middle distance events with Edwards finishing second in the mile, just 0.05 seconds behind former Wolverine Andrea Parker, while Gall took third place with her personal-best time. In the 400-meter dash, senior Chanelle Campbell (Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock HS) set a personal best in with a time of 56.79 to place second, two places ahead of junior Serita Williams (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee HS), who clocked in at 57.25.
Michigan also finished 1-2-3-4 in the 600-meter run, placing fifth-year senior co-captain Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac HS) at the top of the podium with a time of 1:30.08, while sophomore Amber Hay (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS) took second place in 1:32.60. Senior Kiana Stringfield's (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) time of 1:37.20 was good for third, while junior/sophomore Linda Montgomery (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) claimed fourth place in a photo finish behind Stringfield, clocking in at 1:37.23.
On the first day of the meet, Wade claimed first place in the pentathlon with 3,911 points, 139 points shy of the automatic qualifying mark. She finished first in four of the five events, setting a personal record in the shot put with a toss of 40 1/2 feet. On day two of competition, Wade took fourth in the high jump, clearing 5-6, and placed fourth in the long jump with a distance of 17-9 1/2.
Fifth-year senior Kristin Pearson (Escanaba, Calif./Escanaba HS) and junior/sophomore Jennifer Mehl (Novi, Mich./Novi HS) placed second and third, respectively, in the pole vault, with Pearson clearing 12-1 1/2 and Mehl vaulting 11-7 3/4.
In the throws, junior Bridgette Maynard (Madison, Mich./Bishop Foley HS) placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 43 1/2 feet and took fifth in the weight throw (51-2 3/4).
A number of U-M alums competed at the Red Simmons/Jack Harvey Invitational, including event winners Parker (mile), Lindsey Gallo (800-meter run) and Nicole Forrester (long jump).
Michigan will compete in the Michigan Intercollegiate on Saturday (Jan. 27) in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., on the campus of Central Michigan University.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach James Henry
On the high marks set over the weekend by Michigan ... "I think if they keep the workmanlike attitude then the marks can continue to get higher. I tell the athletes during practice, if you made it in a good performance then you can lose it once you stop practicing. If you haven't made it, then you'll never get if you don't continue to practice, so that's the philosophy."
On the team's expectations for next weekend at the Michigan Intercollegiate ... "Well, in a scored meet and you're favored to win, that's our expectations, to win. We've won it every year that it's been held with the exception of one. It will be different this year, because every place will count. So we're just going to train, get fluids and get good performances."
On what the team will focus on during the upcoming week ... "We don't want to focus or look past Central Michigan, but we need to stay focused with our day-to-day overall goals. Our overall goals are to prepare ourselves for the Big Tens. So we want to keep training and doing the things that can get us prepared for the long run and have businesslike performances for the weekend."
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
