Wolverines Win Team Title at Michigan Intercollegiate

Saturday, January 31

Ypsilanti, Mich.

Michigan

Michigan Intercollegiate

Wolverines Win Team Title at Michigan Intercollegiate

1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

Site: Ypsilanti, Mich. (Bowen Field House)
Event: Michigan Intercollegiate
U-M Team Finish: 1st Place of 6 Teams (216.5 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., Feb. 6-7 -- at Kentucky Invitational (Lexington, Ky.) and at Meyo Invitational (South Bend, Ind.)

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Strong performances in the distance and field events helped lead the No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's track and field to its 12th consecutive team championship at the Michigan Intercollegiate on Saturday (Jan. 31) at the Bowen Field House. The Wolverines scored 216.5 points to take the crown over second-place Western Michigan (122.5 points).

Senior Geena Gall(Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) dominated the mile run, winning in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:41.59. Gall shot out to the front right from the opening gun and cruised to the victory by nearly 20 seconds over Sarah Squires of Central Michigan (5:00.56).

U-M runners swept the top three spots in the 3,000-meter run. Sophomore Danielle Tauro(Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) earned top honors in a personal-best time of 9:35.60, missing the NCAA provisional mark by less than two seconds. Senior/junior Kelly Sampson(Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) took second in 9:38.55 and junior/sophomore Jennifer Morgan (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) was third in 9:41.45.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Peale (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and senior/junior Katie Williams(Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) went 1-2 in the 5,000-meter run. Peale was first to the line in a time of 17:37.41, while Williams took second in 17:39.53 despite losing a shoe for the final 400 meters.

Freshman Julian Purvis(Oakland, Calif./St. Elizabeth) earned top honors in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in at 8.66. Purvis' time was just five one-hundredths of a second faster than second-place Shanaye Carr of Central Michigan.

Senior/junior Christina Solomon(Belleville, Mich./Belleville) and senior Bettie Wade(Northville, Mich./Farmington) earned first and second, respectively, in the high jump. Both Solomon and Wade registered top jumps of 1.73m, but Solomon took first by virtue of the tie-breaker.

In the pole vault, senior/junior Sarah Conkle(Bellaire, Mich./Bellaire) earned the top crown with a personal-best vault of 3.80m. Fifth-year senior Jennifer Mehl(Novi, Mich./Novi) made it a 1-2 finish for the Wolverines with a season-best vault of 3.65m to take second.

The long jump and triple jump were both won by senior Casey Taylor(Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic). In the long jump, Taylor's top leap of 5.89m just edged Western Michigan's Ashley Hunault by two one-hundredths of a meter. Taylor's victory in the triple jump came by a much wider margin as she recorded a top jump of 12.55m; second-place Alexis Brown of Western Michigan jumped 11.91m.

Next weekend (Fri-Sat., Feb. 6-7), the Wolverines will send athletes to both the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Ky., and the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind. Both events are two-day competitions.

Team Standings

  1. Michigan 216.5 2. Western Michigan 122.5 3. Central Michigan 106.5 4. Eastern Michigan 47.5 5. Oakland 23 6. Detroit Mercy 9

Event Winners/U-M Finishers

 60-meter Dash 1. Jordan Dunn, Central Michigan 7.60 3. Casey Taylor, U-M 7.65 (7.61 prelims) 8. Julian Purvis, U-M 8.20 (7.90 prelims) 9. Teleicia Rose, U-M 7.96 200-meter Dash 1. Rosie White, Eastern Michigan 25.42 5. Shana Vinson, U-M 25.92 6. Jennifer Neville, U-M 26.16 11. Meshawn Graham, U-M 26.29 400-meter Dash 1. Victoria Chatman, Western Michigan 56.32 2. Shana Vinson, U-M 56.41 3. Jennifer Neville, U-M 57.11 4. Meshawn Graham, U-M 58.32 800-meter Run 1. Beverly Elcock, Eastern Michigan 2:10.92 2. Katie LaValley, U-M 2:13.01 3. Amber Hay, U-M 2:13.51 4. Brittani Williams, U-M 2:14.75 5. Alexandria Williams, U-M 2:15.99 One-mile Run 1. Geena Gall, U-M 4:41.59# 5. Lisa Montgomery, U-M 5:09.37 3,000-meter Run 1. Danielle Tauro, U-M 9:35.60 2. Kelly Sampson, U-M 9:38.55 3. Jennifer Morgan, U-M 9:41.45 10. Kourtney Moody, U-M 10:43.59 5,000-meter Run 1. Kaitlyn Peale, U-M 17:37.41 2. Katie Williams, U-M 17:39.53 4. Mary Grace Pellegrini, U-M 17:58.58 60-meter Hurdles 1. Julian Purvis, U-M 8.66 5. Teleicia Rose, U-M 9.21 (9.20 prelims) 4x400-meter Relay 1. Western Michigan 3:47.69 2. MICHIGAN 3:51.01 (Katie LaValley, Amber Hay, Brittani Williams, Geena Gall)

 Distance Medley Relay 1. Central Michigan 12:09.67 2. MICHIGAN 12:16.29 (Kourtney Moody, Alexandria Williams, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Montgomery)

 High Jump 1. Christina Soloman, U-M 1.73m 2. Bettie Wade, U-M 1.73m 4. Olivia Both, U-M 1.68m Pole Vault 1. Sarah Conkle, U-M 3.80m 2. Jennifer Mehl, U-M 3.65m Long Jump 1. Casey Taylor, U-M 5.89m 5. Meshawn Graham, U-M 5.42m Triple Jump 1. Casey Taylor, U-M 12.55m Weight Throw 1. Irene Cooper, Western Michigan 18.62m 3. Ashley Greer, U-M 16.07m 4. Emily Pendleton, U-M 15.58m Shot Put 1. Norianna Brown, Central Michigan 13.83m 4. Emily Pendleton, U-M 13.09m # NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach James Henry
On the meet... "Our goal is to come out of this meet unscathed and healthy, and if we can also get some improvements that is what we want. I think that we accomplished all of the above. They know it's a team championship and a team championship brings out a different type of performance because place take precedence over individual times."

On the top performers of the weekend... "I thought Geena Gall stood out, (Danielle) Tauro stood out and Bettie Wade stood out. Those were three that came through and there were probably another half-dozen kids that did it for us as well. Also, Casey Taylor with her double win in the long jump and the triple (jump), even though we did very heavy training this week, she still pulled out both of those victories."

U-M Senior co-captain Bettie Wade
On her NCAA qualifying mark in the heptathlon on Friday... "I won every event and ended up getting automatic qualification (for the NCAA Championships), so I am happy with my performance. I knew that there wasn't going to be too much competition, but this year I have taken the mindset that I want to compete against myself, so I did that and I was happy."

Contact: Jeremy Reid (734) 763-4423