Michigan
Battle of the Blues
Michigan Proves the Best Blue in Durham
4/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
April 2, 2016
» U-M also won the 400 meters (Maya Long), 400-meter hurdles (Sami Michell) and long jump (Aaron Howell) while using scoring contributions from 18 different athletes overall.
» This weekend's victory gives U-M wins in all three regular-season scored meets this season, with two coming as a team (Notre Dame Invitational, Jan. 23; Battle of the Blues) and one coming as part of the Big Ten Conference (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge; March 25-26).
» Fans can watch a replay of the broadcast from this weekend on ESPN3.com in the 'Replay' section with their cable provider logins.
• Complete Results 
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Site: Durham, N.C. (Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium)
Event: Battle of the Blues
U-M Team Result: 1st Place of 3 Teams (83 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., April 8-9 -- at Spartan Invitational (East Lansing, Mich.), Noon/9:40 a.m.
DURHAM, N.C. -- The No. 22-ranked University of Michigan women's track and field team earned a team victory in the Battle of the Blues tri-meet on Saturday (April 2), besting opponents from the University of North Carolina and the host school, Duke, in an impressive overall team performance at Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium. Co-captain and indoor national hurdles champion Cindy Ofili led U-M's scoring effort with 15 individual points, and the Maize and Blue scored in 18 of 20 events overall.
Head coach James Henry found plenty of valuable takeaways for the Wolverines in this weekend's win. The meet, which used a 5-3-2-1 point(s) scoring system for individual events and scored relays as 5-3, provided a taste of scored competition early into the outdoor season for U-M.
"I think it gives us a good kickoff in terms of confidence going into the part of the season where things will be picking up," he explained, "We've got a couple of more weeks of hard training, but before you know it we'll be coming down the stretch. This gives the kids the impression that we can be balanced and we can perform across the board in every event."
Henry credited his staff with a scoring-focused approach for this weekend's lineup and appreciated the competitiveness of the Wolverines this weekend, especially when the team had a chance to seal up its victory before the 4x400-meter relays closed the weekend.
"In every event, Coach (Mike) McGuire steps up and sets the game plan in terms of strategy and who should be in which events and double, etc.," Henry explained.
"He set us up to bring home a championship, and that made me feel real good, to know that we came away with a victory and of course that also has the girls feeling really happy. It wasn't the conference championships, but it was a championship, and once again our performance was indicative of our bread and butter in these meets, and that is to stay balanced and try to get points in every event.
"Down the stretch, we swept the 3,000-meter race, and that closed the books on anyone else trying to come back. I was really pleased to take first, second and third, including a great job by Holly (Petrusson) to move up from fourth to third that really shows how we want everyone to work to the end of their race or event."
SPRINTS
Ofili's three wins were a main factor in U-M's team victory, and Ofili was glad to make such a positive contribution to the team scoring effort and even more glad to have proven Michigan to be the best of the blues this weekend.
"It was awesome to take the team win today," said Ofili. "Even with only three teams competing, you always want to represent and show that we can run well with anyone we compete against. North Carolina and Duke are also prestigious academically, so this gives us a little bit of bragging rights."
"It's my senior year so I'm trying to take every race as if it were my last," said Ofili. "I don't have many more left with Michigan so each time I put on my jersey and my block M I'm trying to represent Michigan as well as possible. It was awesome to come out and get a rust-buster in, getting these races under my feet. I'm really happy, and I'm encouraged with today, so it's only up from here God willing."
In the 100-meter hurdles, the senior co-captain earned the win in her season debut, timing 13.12 across the line for a win of more than .70 seconds and a top-five time in the country. Junior Sami Michell also scored, placing third.
About 15 minutes later, Ofili won the 100-meter dash, running 11.66 to add five more points for the Wolverines, while sophomore Meghan Marias and freshman Jeryne Fish both set PRs and scored for the Wolverines in third and fourth.
Ofili took her final victory at 200 meters, setting a personal best in 23.46 seconds to finish her weekend with a meet-best 15 points. Marias finished fourth with another PR, timing 24.79.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Michell and senior/junior Emily Wee went one-two in a tightly contested race with both breaking the 1:00 mark. For Wee, it is a new PR (59.65), while Michell took the victory in 59.44, giving her seven individual points overall.
Senior Maya Long won the 400-meter race in a personal-best 53.37, holding Duke's Madeline Kopp (53.55) off down the stretch.
The 4x400-meter relay began with U-M already owning the team title, but that did not stop Pfeifer, Michell, Wee and Long from combining to run for a second-place showing and a season-best time of 3:41.02.
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
In the second heat of the 800-meter race, senior Danielle Pfeifer and fifth-year senior Devon Hoppe led a two-three finish for the Maize and Blue. The first 200 meters came in around 30 seconds, and the pace picked up from there. UNC's Elizabeth Whelan took an early lead and stretched it through 600 meters when Pfeifer and Hoppe picked up the urgency to reel her in, but they ran out of track, and Whelan fought to keep her lead, crossing at 2:06.64 to earn the win for the Tarheels.
In the 1,500-meter run, senior Shannon Osika picked up her first victory of the weekend with a patient race plan. She stayed with the leaders throughout and made her final move with about 200 meters to go, blitzing past Duke's Anima Banks to finish in 4:18.49 for five points and a mark that ranks as the No. 3 time in the nation this year. Osika's time will most certainly be a qualifying mark for the NCAA Regionals.
She came back to double in the 3K later in the evening, helping U-M seal its victory before the 4x400-meter relay. Osika took the lead out early with junior Gina Sereno pushing her and sophomore/freshman Holly Petrusson and junior Corinne Florie sticking with the lead chase pack. U-M sat 1-4 with about 1,000 meters to go, before North Carolina's Josette Norris made a move to work her way into third.
Osika took off with just around 600 meters remaining, pushing her lead to more than 15 meters, and she crossed the finish line in 9:29.48 for her second victory of the weekend, totaling 10 points as an individual. Florie and Petrusson came across in second and third, both setting new personal bests, and U-M picked up 10 points in the event overall. Petrusson worked her way back from fourth place to pass Norris at the goal line and earn the extra point for the Wolverines, and that collective performance locked up the team title for the Maize and Blue.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Claire Borchers battled with Duke's Olivia Anderson over the first 2,000-plus meters of the race, before Anderson broke into a lead of about 10 meters in the latter part of the race. Borchers finished in 10:29.75, with junior/sophomore Sarah Zieve in third to add five points to U-M's total.
JUMPS
In the high jump, sophomore Claire Kieffer-Wright cleared a new outdoor best on the fifth height of her progression, clearing 1.79 meters (5-10.5 ft.) to place second. Only she and North Carolina's Nicole Greene continued beyond 1.73 meters, and both Kieffer-Wright and Greene came over 1.76 meters (5-9.25 ft.), though it took Kieffer-Wright two attempts.
Junior/sophomore co-captain Aaron Howell, who also competed in the 100-meter hurdles and javelin, won the long jump with a new PR, jumping 5.83 meters (19-1.5 ft.) on her final attempt of the first round. Freshman Jeryne Fish also scored, placing third and setting a season-best mark.
THROWS
U-M began the day by scoring two athletes in the discus as sophomore Bailey Baker and freshman Maegan McCarthy finished two-three in the event to bring in five points to the team total. On Friday (April 1), McCarthy set a new PR in the weight throw when she launched a throw at 45.99 meters (150-10 ft.).
Sophomore Kayla Deering then continued the trend, scoring with a runner-up finish in the shot put, adding three points.
Howell added another three points by placing runner-up in her third and final event of the weekend, the javelin, while freshman Elizabeth Prieskorn improved to set a new season-best.
The Maize and Blue hopes to pick up where it left off with the Spartan Invitational on the docket for next weekend (April 8-9).
COLLEGIATE PERSONAL BESTS
Track Events
100 meters
Meghan Marias -- 12.11
Jeryne Fish -- 12.62
200 meters
Cindy Ofili -- 23.46
Meghan Marias -- 24.79
1,500 meters
Ellie Leonard -- 4:40.74
3,000 meters
Corinne Florie -- 9:35.21
Holly Petrusson -- 9:35.60
100 meter hurdles
Lauren Rodriguez -- 14.74
400 meter hurdles
Emily Wee -- 59.65
Field Events
Hammer Throw
Maegan McCarthy -- 45.99 meters (150-10 ft.)
High Jump
Claire Kieffer-Wright -- 1.79 meters (5-10.5 ft.)
Long Jump
Aaron Howell -- 5.83 meters (19-1.5 ft.)
Jeryne Fish -- 5.67 meters (18-7.75 ft.)
Javelin
Elizabeth Prieskorn -- 32.73 meters (107-4 ft.)
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
It's official! U-M women bringing home the hardware from Durham with the #BattleOfTheBlues title! pic.twitter.com/a3iMMpyGio
-- Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) April 3, 2016
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
