Wolverines Ready for Big Ten Outdoors
5/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 11, 2016
» The Wolverines are hoping for another strong showing after claiming their 16th overall conference title during the indoor season.
» This weekend's three-day meet features live streaming coverage during Sunday's (May 15) championship races, and the televised broadcast will air later that evening.
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• Notes Pack 
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sun., May 13-15 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Lincoln, Neb.), Noon/9:30 a.m./Noon CDT
Championship Site | Live Results | Schedule of Events | Entry List | BTN2Go (Sunday)
The University of Michigan women's track and field team is set to begin competition at this week's Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Fri-Sun., May 13-15) in Lincoln, Nebraska. The three-day meet will be competed at Ed Weir Stadium on the campus of Nebraska and will feature representatives from 13 Big Ten programs.
Coverage will be two-fold this weekend: Sunday's final day of events will be available for live streaming on BTN2Go.com, beginning at 1:40 p.m. CDT with the 4x100-meter relays. Fans will not have to wait long for the full broadcast, either, as it is scheduled to air on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. CDT.
Live results will be provided for this weekend's championship meet, available at Nebraska's championship site. Fans can follow along with @umichtrack on Twitter for updates as they become available, including results, race highlights and post-event interviews.
The Wolverines listed below are top-eight on the conference's outdoor performance list in their respective events, according to TFRRS:
EVENT -- NAME -- (TIME/MARK; 2016 OUTDOOR BIG TEN RANK)
Heptathlon -- Aaron Howell (5,914 points; No. 3)
100-meter dash -- Cindy Ofili (11.57; No. 7)
100-meter hurdles -- Cindy Ofili (12.66*; No. 1)
200-meter dash -- Cindy Ofili (23.46; tie-No. 6)
400-meter dash -- Maya Long (53.37; tie-No. 6)
400-meter hurdles -- Sami Michell (59.20; No. 8)
800 meters -- Danielle Pfeifer (2:05.75; No. 2)
800 meters -- Devon Hoppe (2:07.53; No. 8)
1,500 meters -- Shannon Osika (4:13.43; No. 1)
1,500 meters -- Jaimie Phelan (4:19.48; No. 2)
1,500 meters -- Devon Hoppe (4:20.12; No. 4)
1,500 meters -- Laura Addison (4:21.90; No. 6)
1,500 meters -- Holly Petrusson (4:22.95; No. 7)
1,500 meters -- Danielle Pfeifer (4:22.97; No. 8)
3,000-meter steeplechase -- Anna Pasternak (10:20.53; No. 4)
3,000-meter steeplechase -- Claire Borchers (10:22.58; No. 5)
3,000-meter steeplechase -- Sarah Zieve (10:25.06; No. 6)
4x400-meter relay -- Michell, Wee, Pfeifer, Long (3:41.02; No. 6)
High jump -- Claire Kieffer-Wright (1.79 meters; 5-10.5 ft.; tie-No. 4)
* = Top National seed
THINGS TO KNOW
• This marks Nebraska's first time hosting the Big Ten Outdoor Championships since joining the conference in 2011-12. The Huskers hosted the indoor championships in their first year as members of the Big Ten.
• The Wolverines are pursuing their 17th Big Ten title, the eighth outdoor conference title in program history and their first outdoor crown since 2007. A Big Ten sweep would be Michigan's first since the triple crown (cross country, indoor and outdoor titles in the same season) season of 2003.
• Michigan moves into the championship phase of the outdoor campaign on the heels of its best indoor season since 2008, the best complete season in program history. This winter, the Wolverines added a sixth-place NCAA finish to their first Big Ten indoor championship since 2006.
• Michigan opened the outdoor season ranked No. 3 in the USTFCCCA's Program of the Year race after adding the third-best nationals finish in program history to a sixth-place NCAA finish during the cross country season.
• U-M is poised for another strong showing at the conference level, as this squad returns nine athletes who scored at last year's meet and 15 overall who competed at the 2015 edition of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
• Returning medalists from the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Championships include: Cindy Ofili (100 hurdles; gold), Shannon Osika (1,500-meter run; silver) and Sami Michell (400-meter hurdles; bronze).
• In the sprints and hurdles, co-captain Cindy Ofili leads a group of decorated Wolverine seniors along with four-time DMR All-American Maya Long. The first athlete to receive votes for the Bowerman Watch List, Ofili owns the top 100-meter hurdles time in the NCAA this year (12.66) and the No. 4 time in the world in 2016.
• The owner of five Michigan records, Ofili will seek to defend her 100-meter hurdles title from last spring, and hopes to top her 12-point contribution from 2015 by tripling in the 100, 200 and 100 hurdles this weekend. Ofili scored 20 points for U-M at the indoor championships.
• A number of U-M seniors will also be competing at their final conference meet as Wolverines, including: Devon Hoppe, Osika, Anna Pasternak, Danielle Pfeifer, Claire Tewksbury and Emily Wee.
• While redshirting for the outdoor season in preparation of Olympic qualifying, junior Erin Finn has met the Olympic standard in the 10,000-meter (32:15) and 5,000-meter (15:25) events. Finn's 5K qualifying time (9:23.16) came at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and her 10K mark was set at Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational on May 1 (31:51.84).
• Finn's 10K time ranks as the No. 6-fastest in NCAA history, the No. 3 fastest by an American collegian and the fastest ever by a native Michigander.
A LOOK AHEAD
Thu-Sat., May 26-28 -- at NCAA East Preliminary Rounds (Jacksonville, Fla.)
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Life on the B1G Stage is nothing new for @cindyofili. Check out this commercial, airing now on @BigTenNetwork! https://t.co/rkFA1hbMwo
-- Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) May 10, 2016
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
