Michigan to Send 33 Athletes to NCAA East Preliminaries
5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 24, 2016
» Michigan is tied for the most entries in sprints and hurdles events among Big Ten schools (six) and is second in the conference in middle-distance (four) and distance (four).
» The Wolverines are in the midst of the program's best season since 2008, having swept the Big Ten indoor and outdoor titles.
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THIS WEEK
Thu-Sun., May 26-28 -- at NCAA East Region Preliminary Rounds (Jacksonville, Fla.), 4:30 p.m./5 p.m./6:30 p.m.
NCAA East Preliminary Round Home | Live Results
Coming off the program's first conference title sweep since 2003, the University of Michigan women's track and field team seeks to continue its best season in nearly a decade with this weekend's NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. Competition is scheduled from Thursday to Saturday (May 26-28) at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Wolverines will travel 13 athletes to the Owls' Hodges Stadium this weekend, competing 14 entries in nine events and one relay. Michigan's six sprints and hurdles entries tie for the conference lead, while its four middle-distance and four distance entries are second in the Big Ten.
With the nation divided into the east and west regions, the top 48 declared athletes in each event in each region, as well as the top 24 relays, will compete during this weekend's events with an NCAA Championships bid on the line. Athletes will participate in first round and quarterfinal competition, with 12 competitors from each individual event and 12 teams from each relay event advancing from the preliminary round to the NCAA Championships held Thursday and Saturday, June 9 and 11 at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Live results will be provided for this weekend's championship meet, available above, and fans can also follow along with @umichtrack on Twitter for updates as they become available, including results, race highlights and post-event interviews.
WOLVERINE SCHEDULE OF COMPETITION AND ENTRIES
Event: Athlete (Time/Mark; NCAA East Region Seed)
Race Day/Time
SPRINTS/HURDLES and RELAYS (6 Entries, 1 Relay)
100-meter dash: Cindy Ofili (11.43; 16)
First Round Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Quarterfinals Friday at 6:30 p.m.
400-meter dash: Maya Long (53.28; 26)
First Round Thursday at 7:20 p.m., Quarterfinals Friday at 6 p.m.
100-meter hurdles: Cindy Ofili (12.66; 1*), Sami Michell (13.41; 23)
First Round Friday at 5 p.m., Quarterfinals Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
400-meter hurdles: Sami Michell (58.70; 25), Emily Wee (59.48; 39)
Quarterfinals Friday at 7:40 p.m.
4x400-meter relay: Ofili, Wee, Pfeifer, Long // Phelan, Michell (3:33.42; 11)
Saturday at 9:25 p.m.
MID-DISTANCE and DISTANCE (8 Entries)
800 meters: Danielle Pfeifer (2:05.75; 20)
First Round Friday at 8:10 p.m., Quarterfinals Friday at 7 p.m.
1,500 meters: Shannon Osika (4:13.43; 3), Jaimie Phelan (4:19.48; 9), Devon Hoppe (4:20.12; 14)
First Round Thursday at 5:30 p.m., Quarterfinals Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
10,000 meters: Gina Sereno (34:19.39; 22)
Semifinals Thursday at 9 p.m.
3,000-meter steeplechase: Anna Pasternak (10:20.53; 24), Claire Borchers (10:22.14; 30), Sarah Zieve (10:25.06; 34)
Quarterfinals Friday at 8:50 p.m.
FIELD EVENTS (1 Entry)
High Jump: Claire Kieffer-Wright (1.82 meters; 5-11.5 ft.; 8)
First Round and Quarterfinals, Friday at 5 p.m.
* = Also the top national seed
THINGS TO KNOW
• The Maize and Blue returns to the University of North Florida for the fourth time in the past five seasons (2012, '14-16), boasting athletes in nine events and one relay with 13 total Wolverines competing in 14 entries.
• Among Big Ten schools, only Ohio State can match Michigan's six entries in the sprints and hurdles events, and U-M's four distance and four middle-distance entries rank second in the Big Ten, respectively.
• Michigan comes into the weekend on the heels of the program's first sweep of the indoor and outdoor Big Ten titles since its last triple crown season in 2003. U-M scored 106 points to match Minnesota for the outdoor championship earlier this month (May 13-15) at the University of Nebraska.
• The win came courtesy of a middle-distance and distance sweep (800; 1,500; 5,000 and 10,000 meters), where U-M totaled 69 points in all including the steeplechase, and U-M added 23 points in sprints, hurdles and relays and 16 points in the field.
• Bowerman Watch List member Cindy Ofili leads the charge for the U-M athletes. The owner of five U-M records, Ofili's seed of 12.66 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles is an NCAA-leading time, and she has also slotted to run the 100-meter dash this weekend.
• Undefeated in her specialty event this year (6-0) and currently ranked No. 4 in the world, Ofili became the second woman in Big Ten history to win three or more consecutive conference titles in the 100-meter hurdles (Tonja Buford, Illinois; 1990-93) earlier this month.
• At the Big Ten meet, she also ran the opening leg of the school record-setting 4x400-meter relay with fellow seniors Maya Long, Danielle Pfeifer and Emily Wee, which helped seal U-M's share of the Big Ten title. That foursome is set to run this weekend, and all three are entered in individual races as well.
• Gina Sereno swept the 5K and 10K for U-M, the fourth woman in program history to do so (Mindy Rowand Schmidt; 1989-90, Rebecca Walter; 2006, Erin Finn; 2014) in what has been a breakout season. She was rewarded with Big Ten Athlete of the Championships last week, while Ofili was named Athlete of the Year.
• The Wolverines have three athletes in the 1,500-meter race (Shannon Osika, Devon Hoppe and Jaimie Phelan), a claim that only Indiana can match. Osika won the Big Ten title in the mile indoors, and Hoppe swept the indoor and outdoor 800 races, while Phelan is also a Big Ten individual medalist at 600 meters.
• 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.
• Using that same formula among Big Ten competitions, Michigan's track title sweep (1-1) and runner-up cross country finish (2) put U-M in its own category (total of 4), with only one other program (4-4-1/9) in similar territory.
• 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).
A LOOK AHEAD
Thu-Sat., June 9-11 -- at NCAA Outdoor Championships (Eugene, Ore.)
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Team cookouts are the best way to spend a Sunday! ☀️
Wishing our teammates luck in Jacksonville this weekend. pic.twitter.com/ynv0AtYZUt-- Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) May 23, 2016
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
