Michigan
Penn Relays
Sereno Wins Penn Relays 3,000-Meter Title
4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
April 27, 2017
» Gina Sereno won the 3,000 meters title, coming closer to the U-M record than to the second-place runner.
» Former Wolverine Kira Garry and current Wolverine Claire Borchers went 2-3 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
» Thursday was the lone day at the Penn Relays for Michigan, but the Wolverines' weekend continues Friday and Saturday at the Adidas/Steve Scott Invitational, the Texas Longhorn Invitational and the Hillsdale Gina Relays.
• Results
Site: Philadelphia, Pa. (Franklin Field)
Event: Penn Relays (Day 1)
U-M Team Results: Non-scoring
Next U-M Event: Friday, April 28 -- at Adidas/Steve Scott Invitational, Longhorn Invitational, Gina Relays
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Led by an individual title from Gina Sereno, every single woman from the University of Michigan women's track and field team who competed at the Penn Relays Thursday night (April 27) posted top-eight finishes on opening day of 123rd edition of the historic meet held at Franklin Field.
Sereno was the dominant winner at 3,000 meters -- coming closer to the U-M school record than to her next-fastest competitor -- while former and current Wolverines Kira Garry and Claire Borchers were both top three in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Sarah Zieve and Courtney Munley were seventh and eighth overall in the steeplechase and 3,000, respectively.
While Sereno officially crossed the line in the 3,000 in 9:14.22, the race was all but over much earlier on. In a stark contrast to her most-recent win two weeks ago -- a late surge to claim the Bryan Clay 5,000 title -- the reigning Big Ten outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 champion shot to the lead within the first 100 meters and never looked back, growing her lead to more than 100 meters with less than three laps to go.
By the time all was said and done, Sereno was closer to Sue Schroeder's U-M outdoor record of 9:07.67 from 1986 -- and almost closer to the meet record of 9:03.8 from 1985 -- than she was to the runner-up 9:24.93 posted by Elly Henes of N.C. State.
Munley came through in 9:40.84 for eighth.
In the fastest section of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Michigan accounted for three of the seven fastest times as current Wolverines Borchers and Zieve were third and seventh, respectively, while Garry -- whose eligibility ran out with the 2017 indoor season -- was second.
Garry ran off the shoulder of eventual winner Briana Ilarda of Providence throughout the duration of the race for her first-ever sub-10 performance in 9:58.18.
Borchers continued her breakout junior campaign with a 10:04.10 clocking, while Zieve crossed in a career-best 10:15.82 to move to No. 6 on the all-time U-M performers list.
After Ilarda and Garry separated from the field early, Borchers established herself at the front of the chase pack. After running with that group of half-a-dozen in the peloton -- including Zieve -- for a majority of the race, Borchers made a decisive move to stretch out the pack with a little more than two laps to go.
She made up some ground on Ilarda and Garry over the final third of the race but was unable to completely close the gap. She did close fast enough for the second-best time of her season and the third performance faster than 10:10 of her career. Only former NCAA champion and current U-M record-holder Anna Willard has more in Michigan history with four -- three of which were sub-10:00 efforts.
Garry, Zieve and Sereno return to Ann Arbor for Friday night's Student-Athlete Graduation Ceremony at 8 p.m., at which Zieve will be delivering an address to her fellow graduates.
While Thursday was U-M's lone day at the Penn Relays, Michigan action continues Friday and Saturday (April 28-39) with competitions at the Adidas/Steve Scott Invitational, Longhorn Invitational and the Hillsdale Gina Relays.
Tweet of the Day 
Sereno for the win! She takes the @pennrelays 3,000m title in 9:14.22!
Closer to the U-M record (7 seconds) than to 2nd place (10 seconds)-- Michigan Track&Field (@UMichTrack) April 28, 2017
Communications Contact: Kyle Terwillegar
Players Mentioned
