Michigan
Silverston Invitational
Wolverines to Close Out Regular Season at Home, Notre Dame
2/14/2018 2:30:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
» The Silverston Invitational on Friday will be the final opportunity for fans to see the new world-class U-M Indoor Track Building in its inaugural season.
» The distance medley relay team will look to solidify its chances for an all-time best 16th consecutive berth to the NCAA Championships at the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 17).
» This is the final weekend of competition ahead of the Big Ten Championships on Feb. 23-24.
THIS WEEK
Friday, Feb. 16 -- Silverston Invitational (U-M Indoor Track Building), 1 p.m.
Meet Information | Live Results
Saturday, Feb. 17 -- Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invitational (South Bend, Ind.), 11:45 a.m.
Meet Information | Live Results
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- With just nine days left until the Big Ten Indoor Championships, the national No. 12-ranked University of Michigan women's track and field team is tuning up for one final time both at its final home meet of the year and on the road at Notre Dame.
The Silverston Invitational on Friday afternoon (Feb. 16), which will start at 1 p.m. at the new U-M Indoor Track Building, will serve as one last tune-up for several of the Wolverines' likely Big Ten competitors and for others, one last opportunity to make their cases for inclusion on the postseason roster.
One day later at Notre Dame's Alex Wilson Invitation on Saturday (Feb. 17), Michigan's distance medley relay team is aiming to lock up its spot to next month's NCAA Indoor Championships for an NCAA-best 16th consecutive season. The women race at 11:45 a.m. in what perhaps will be the most competitive relay field of the year outside the NCAA meet.
Opposing the Wolverines in their final home competition of the new world-class indoor facility's inaugural season are student-athletes from a slew of teams from around the region. Among those in the Silverston Invitational field are Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Oakland and Toledo from the NCAA Division I level; NCAA Division II foe Saginaw Valley; NCAA D-III opponents Calvin, Heidelberg, North Central (Ill.), Ohio Northern; and Canadian Universities Western Ontario and Windsor.
Several unattached and post-collegiate athletes will also compete.
Action begins both on the track and in the field at 1 p.m., with doors to the facility opening at noon. Spectators are encouraged to park in the commuter lot south of the Athletics South Competition and Performance Center, which houses the indoor track building.
Fans can follow along both meets from the stands and from afar by following live results via Delta Timing and through social media updates from the program's official accounts.
WOLVERINE COMPETITORS AT THE SILVERSTON
Previous Big Ten Championships scorers Meghan Marias, Courtney Jacobsen and Sarah Uhlian headline a squad of Wolverines competing at the Silverston Invitational on Friday. Both are looking to put in efforts that would move them up from 17th in the Big Ten in their respective weight-throw and pole-vault events. Marias, who was eighth last season over 60 meters at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, has run well at home this year with her three fastest times of the season -- 7.54, 7.56 and 7.58. respectively -- coming within the confines of the world-class U-M Indoor Track Building. She will run both the 60 and the 200.
Jacobsen, who took eighth in the outdoor hammer throw at Big Tens last year as a freshman, has had a strong season in the weight throw in 2018. She has improved her career-best by more than two feet to 18.34m (60 feet, 2 inches) in a performance last weekend that moved her up to No. 3 in school history in the event.
Uhlian, who took eighth in the outdoor pole vault last year at the conference meet, is aiming to return to the same form that saw her clear a near career-best 3.88m (12-8.75) bar a year ago. She has gone 3.79m (12-5.25) earlier this season, 10 centimeters shy of her career-best 3.89m (12-9) from the 2015 Big Ten meet.
Also competing for Michigan in the final home meet are Torisa Johnson, Akili Echols and Lauren Morgan (60 meters); Johnson, Echols, Morgan and Julia Hall (200 meters); Jenna Reid (400 meters); Sydney Badger, Rachel Barrett, Meg Darmofal, Rachel Coleman, Alice Hill, Courtney Munley, Jena Metwalli, Ellie Leonard and Faith Reynolds (mile); Reynolds, Metwali and Kayla Keane (3,000 meters); Michaiah Thomas and Reid (60-meter hurdles); Katt Miner (high jump); Hanna Gelov (pole vault); and Erin Connor, Maegan McCarthy and Charde Madoula-Bey (shot put).
DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY AT NOTRE DAME
No school has competed in the NCAA Indoor Championships distance medley relay final in as many consecutive years as Michigan, which is looking for its 16th straight appearance at the national meet. No other institution is close, with Arkansas next on the list at eight consecutive years followed by Stanford at six.
The current iteration of the Wolverines squad set to compete at Notre Dame on Saturday -- Claire Borchers, Jade Harrison, Haley Meier and Hannah Meier -- will look to clinch the Wolverines' trip to College Station, Texas, for the NCAAs, March 9-10.
Michigan has already clocked 11:04.64 at the Power Five Invitational this year, but will be looking to break into the 10-minute range or run just a shade over 11 minutes to bolster its chances of qualifying. For reference, the 12th-and-final qualifying team to NCAAs a year ago ran 11:02.32.
Borchers is coming off a career-best 4:39.92 mile in Washington last weekend; Harrison is the school record-holder at 400 meters and ran a 52.786 split in this race two weeks ago; and the Meier twins are having breakthrough collegiate seasons. Haley is ranked No. 10 nationally in the mile and No. 3 in Michigan history at 4:35.69, while Hannah clocked 2:06.989 on the 800-meter leg of the relay two weekends ago to keep pace with Stanford All-American Olivia Baker.
Michigan has historically excelled at the Alex Wilson Invitational, with the program's all-time second-, third- and fourth-fastest times all coming at this meet. Last year's squad ran 10:58.02 to check in at No. 3.
WOLVERINES IN THE RANKINGS
• The Wolverines checked in at No. 13 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Rankings, up four spots from last time. Among Big Ten teams, only No. 10 Minnesota is ranked higher, with No. 15 Wisconsin and No. 23 Indiana also part of the top-25.
• Wolverines in the Big Ten rankings:
| Name | Event | Rank |
| Meghan Marias | 60m | 9 |
| Chloe Foster | 600m | 10 |
| Haley Meier | 800m | 8 |
| Claire Borchers | 800m | 10 |
| Erin Finn | Mile | 1 |
| Gina Sereno | Mile | 2 |
| Claire Borchers | Mile | 7 |
| Hannah Meier | Mile | 8 |
| Erin Finn | 3000m | 1 |
| Haley Meier | 3000m | 3 |
| Claire Borchers | 3000m | 6 |
| Avery Evenson | 3000m | 9 |
| 4 x 400m Relay | 6 | |
| Distance Medley Relay | 1 | |
| Claire Kieffer-Wright | High Jump | 2 |
| Aaron Howell | Pentathlon | 3 |
• Wolverines in the national NCAA rankings (top 16 advance to NCAAs in individual events, top 12 relay teams qualify)
| Name | Event | Rank |
| Haley Meier | Mile | 10 |
| Claire Borchers | Mile | 27 |
| Erin Finn | Mile | 30 |
| Hannah Meier | Mile | 45 |
| Erin Finn | 3000m | 5 |
| Gina Sereno | 3000m | 10 |
| Haley Meier | 3000m | 38 |
| Distance Medley Relay | 3 | |
| Claire Kieffer-Wright | High Jump | 25 |
| Aaron Howell | Pentathlon | 13 |
Players Mentioned
