Michigan
Music City Challenge
Washington, Kent State and Vanderbilt Meets Await Split-Squad Wolverines
2/7/2018 5:30:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
» All-American Gina Sereno and the distance squad is off to the west coast to chase fast times against top-tier competition at the Washington Husky Classic.
» Big Ten champions Claire Kieffer-Wright and Aaron Howell, as well as All-American school record-holder Jade Harrison, headline the sprinters and jumpers at the Kent State National Qualifier.
» Thrower Courtney Jacobsen will compete in the weight throw Friday night at the Vanderbilt Music City Challenge.
» This is the final big weekend of competition ahead of the Big Ten Championships which will take place Feb. 23-24.
THIS WEEK
Friday, Feb. 9 -- Vanderbilt Music City Challenge (Nashville, Tenn.), 4 p.m. CST
Meet Information | Live Results
Fri-Sat., Feb. 9-10 -- Washington Husky Classic (Seattle, Wash.), 4:20 p.m. PST (Friday) | 11:25 a.m. PST (Saturday)
Meet Information | Live Results | Watch Live on Flotrack Pro
Saturday, Feb. 10 -- Kent State National Qualifier (Kent, Ohio), 1 p.m.
Meet Information | Live Results
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan women's track and field team will make its only big road trip of the regular season this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 9-10) as it splits up to face national-level competition at Washington, Kent State and Vanderbilt.
All-American Gina Sereno, the resurgent twins Haley Meier and Hannah Meier, and the distance crew will fly out to Seattle for the Washington Husky Classic; Big Ten champions Claire Kieffer-Wright and Aaron Howell lead a squad of sprinters and jumpers to the Kent State National Qualifier; and Courtney Jacobsen will contest the weight throw at the Vanderbilt Music City Challenge.
In addition to the quality opposition all three squads will face, the runners in Washington and Ohio will also acclimate themselves from competing on their banked 200-meter track to the type of flat 300-meter track they will see at the SPIRE Institute for Big Tens on Feb. 23-24.
Live results will be available for all three competitions, and fans can watch the action at Iowa State live on Flotrack Pro. Updates will be posted throughout the day on the program's official social media accounts.
HUSKY CLASSIC
• With nothing but miles on her 2018 resume thus far, Gina Sereno will make her season debut at 3,000 meters -- the event in which she is the reigning Big Ten champion -- Saturday night at 4:30 p.m. PT. She will be chasing a time faster than 9:10 to put her in the ballpark of qualifying for the NCAA Championships next month, and she will have a strong field to chase it with her. NCAA champions Ednah Kurgat of New Mexico and Allie Ostrander of Boise State are in the race, along with 10 other All-Americans from the cross country season.
• Three women who are all having breakout seasons -- Claire Borchers and the twins Hannah and Haley Meier -- will all converge in the mile to race together for the first time this season. All three have set new personal records in at least one event this year and could be in position for new PRs in the mile on Saturday at 3:27 p.m. PT with a quick field. Among those in the race are All-Americans Ostrander, Nikki Hiltz of Arkansas, Amy Eloise Neale of Washington and Danae Rivers of Penn State.
• Rounding out the crew are Sophie Linn (3,000 meters), Avery Evenson and Madeline Trevisan (5,000 meters); and Micaela DeGenero and Alice Hill (800 meters)
KENT STATE NATIONAL QUALIFIER
• Claire Kieffer-Wright is off to the best start of her career in the high jump, and is aiming to continue the success this weekend. Two competitions in a row she has cleared 1.79m (5 feet, 10.5 inches), a height she has only surpassed one other time in her tenure at Michigan. A bar higher will put her in the running for a trip to NCAAs and cement her as one of the favorites to win the indoor Big Ten high-jump crown to go along with her outdoor title. She jumps Saturday at 1 p.m.
• One weekend after posting the second-best pentathlon score of her career, Aaron Howell is back in action this weekend in a pseudo-makeshift pentathlon of her own. She kicks off her day 1 p.m. in the long jump at 1 p.m. followed by the 60-meter hurdles prelims at 2:15 p.m. and the shot put -- an event in which she established a new personal record this past weekend -- at approximately 3 p.m. Howell will be looking to sharpen her skills in each of those events heading into her next combined-event competition at the Big Ten Championships, where she will look to add a pentathlon title to her outdoor heptathlon crown from a year ago.
• Jade Harrison, the school record-holder at 400 meters indoors, will put in some speed work as she contests the 200 at 4:45 p.m. Harrison is ranked No. 2 in the event in Michigan history. She will get some work in her primary event as she also is set to anchor the 4x400 relay at 6:05 p.m., one week after bringing the Wolverines home to the seventh-fastest time in program history in 3:42.10.
• Also competing for the Wolverines are Meghan Marias, Torisa Johnson, Lauren Morgan and Akili Echols (60 meters); Julia Hall, Marias, Johnson, Morgan and Echols (200 meters); Hall and Jenna Reid (400 meters); Chloe Foster (800 meters); Reid and Michaiah Thomas (60-meter hurdles); and Sarah Uhlian in the pole vault.
MUSIC CITY CHALLENGE
• Courtney Jacobsen is the lone Wolverine woman in action at Vanderbilt this weekend, earning an opportunity after strong early-season performances to travel with the nationally ranked men's throwers to start her postseason push. Jacobsen moved to No. 4 in program history in the weight throw with a heave of 18.22m (59-9.5) in her 2018 opener. She will compete at 4 p.m. CT on Friday.
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 (the top 16 advance to NCAAs in individual events; top 12 relay teams qualify)
| Name | Event | Rank |
| Erin Finn | Mile | 15 |
| Gina Sereno | Mile | 32 |
| Claire Borchers | Mile | 43 |
| Hannah Meier | Mile | 45 |
| Erin Finn | 3000m | 3 |
| Haley Meier | 3000m | 20 |
| Claire Borchers | 3000m | 40 |
| Distance Medley Relay | 3 | |
| Claire Kieffer-Wright | High Jump | 25 |
| Aaron Howell | Pentathlon | 12 |
Players Mentioned
