Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Finn Claims Program-Record 10th Individual Big Ten Title
5/11/2018 11:44:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Stadium)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Team Score: T-5th Place of 13 Teams (13 points) After Day 1
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 12 -- Big Ten Championships - Day 2 (Bloomington, Ind.), 11:15 a.m.
• Photo Gallery | Complete Results
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.-- In a career filled to the brim with achievements and milestones, Erin Finn of the University of Michigan women's track and field team added another to the list Friday night (May 11) at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships as she claimed her 10th career individual conference title – the most in program history.
Her 10th title between indoor, outdoor and cross country -- and the women's track and field program's 100th outdoor title overall -- came in a gutsy solo effort at 10,000 meters in which she lapped all but one runner in the field.
When she crossed the line in 32:45.51, Finn broke the tie she had held with late-1990s multi-event athlete Tania Longe for the most non-relay titles in combined track and field/cross country history.
Her performance was accompanied by a seventh-place effort in the same race by Madeline Trevisan and an eighth-place showing by hammer thrower Courtney Jacobsen. Combined, they totaled 13 points in the team standings to position Michigan in a tie for fifth with Nebraska after four of 21 events have been scored.
Minnesota led the way on day one with 47 points, followed by Wisconsin and Indiana with 24 and 22.
The Wolverines also had a strong day advancing women from the day's three track events with preliminaries onto Sunday's finals. Jamie Morrissey, Haley Meier and Hannah Meier all made it through to Sunday in the 1,500 meters, as did Jade Harrison at 200 meters.
Defending heptathlon champion Aaron Howell also positioned herself to score big points in her signature outdoor event once more, sitting in fifth with her best-ever day-one score in the seven-event competition.
Finn was metronomic through much of the first two-thirds of the race, clocking 15:52 for a 5,000-meter midway split that surpassed all but 25 women nationally (entering the weekend) who have run just the 5,000 in 2018.
As the race progressed and Finn was increasingly forced to shoulder the burden of the quick pace on her own -- runner-up Katherine Receveur of Indiana dropped off the pace just over two miles into the race and ultimately finished nearly a full minute back -- her pace began to slow.
While she could not hold on to run the sub-32-minute performance at which she was aiming, she did more than enough to secure her spot at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in two weekends' time as she ramps up for a run at an NCAA title.
In preparation for that run and in an effort to recover from her all-out performance on Friday, Finn will not double back on Sunday for the 5,000-meter final.
The Wolverines were strong in support of Finn, with Trevisan coming through in 35:05.22 for seventh place, Sophie Linn taking 10th in 35:22.43 and Gina Sereno finishing 12th in 35:33.65.
On the comeback trail from a winter injury, much like Finn, the two-time reigning 10,000-meter champion Sereno made it back for one final run at Big Tens. Having not achieved a qualifying time for the NCAA East Prelims, Sereno will conclude a storied career as a five-time Big Ten champion and seven-time All-American between indoor, outdoor and cross country.
The distance crew was even stronger in the prelims for the 1,500 meters, with Morrissey and the Meier twins all advancing out of their heats with top-three finishes.
Morrissey was the fastest of the three on the day, powering home over the final third of the race to a 4:19.96 runner-up finish in her race.
Haley Meier was the heat winner in the second race, going toe-to-toe with multiple-time Big Ten champion Danae Rivers of Penn State and clocking 4:24.06 to secure her birth, with freshman Alice Hill just missing the final in the same race with a 15th-place overall finish.
Hannah Meier had her best race of the season in the third-and-final heat, crossing the line in 4:22.56 with a performance that puts her in a much stronger position to advance to the NCAA East Prelims along with Jamie and Haley.
In the sprints, Harrison nabbed the ninth-and-final qualifying berth to Sunday's 200-meter final, running 23.74 (+0.2m/s) to get the spot by .17 of a second. She still has a busy weekend ahead of her with the 400-meter prelims Saturday and legs of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays to go along with her 200-meter -- and possibly 400-meter -- finals.
In the hammer, Jacobsen added a point to the total with her eighth-place finish at 59.50m (195 feet, 2 inches) in the day's very first final. This marked the second consecutive year the sophomore Jacobsen has taken eighth in the event. Heading into the East Prelims, Jacobsen now has the most consistent outing of her career under her belt, having exceeded 58 meters on all six of her throws.
No one was busier on day one of the Championships than Howell, who went to work defending her Big Ten title in the heptathlon. With 3,370 points through the first four events -- the 100-meter hurdles, the high jump, the shot put and the 200 meters -- Howell is 12 points ahead of where she was at this same point in her career-best score from mid-April and is sitting fifth overall.
Her day came with a career-best-tying 1.75m (5-8.75) clearance in the high jump and season's best heptathlon performances in the 100-meter hurdles and the 200 meters. While leader Georgia Ellenwood is more than 200 points ahead of Howell, everyone else from second through fourth is within 125 points.
Action on day two of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships begins Saturday at 11:15 a.m. as Howell begins her final three events with the long jump (followed by the javelin and the 800 meters). Action on the track begins at 4 p.m., with the day's lone track final -- the 3,000-meter steeplechase -- set to go off at 6:40 p.m.
COLLEGIATE CAREER-BEST PERFORMANCES AT BIG TENS
Aaron Howell -- 1.75m (5-8.75) / High Jump
Sophie Linn -- 35:22.43 / 10,000m
FULL MICHIGAN RESULTS BY EVENT
Q = Automatic qualifier to final
q = Non-automatic qualifier to final (advanced as one of fastest non-auto qualifiers)
w = wind-aided (greater than 2.0 meter-per-second [m/s] wind; marks with wind up to 4.0m/s are allowable for NCAA Preliminaries qualifying purposes)
100 Meters
Prelims to be contested Saturday
Final to be contested Sunday
200 Meters (Prelims)
Final to be contested Sunday
9. Jade Harrison / 23.74q (+0.2m/s)
31. Meghan Marias / 25.38 (+0.2m/s)
400 Meters
Prelims to be contested Saturday
Final to be contested Sunday
800 Meters
Prelims to be contested Saturday
Final to be contested Sunday
1,500 Meters (Prelims)
Final to be contested Sunday
2. Jamie Morrissey / 4:19.96Q
6. Hannah Meier / 4:22.56Q
9. Haley Meier / 4:24.06Q
15. Alice Hill / 4:26.66
5,000 Meters
Final to be contested Sunday; no prelims
10,000 Meters (Final)
1. Erin Finn / 32:45.51
10. Sophie Linn / 35:22.43
7. Madeline Trevisan / 35:02.22
12. Gina Sereno / 35:33.65
110-Meter Hurdles
Prelims to be contested Saturday
Final to be contested Sunday
400-Meter Hurdles (Prelims)
11. Chloe Foster / 59.72
29. Jenna Reid / 65.99
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
Final to be contested Saturday; no prelims
4x100 Relay
Final to be contested Sunday; no prelims
4x400 Relay
Final to be contested Sunday; no prelims
High Jump
Final to be contested Saturday
Pole Vault (Final)
14. Sarah Uhlian / 3.82m (12-6.25)
Hammer Throw (Final)
8. Courtney Jacobsen / 59.50m (195-2)
Heptathlon (Day 1 of 2)
5. Aaron Howell / 3,370 points
100 meter hurdles - 14.07 (+0.8m/s) / 968 points
High Jump - 1.75m (5-8.75) / 916 points
Shot Put - 12.79m (41-11.5) / 713 points
200 meter dash - 26.28 (-1.1m/s) / 773 points
Long Jump - Saturday
Javelin - Saturday
800 meters - Saturday
Players Mentioned
