Michigan
Black and Gold Invitational
Wolverine Women Set for Vanderbilt Black & Gold Invite
3/21/2019 10:27:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sat., March 22-23 -- Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational (Nashville, Tenn.), 4 p.m. CDT / 10 a.m. CDT
Meet Info | Live Results
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Following last weekend's limited 2019 outdoor debut at Miami, a more full-fledged University of Michigan women's track and field team will open its spring season in earnest on Friday and Saturday (March 22-23) at the Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational.
Joining the sprinters and hurdlers who competed in Florida a week ago for the upcoming two-day competition will be many of the Wolverines' top distance runners, jumpers and throwers, as well as a pair of All-American sprinters.
Among those in action on Friday and Saturday -- beginning at 4 p.m. CDT and 10 a.m. CDT, respectively -- include All-American distance medley relay sprinters Chloe Foster and Jade Harrison, cross country All-American Camille Davre and indoor school-record throwers Bailey Baker and Kayla Deering.
Field events get underway Friday at 4 p.m. CDT with the likes of hammer throwers Baker and Deering, both of whom are ranked top-15 in school history for the event and poised to move up after setting indoor weight throw school records.
Competition on the oval begins an hour later at 5 p.m. CDT with Wolverines in the 200-meter and 1,500-meter events. Many women in the two events -- including Davre at 1,500 meters -- on Friday will double back for different events on Saturday.
Baker also returns to action on Saturday to kick off the second day in the discus at 10 a.m. CDT.
The final session of track events begins at 12:20 p.m. CDT with the 2,000-meter steeplechase, and concludes with the 4x400 relay at 4:45 p.m. CDT.
Throughout the afternoon, several of the Wolverines' returning Big Ten scorers and All-Americans will make their 2019 outdoor debuts, including pole vaulter Jessica Mercier (1 p.m. CDT), sprinter Harrison at 100 meters (2:10 p.m. CDT), Micaela DeGenero at 800 meters (2:45 p.m. CDT), 400-meter hurdler Foster (3:20 p.m. CDT) and Big Ten cross country Freshman of the Year Anne Forsyth at 3,000 meters (3:45 p.m. CDT).
In particular, Foster -- who is coming off an All-American season as a member of the distance medley relay team -- could be poised to make a run at the 10-year-old school record of 57.44 by Amber Hay.
Wolverine fans can follow the action by way of live results from CFPI Timing, as well as live updates from the official Twitter account of Michigan track and field, @umichtrack.
The full schedule of competitors can be found below, followed by a 2019 outdoor season outlook.
When to Watch the Wolverines
| Friday (March 22) | Event | Round | Time (CDT) |
| Bailey Baker | Hammer Throw | Final | 4:00 PM |
| Kayla Deering | Hammer Throw | Final | 4:00 PM |
| Briana Nelson | Hammer Throw | Final | 4:00 PM |
| Akili Echols | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Julia Hall | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Torisa Johnson | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Tiana Luton | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Sydney McGinley | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Audrey Belf | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Lauren Biggs | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Camille Davre | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Micaela DeGenero | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Carola Jansohn | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Mary Kate McNamara | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Jena Metwalli | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Lexi Munley | 1500 meter run | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Erin Connor | Shot Put | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Briana Nelson | Shot Put | Final | 6:00 PM |
| Saturday (March 23) | Event | Round | Time (CDT) |
| Bailey Baker | Discus | Final | 10:00 AM |
| Katt Miner | High Jump | Final | 11:00 AM |
| Jeryne Fish | Long Jump | Final | 11:00 AM |
| Theresa Mayanja | Long Jump | Final | 11:00 AM |
| Maddie Brand | Steeplechase (2000-meter) | Final | 12:20 PM |
| Megan Worrel | Steeplechase (2000-meter) | Final | 12:20 PM |
| Tiana Luton | 100 meter hurdles | Final | 1:00 PM |
| Theresa Mayanja | 100 meter hurdles | Final | 1:00 PM |
| Sydney McGinley | 100 meter hurdles | Final | 1:00 PM |
| Lauren Rodriguez | 100 meter hurdles | Final | 1:00 PM |
| Jessica Mercier | Pole Vault | Final | 1:00 PM |
| Julia Hall | 400 meter dash | Final | 1:35 PM |
| Emma Lane | 400 meter dash | Final | 1:35 PM |
| Akili Echols | 100 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Jeryne Fish | 100 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Jade Harrison | 100 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Torisa Johnson | 100 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Micaela DeGenero | 800 meter run | Final | 2:45 PM |
| Carola Jansohn | 800 meter run | Final | 2:45 PM |
| Lexi Munley | 800 meter run | Final | 2:45 PM |
| Chloe Foster | 400 meter hurdles | Final | 3:20 PM |
| Lauren Rodriguez | 400 meter hurdles | Final | 3:20 PM |
| Sydney Badger | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Rachel Coleman | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Camille Davre | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Anne Forsyth | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Kathryn House | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Kayla Keane | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Jessi Larson | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Raquel Powers | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Faith Reynolds | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Julia Vanitvelt | 3000 meter run | Final | 3:45 PM |
| Foster, Hall, Reid, McGinley | 4x400 Relay | Final | 4:45 PM |
2019 Season Outlook
• The Wolverines tied three other teams for fifth at the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships with 60 points, but face the prospect of having lost all but 16 of those points to graduation. Michigan will be hoping for sixth-year graduate student Erin Finn -- a 10-time conference winner -- to bounce back from injury this winter and reclaim her 2018 title at 10,000 meters, which accounts for 10 of those 16 points.
• The Wolverine women will also be bolstered by the return of two-time Big Ten high jump champion Claire Kieffer-Wright in her final season of eligibility and the likes of 2019 indoor champions Hannah Meier and Aurora Rynda. Meier was the indoor mile champion and the nation's fourth-fastest miler during the indoor season, while Rynda claimed the conference title at 600 meters and ran on the first team All-America distance medley relay.
• In addition to Finn, Meier and Rynda -- who was the No. 32 woman in the country for 800 meters this winter -- the Wolverines will be looking to get some big output from its deep well of distance talent. After finishing seventh in 3,000-meter steeplechase at the IAAF World U20 Championships last summer, Alice Hill will compete in her first full season in the event. Though she did not run the event during the NCAA circuit in 2018, she has the fastest time of any Big Ten competitor and the No. 9 time among all collegians entering the 2019 season.
• Camille Davre will look to recapture the same form that saw her earn All-America honors during cross country, and Anne Forsyth will look to do likewise as the Big Ten Cross Country Freshman of the Year.
• Michigan also will be looking for continued development from the likes of Meg Darmofal, who was fifth at Big Tens in the mile and the anchor of Michigan's All-American distance medley relay; Kathryn House, who has twice finished ninth in Big Ten 5,000-meter finals; and Micaela DeGenero, who has twice scored for the Wolverines in the indoor 800-meter Big Ten final.
• Though she is only a true sophomore, no one in school history has put together quite the resume as Chloe Foster. Already a member of the school-record indoor distance medley relay and 4x400 relay teams, she is individually No. 5 in school history at 400 meters indoors, No. 6 at 600 meters indoors, and No. 10 both in the 400-meter hurdles and 400 meters. She will be chasing Amber Hay's 10-year-old school record of 57.44 in the 400-meter hurdles, having already exceeded Hay's career bests in both the indoor and outdoor 400-meter races and the indoor 600.
• Jade Harrison once more leads the Wolverines in the non-hurdle sprint races, returning from eighth-place Big Ten Outdoor finishes in 2018 in the 200 meters and 4x100 relay. Outdoors, Harrison is ranked No. 5 in school history at 400 meters, No. 6 at 200 meters and No. 6 at 100 meters.
• Joining 2017 outdoor champion and 2018 indoor champion Kieffer-Wright in the high jump will be last year's eighth-place finisher and NCAA East Preliminaries qualifier Katt Miner. The pair will look to give Michigan big points in the high jump come the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Also in the vertical jumps, freshman pole vaulter Jessica Mercier will look to continue her rapid development after finishing fourth at Big Ten Indoors and moving to No. 4 in school history.
• After a historic indoor weight throw season for Bailey Baker and Kayla Deering that saw them finish their winter careers as co-school-record-holders, they will aim to translate that to the closest outdoor analogue in the hammer throw. They are currently ranked No. 6 and No. 12 in school history, respectively, but are poised for big breakthroughs after having both redshirted the 2018 season to train. Two years of preparation should have them up near teammate Courtney Jacobsen, who is No. 2 in school history as a two-time eighth-place finisher at Big Tens.
Players Mentioned
