Michigan
Virginia Challenge
Stanford, Virginia Meets Await Wolverine Women
4/18/2019 4:17:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
» UPDATE: Inclement weather at Virginia has forced the postponement of Friday's evening session. The postponed events have been integrated into the Saturday schedule. The schedule of Michigan competitors in this article has been updated accordingly.
» The University of Michigan women's track and field team will make one final regular-season road trip, with the squad split between the Virginia Challenge and the Stanford Cardinal Classic on Friday and Saturday (April 19-20).
» Michigan's distance runners and sprinters will compete at Stanford, with a crew that includes Erin Finn in her 2019 debut and All-Americans Alice Hill, Meg Darmofal, Aurora Rynda, Chloe Foster and Camille Davre.
» Michigan's field-event athletes will be in action at Virginia, including All-American and Big Ten champion Claire Kieffer-Wright.
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sat., April 19-20 -- Virginia Challenge (Charlottesville, Va.)
Live Results | Meet Central
Fri-Sat., April 19-20 -- Stanford Cardinal Classic (Palo Alto, Calif.)
TV: FloTrack Pro | Live Results | Live Video | Meet Central
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- With the outdoor track and field postseason less than a month away, the University of Michigan women's team is splitting up between Virginia and Stanford on Friday and Saturday (April 19-20) for its final weekend of major regular-season competition.
Action at Virginia begins Friday with a morning session starting at 9 a.m., followed by an evening session beginning at 7:15 p.m. for the Wolverines. Running out west at Stanford gets underway for Michigan on Friday at 6:30 p.m. PDT.
Competition resumes in Charlottesville on Saturday with an early session starting at 10 a.m. and an evening finale commencing at 7:03 p.m. The final day of events at Stanford kicks off at 5:30 p.m. PDT.
The crew heading to the Stanford Cardinal Classic features many of the Wolverines' top distance runners and sprinters, with Michigan's jumpers and throwers competing at the Virginia Challenge.
Michigan's contingent at Stanford is expected to include the 2019 debut of multiple-time All-American and Big Ten champion Erin Finn. All-Americans Alice Hill, Meg Darmofal, Aurora Rynda, Chloe Foster and Camille Davre are all slated to compete for the Wolverines in Palo Alto, California, as are Big Ten Cross Country Freshman of the Year Anne Forsyth and 2019 standout Anna West.
All-American and Big Ten champion high jumper Claire Kieffer-Wright headlines the squad at Virginia, along with breakthrough throwers Bailey Baker, Kayla Deering and Briana Nelson.
The full schedule of competitors -- including several featured events to keep an eye on -- can be found below, followed by the latest news and notes for the 2019 season to date.
With national-caliber opposition expected at both meets, the Wolverines will be tested for the final time this regular season before the Big Ten Championships at Iowa on May 10-12. All that remains between this weekend and the conference meet is the new U-M outdoor facility's first-ever home meet -- the Len Paddock Open -- on Friday, May 3. The meet will serve as a final tune-up ahead of Big Tens.
Fans can follow both meets through live results, with Flash Results carrying the Virginia Challenge results and Record Timing providing the Cardinal Classic results. FloTrack is webcasting the Cardinal Classic on its subscription streaming service.
Updates throughout the weekend can be found on the track and field program's official Twitter account, @umichtrack.
Wolverines to Watch
• Erin Finn will appear in the maize and blue for the first time during her sixth and final year of NCAA eligibility on Friday at 8:04 p.m. PDT in the invitational 5,000-meter race at Stanford. The 10-time Big Ten champion and nine-time All-American will look to work with teammates, including Davre, Forsyth, West, Maddy Trevisan, Jessi Larson and Kathryn House to achieve NCAA East Preliminaries qualifying times.
• For the first time since finishing seventh at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships, Alice Hill will compete in a 3,000-meter steeplechase race at Stanford on Saturday, beginning at 6:01 p.m. PDT. Then a novice in the event, Hill now has a full year of training and an All-America distance medley relay honor under her belt, and could establish herself among the NCAA's 2019 elite this weekend.
• A pair of mid-distance teammates from that first team All-America distance medley relay team this indoor season will be competing in invitational sections of two different events at Stanford. On Friday, Aurora Rynda will look to cement her status as a national contender at 800 meters in her race at 7:54 p.m. PDT, with Meg Darmofal aiming to continue her breakthrough season in Saturday's 1,500-meter race at 7:28 p.m. PDT.
• The fourth DMR All-American from this indoor season, Chloe Foster, will look to continue a breakthrough season in the 400-meter hurdles. Named the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week on Wednesday (April 17), Foster will run for another personal record in her signature event at 6:30 p.m. PDT at Stanford on Friday.
• After shaking off some rust in her first high jump competition in more than a year earlier this season, Claire Kieffer-Wright will look to raise the bar in the invitational section of the Virginia Challenge high jump starting at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
• The trio of Bailey Baker, Kayla Deering and Briana Nelson are having renaissance seasons in the throws this year, a trend they hope to continue this weekend in Virginia. All three will compete in the hammer throw on Friday at 1:30 p.m.; Baker will contest the discus Friday at 7:15 p.m.; and Nelson will go in the shot put on Saturday at noon.
When to Watch the Wolverines
| Friday (April 19) | Event | Round | Time (ET) | Meet |
| Jessica Mercier | Pole Vault | Final | 9:00 AM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | 100-meter hurdles | Heptathlon | 9:35 AM | Virginia |
| Jeryne Fish | 100-meter dash | Final | 10:00 AM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | High Jump | Heptathlon | 10:20 AM | Virginia |
| Julia Sullivan | 800-meter run | Final | 10:55 AM | Virginia |
| Julia Vanitvelt | 800-meter run | Final | 10:55 AM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | Shot Put | Heptathlon | 12:30 PM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | 200-meter dash | Heptathlon | 1:30 PM | Virginia |
| Bailey Baker | Hammer Throw | Final | 1:30 PM | Virginia |
| Kayla Deering | Hammer Throw | Final | 1:30 PM | Virginia |
| Briana Nelson | Hammer Throw | Final | 1:30 PM | Virginia |
| Chloe Foster | 400-meter hurdles | Final | 9:30 PM | Stanford |
| Sydney McGinley | 400-meter hurdles | Final | 9:30 PM | Stanford |
| Julia Hall | 200-meter dash | Final | 9:45 PM | Stanford |
| Faith Reynolds | 800-meter run | Final (Section 3) | 10:02 PM | Stanford |
| Rachel Coleman | 5,000-meter run | Final (Section 2) | 10:13 PM | Stanford |
| Aurora Rynda | 800-meter run | Final (Invite) | 10:54 PM | Stanford |
| Camille Davre | 5,000-meter run | Final (Invite) | 11:03 PM | Stanford |
| Erin Finn | 5,000-meter run | Final (Invite) | 11:04 PM | Stanford |
| Anne Forsyth | 5,000-meter run | Final (Invite) | 11:04 PM | Stanford |
| Kathryn House | 5,000-meter run | Final (Invite) | 11:04 PM | Stanford |
| Jessi Larson | 5,000-meter run | Final (Invite) | 11:04 PM | Stanford |
| Maddy Trevisan | 5,000-meter run | Final (Invite) | 11:04 PM | Stanford |
| Anna West | 5,000-meter run | Final (Invite) | 11:04 PM | Stanford |
| Saturday (April 20) | Event | Round | Time (ET) | Meet |
| Kayla Keane | 5000 meter run | Final | 10:00 AM | Virginia |
| Raquel Powers | 5000 meter run | Final | 10:00 AM | Virginia |
| Jeryne Fish | Long Jump | Final | 10:00 AM | Virginia |
| Erin Connor | Shot Put | Final | 12:00 PM | Virginia |
| Briana Nelson | Shot Put | Final | 12:00 PM | Virginia |
| Bailey Baker | Discus | Final | 12:30 PM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | Long Jump | Heptathlon | 12:30 PM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | Javelin | Heptathlon | 2:30 PM | Virginia |
| Claire Kieffer-Wright | High Jump | Final (Invite) | 3:30 PM | Virginia |
| Katt Miner | High Jump | Final (Invite) | 3:30 PM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | 800 meter run | Heptathlon | 4:00 PM | Virginia |
| Theresa Mayanja | Heptathlon | Final | 4:01 PM | Virginia |
| Carola Jansohn | 800 meter run | Final (Invite) | 5:36 PM | Virginia |
| Julia Vanitvelt | 1500 meter run | Final (Invite) | 7:03 PM | Virginia |
| Tiana Luton | 100 meter hurdles | Final | 8:30 PM | Stanford |
| Sydney McGinley | 100 meter hurdles | Final | 8:30 PM | Stanford |
| Michaiah Thomas | 100 meter hurdles | Final | 8:30 PM | Stanford |
| Chloe Foster | 400 meter dash | Final | 8:37 PM | Stanford |
| Julia Hall | 400 meter dash | Final | 8:37 PM | Stanford |
| Emma Lane | 400 meter dash | Final | 8:37 PM | Stanford |
| Aurora Rynda | 400 meter dash | Final | 8:37 PM | Stanford |
| Sydney Badger | 5000 meter run | Final (Invite) | 8:45 PM | Virginia |
| Jena Metwalli | 5000 meter run | Final (Invite) | 8:45 PM | Virginia |
| Michaiah Thomas | 100 meter dash | Final | 8:56 PM | Stanford |
| Alice Hill | Steeplechase | Final | 9:01 PM | Stanford |
| Megan Worrel | Steeplechase | Final | 9:01 PM | Stanford |
| Relay A, 4x400 | 4x400 relay | Final | 9:31 PM | Stanford |
| Audrey Belf | 1500 meter run | Final (Section 4) | 9:46 PM | Stanford |
| Faith Reynolds | 1500 meter run | Final (Section 3) | 9:58 PM | Stanford |
| Micaela DeGenero | 1500 meter run | Final (Section 2) | 10:10 PM | Stanford |
| Meg Darmofal | 1500 meter run | Final (Invite) | 10:28 PM | Stanford |
Wolverine Bites
• Though she has not yet debuted in 2019, the potential of Erin Finn looms large. With her collegiate career in its waning weeks, Finn is pegged by FloTrack at No. 6 over 10,000 meters and at No. 8 over 5,000 meters. The 10-time Big Ten champion and nine-time All-American is nearing the end of her sixth and final year of eligibility -- granted by the NCAA – is set to debut on Friday.
• Finn is joined in the FloTrack projections by 12th-ranked Hannah Meier at 1,500 meters and 13th-ranked Hill in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. While Meier has competed once in her event this year, Hill has not competed in the steeplechase since finishing seventh at the 2018 IAAF U20 World Championships last August.
• Meier is among seven Wolverine women ranked top-50 nationally, based on to-date 2019 performances. Chloe Foster is ranked highest at No. 17 in the 400-meter hurdles; Aurora Rynda is No. 30 at 800 meters; Kieffer-Wright is No. 32 in the high jump; Darmofal and Meier are ranked No. 33 and No. 39 at 1,500 meters; and West and Larson are No. 34 and No. 45, respectively, at 5,000 meters.
• The Michigan distance squad is living up to its billing as one of the nation's best. In the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings, which rank programs based on the cumulative performances of their top-four competitors in each event, the 5,000-meter group of West, Larson, Kathryn House and Maddy Trevisan is fifth-best in the country; the 800-meter quartet of Rynda, DeGenero, Hill and Lauren Biggs is No. 7 nationally; and The Michigan quartet of Darmofal, Meier, Micaela DeGenero and Hill is ranked No. 4 in the country at 1,500 meters.
• These student-athletes and more are hoping to qualify for the NCAA Championships, they will first have to make it through the NCAA East Preliminaries in late May. Qualification for the East Prelims requires a student-athlete to be among the 48 highest-ranked athletes in the East Region who declare to compete in a given event. With some who choose to not declare -- for instance, those who rank highly in multiple events who choose to focus on a different event -- the actual rank of those who qualify can dip into the 50s and potentially the 60s.
• Below is a list of where Michigan women rank in the NCAA East Region, along with the performance that ultimately served as the 48th and final performance accepted into the Prelims for context. They are separated into five categories of likelihood of eventual qualification, based on previous years' last qualifying marks and how the events are shaping up across the region in 2019.
Locks to Qualify
9. Chloe Foster, 400 hurdles - 58.60 (2018 Final Qualifier: 59.82)
Strong Position to Qualify
17. Aurora Rynda, 800 meters - 2:06.35 (2018 Final Qualifier: 2:07.96)
18. Anna West, 5,000 meters - 16:16.33 (2018 Final Qualifier: 16:34.22)
20. Claire Kieffer-Wright, High Jump - 1.76m (2018 Final Qualifier: 1.73m)
21. Meg Darmofal, 1,500 meters - 4:20.49 (2018 Final Qualifier: 4:24.19)
25. Hannah Meier, 1,500 meters - 4:21.14 (2018 Final Qualifier: 4:24.19)
Likely to Qualify
25. Jessi Larson, 5,000 meters - 16:23.75 (2018 Final Qualifier: 16:34.22)
38. Bailey Baker, Hammer Throw - 59.32m (2018 Final Qualifier: 57.66m)
On the Bubble
35. Micaela DeGenero, 800 meters - 2:07.69 (2018 Final Qualifier: 2:07.96)
Currently Outside the Bubble
34. Bailey Baker, Discus Throw - 49.74m (2018 Final Qualifier: 49.95m)
40. Kathryn House, 5,000 meters - 16:34.94 (2018 Final Qualifier: 16:34.22)
44. Maddy Trevisan, 5,000 meters - 16:38.32 (2018 Final Qualifier: 16:34.22)
46. Rachel Coleman, 5,000 meters - 16:40.08 (2018 Final Qualifier: 16:34.22)
• Numerous Wolverines are ranked top-10 among Big Ten competitors so far this young season. Student-athletes who finish top-eight in their respective events at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in May will earn points for their teams in the overall standings that decide the team champion. Below is a list of where the Wolverines are currently ranked relative to their conference rivals to this point.
3. Aurora Rynda - 800 meters
4. Claire Kieffer-Wright - High Jump
5. Meg Darmofal - 1,500 meters
5. Chloe Foster - 400-meter hurdles
6. Hannah Meier - 1,500 meters
6. Michigan - 4x400 relay
7. Anna West - 5,000 meters
7. Bailey Baker - Hammer Throw
8. Bailey Baker - Discus
9. Jessi Larson - 5,000 meters
10. Micaela DeGenero - 800 meters
Players Mentioned
