Michigan
Simmons-Harvey Invitational
Wolverine Women Return to the Track for Simmons-Harvey Invite
1/14/2021 7:33:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Jan. 16 -- Simmons-Harvey Invitational (U-M Indoor Track Building), 3:30 p.m.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- More than 10 months after the ongoing novel coronavirus COVID-19 global pandemic brought the 2020 indoor track and field season to a screeching halt, the University of Michigan women's team is finally set to resume competition this Saturday (Jan. 16) as it hosts the Simmons-Harvey Invitational at the world-class U-M Indoor Track Building.
In a women-only session of action set to begin at 3:30 p.m. on the facility's hydraulically-banked 200-meter oval, the Wolverines will square off with Big Ten foes Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue. Competition is expected to conclude by approximately 7 p.m.
In order to keep crowd density and exposure points within the facility to a minimum, a separate men's session will be conducted earlier in the day from 10 a.m. through approximately 1:30 p.m.
Spectators will not be allowed into the facility as a precautionary measure and to allow for more room for participants from separate teams to space themselves out within the building.
Fans will be able to follow along with a live stream of the action on the track as well as five separate streams dedicated to field-event coverage. Regular updates also will be provided through Delta Timing's live results page and the official social media channels of Michigan track and field.
Saturday's meet is the first of four home competitions throughout the 2021 indoor regular season in January and February, all of which will be closed to in-person spectators.
Among those making their 2021 debuts will be All-American distance runners Alice Hill and Ericka VanderLende, along with 2019 Big Ten Outdoor silver-medal pole vaulter Jessica Mercier 2020 Big Ten Indoor bronze-medal high jumper Katt Miner.
Saturday also will serve as the collegiate debuts for former national high school standouts Katelynne Hart (distance) and Ziyah Holman (sprints), both of whom are multiple-time Gatarade Players of the Year in track and field for Illinois and Washington, D.C., respectively.
Making her Michigan debut will be transfer Hanna Hearn, who is expected to be the Wolverines' top short sprinter.
Team Outlook & Notes
• The Wolverines, led by head coaches James Henry and Jerry Clayton, last competed prior to the start of the pandemic at the 2020 Big Ten Indoor Championships, where they finished fifth overall. Michigan women combined for 70 points, including 54 points from individual events. Student-athletes who accounted for 32 of those individual points return, including two-time defending 600-meter champion Aurora Rynda.
• Returning All-Americans: Alice Hill (distance medley relay), Aurora Rynda (distance medley relay), Ericka VanderLende (cross country)
• Returning Individual Big Ten Indoor Championships scorers: Rynda (600 meters champion), VanderLende (3,000 meters), Katt Miner (high jump), Briana Nelson (weight throw), Mercier (pole vault), Courtney Jacobsen (weight throw), Hill (mile), Kathryn House (5,000 meters), Amber Gall (800 meters)
• Current school record-holders: Nelson (weight throw), Hill and Rynda (distance medley relay); Emma Lane (indoor 4x400 relay)
• As always, the Wolverine women will be a force to be reckoned with in the distance events. Michigan counts three All-Americans among its ranks in the longer races, including two-time DMR honorees Hill and Rynda and cross country honoree VanderLende. Rynda will be aiming for a third-straight 600-meter Big Ten title while growing into a national-caliber 800-meter runner, having qualified for NCAAs in 2020 at that distance but instead opted to enter in the DMR. VanderLende will look to improve on a strong bronze-medal debut at Big Ten Indoors in 2020, and Hill is striving to score in her third-straight Big Ten Indoor mile final.
• The Wolverines distance corps will get significant reinforcement with the addition of Katelynne Hart, who was a national champion miler and a two-time national runner-up two-miler in high school.
• A year after shredding the U-M weight throw record book, both school-record-holder Nelson and No. 2 all-time thrower Jacobsen return for another season in the ring. The pair finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in 2020, and are poised more in 2021.
• The U-M jumps group is led by a pair of Big Ten medalists in 2019 outdoor pole vault silver medalist Mercier and 2020 indoor high jump bronze medalist Miner. Mercier is back after sitting out the 2020 campaign, while Miner was granted a medical hardship waiver this fall that gave her one more chance at a run at the event title in 2021. Miner will also get another shot at qualifying for nationals after just missing in 2020 by a few spots on the descending order list.
• Though the sprints squad lost All-Americans Jade Harrison and Chloe Foster, as well as Julia Hall, the Wolverines will be bolstered by a strong incoming class of talent. Chief among that group is Ziyah Holman, a high school national champion in the 400 meters and a U20 world record-holder in the 4x400 relay. Also joining the group is Eastern Michigan transfer Hanna Hearn, whose career bests would put her among the best in U-M history in the 60 meters.
When to Watch the Wolverines
| Wolverines at the Simmons-Harvey Invite | |||
| Name | Event | Round | Time (ET) |
| Paige Chapman | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:30 PM |
| Madison Eaton | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:30 PM |
| Theresa Mayanja | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:30 PM |
| Michaiah Thomas | 60 meter hurdles | Prelims | 3:30 PM |
| Hannah Waller | Long Jump | Final | 3:30 PM |
| Hanna Hearn | 60 meter dash | Prelims | 3:40 PM |
| * Paige Chapman | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 4:15 PM |
| * Madison Eaton | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 4:15 PM |
| * Theresa Mayanja | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 4:15 PM |
| * Michaiah Thomas | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 4:15 PM |
| * Hanna Hearn | 60 meter dash | Final | 4:25 PM |
| Bree Bredeweg | Pole Vault | Final | 4:30 PM |
| Jessica Mercier | Pole Vault | Final | 4:30 PM |
| Cate Visscher | Pole Vault | Final | 4:30 PM |
| Alice Hill | Mile | Final | 4:35 PM |
| Kathryn House | Mile | Final | 4:35 PM |
| Jena Metwalli | Mile | Final | 4:35 PM |
| Lexi Munley | Mile | Final | 4:35 PM |
| Raquel Powers | Mile | Final | 4:35 PM |
| Samantha Tran | Mile | Final | 4:35 PM |
| Simone Roberts | 400 meter dash | Final | 4:45 PM |
| Ziyah Holman | 600 meter run | Final | 4:50 PM |
| Julia Sullivan | 600 meter run | Final | 4:50 PM |
| Eva Jansohn | 800 meter run | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Lucy Petee | 800 meter run | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Theresa Mayanja | High Jump | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Katt Miner | High Jump | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Jada Wimberly | High Jump | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Erin Connor | Shot Put | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Clare McNamara | Shot Put | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Amanda Schaare | Shot Put | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Sydney McGinley | Triple Jump | Final | 5:00 PM |
| Chika Amene | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:10 PM |
| Paige Chapman | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:10 PM |
| Madison Eaton | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:10 PM |
| Sydney McGinley | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:10 PM |
| Michaiah Thomas | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:10 PM |
| Hannah Waller | 200 meter dash | Final | 5:10 PM |
| Katelynne Hart | 3000 meter run | Final | 5:25 PM |
| Maddy Trevisan | 3000 meter run | Final | 5:25 PM |
| Ericka VanderLende | 3000 meter run | Final | 5:25 PM |
| Kayla Windemuller | 3000 meter run | Final | 5:25 PM |
| Peyton Witt | 3000 meter run | Final | 5:25 PM |
| Jena Metwalli, Eva Jansohn, Lucy Petee Samantha Tran |
4x800 relay | Final | 5:55 PM |
| Lexi Munley, Raquel Powers, Alice Hill Kathryn House |
4x800 relay | Final | 5:55 PM |
| Simone Roberts, Emma Lane, Ziyah Holman Chika Amene |
4x400 relay | Final | 6:10 PM |
* If among eight finalists from prelims
Players Mentioned
