Michigan
B1G Husker Invitational
Meets at Texas, Indiana on Deck for Wolverine Women
4/14/2021 12:26:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sat., April 16-17 -- at B1G Husker Invitational (Prairie View, Texas)
Meet Information
Friday, April 16 -- at B1G Husker Invitational, 12:30 p.m. CDT
Live Results
Saturday, April 17 -- at B1G Husker Invitational, 10:30 a.m. CDT
Live Results
Friday, April 16 -- at B1G Indiana invitational #3 (Bloomington, Ind.), 6:20 p.m.
Meet Information | Live Results
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- With its biggest contingent of the season set to compete, the University of Michigan women's track and field team will split up and hit the road for a pair of Big Ten-only contests at the B1G Husker Invitational on Friday and Saturday (April 16-17) in Prairie View, Texas, and the B1G Indiana Invitational #3 on Friday (April 16).
Now within a month of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, the Wolverines' sprinters and field-event athletes will get a midseason benchmark test against most of the conference's best in those events in the neutral-site event at Prairie View A&M hosted by Nebraska. Meanwhile, distance events are the focus at Indiana in what will be the endurance squad's second competition in Bloomington in as many weekends.
Action in Texas gets going at 12:30 p.m. CDT on Friday and is scheduled to wrap up just before 7 p.m. CDT. Competition resumes Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. and will likely last until well after 6 p.m. CDT.
The Wolverines' one-day meet at Indiana begins at 6:20 p.m. ET and will conclude around 8:30 p.m. ET.
While entries for both meets have yet to be finalized, nearly all of the Wolverines' top contenders are expected to compete this weekend in either Texas or Indiana.
Reigning Big Ten Indoor champions Ziyah Holman and Jessica Mercier headline the crew heading to Texas, along with two-time Big Ten medalist Katt Miner and individual conference scorers Theresa Mayanja, Amanda Schaare, Hannah Waller and Jada Wimberly.
Expected to represent Michigan in Bloomington are All-Americans Ericka VanderLende, Aurora Rynda, Alice Hill, Meg Darmofal, Katelynne Hart and Lauren Fulcher, as well as Big Ten Cross Country Freshman of the Year Samantha Tran and individual conference scorers Annie Taylor, Kathryn House, Jena Metwalli, Raquel Powers, and 2019 USATF U20 champion Jessi Larson.
The competition will feature only teams from the Big Ten, according to conference policy during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Once entries are finalized, this posting will be updated with more details and a full schedule of when to watch the Wolverines.
Fans can follow along with the action by way of live results from JWTiming for the Husker Invitational and via live results from Indiana for its meet. Updates will also be provided via the team's official social media accounts.
Notes & Outlook
• After putting in some endurance work at the 800-meter distance to open up the season, Ziyah Holman likely will make her U-M outdoor debut in her signature 400-meter event as the conference's reigning indoor champion. Her outdoor best of 52.12 seconds -- which is superior to Joyce Wilson's 36-year-old U-M outdoor school record of 52.43 -- was run nearly two years ago while she was a high school junior, and she clocked 52.55 on a smaller indoor track this past winter for the U-M indoor school record.
• Jessica Mercier became the first woman in school history to win the Big Ten Indoor Championships pole vault title this past winter, and is aiming to become Michigan's first to sweep the indoor and outdoor titles this spring. She opened her season at 4.00m (13 feet, 1.5 inches) last month. She could be joined by teammate Mia Manson as the first pair of Michigan women to clear both 3.90m and 4.00m in the same outdoor season. Manson made it over the former height last weekend at Indiana, but Mercier was cut off from joining her as the competition was suspended due to weather.
• After missing the 2021 indoor campaign, Rynda returned with a strong 2:07.39 opener to finish third at the B1G North Florida Invitational and took a big step forward a week later with a career-best 2:05.15. The two-time Big Ten Indoor 600-meter champion is Michigan's top-ranked competitor so far this outdoor season at No. 15 nationally.
• Aurora Rynda is part of a deep distance squad that has been slowly building up to this weekend, when most women will compete in their primary distances. Seven women ran 4:26 or faster over 1,500 meters last weekend, including top-100 ranked No. 70 Ericka VanderLende, No. 90 Lucy Petee and No. 97 Hart -- all in their first season of outdoor eligibility at U-M.
• Hannah Waller is impressing both on the track and in the field in her debut outdoor season at Michigan. She leads the Wolverines at 100 meters in 11.84 (+1.8m/s wind), in the long jump at 5.82m (19-1.25) and in the triple jump at 12.35m (40-6.25).
Up Next
Fri-Sat., April 23-24 -- at B1G Illinois Invitational (Champaign, Ill.)
Players Mentioned
