Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Wolverines Open Big Tens with Top-Eights from Larson, VanderLende
5/14/2021 11:19:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Demirjian Park)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Result: 6th of 13 teams (7 points)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 15 -- Big Ten Outdoor Championships - Day Two (Champaign, Ill.), 12 p.m. CDT
• Complete Results (PDF)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team got off to a strong start at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Friday (May 14) at Illinois' Demirjian Park with a pair of scoring performances, a pair of finals qualifiers and a hot start in the heptathlon.
In their first-ever 10,000-meter track races, Jessi Larson and Ericka VanderLende turned in two of the fastest times in school history to finish fifth and sixth, respectively, for seven team points.
Larson went 33:39.92 for the No. 6 spot in school history, while VanderLende came through in 33:50.22 for the No. 9 spot.
Both women ran in a nine-woman lead group for a majority of the race, which narrowed to six with a mile to go. By the time the bell rang for the last lap, Larson had climbed up to second leading a chase group of four behind eventual champion Bethany Hasz of Minnesota, with VanderLende a few steps behind that group. The long-distance specialist Larson did not quite have the speed to match the closing kicks of her rivals, but held on for a strong finish in her event debut.
Both women very likely secured berths to the NCAA East Preliminaries later this month with those performances, should they choose to contest the 10,000 among the 48 qualifiers per event. Raquel Powers with her 34:47.21 in 12th also may have put herself on the bubble of qualification.
Michigan will have additional opportunities for points on Saturday (May 15) with finals in the shot put, long jump and 3,000-meter steeplechase. Additionally, points will be awarded in the heptathlon after the completion of its final three events.
Preliminaries
The Wolverines advanced a pair of women to Sunday's 1,500-meter final, starting to set the table for a run toward the top of the team standings. Indoor mile finalist Jena Metwalli added "outdoor 1,500-meter finalist" to her resume with a 4:23.65 run for fifth place in her qualifying heat, good enough to earn the second of three at-large berths into the final.
Big Ten Cross Country Freshman of the Year Samantha Tran advanced to her first final on the track with a 4:26.26 clocking in her race, sealed by a strong kick on the homestretch into the top three for an automatic finals berth.
Michigan just missed out on two more finalists as Meg Darmofal was 10th overall in 4:25.33 but was only sixth in her heat and was shut out of the at-large qualifying, and Lucy Petee could not quite hold on to her automatic qualifying spot in the homestretch of Tran's race and missed out by 0.35 of a second.
The Wolverines will have eight more opportunities to advance runners to the Sunday (May 16) finals on Saturday, including the 400 meters, 100 meters, 100-meter hurdles, and 800 meters.
Heptathlon
Theresa Mayanja set the tone early for the Wolverines as she rattled off three consecutive personal records and a near-PR to open the heptathlon competition. After the first four events, Mayanja is sixth overall in the standings with 3,215 points.
Mayanja got off to a fast start in the opening 100-meter hurdles competition, running 13.80 seconds (+0.6m/s) for a new personal best by 0.2 seconds and 1,007 points in the competition. She just missed the all-time U-M top-10 list in the event by 0.07 seconds.
She kept the momentum going onto the high jump apron, where she cleared a career-best 1.62m (5 feet, 3.75 inches) for 759 more points. It was not without drama, as she needed all three tries to get over at 1.59m (5-2.5), but the clutch make netted her 35 additional points.
Mayanja's biggest career best of the day came in the shot put, as she launched the steel ball 11.58m (38-0) on her third attempt for a 66-centimeter improvement on her previous record. The mark was good for 633 points, and an additional 62 points on her throws from the first two rounds.
Though she did not close out the day with another PR in the 200-meter dash, she was only 0.04 seconds off with a 25.79 (+0.2m/s) performance for 816 points.
She continues the heptathlon at noon CDT with the long jump, and will wrap up the seven events with the javelin and 800-meter run.
Full Michigan Results by Event
Q = automatic qualifier to final; q = at-large qualifier to final
200-meter dash
Prelims
15. Hanna Hearn / 24.81 (-0.2m/s)
1,500-meter run
Prelims
5. Jena Metwalli / 4:23.65q
10. Meg Darmofal / 4:25.33
13. Samantha Tran / 4:26.26Q
16. Lucy Petee / 4:26.68
18. Eva Jansohn / 4:28.17 [New PR]
10,000-meter run
Final
5. Jessi Larson / 33:39.92 [4 team pts]
6. Ericka VanderLende / 33:50.22 [3 team pts]
12. Raquel Powers / 34:47.21
20. Samantha Saenz / 37:15.46
Heptathlon
Day One - Through 4 of 7 Events
6. Theresa Mayanja / 3,215 points
100-meter hurdles / 13.80 (+0.6m/s) (1007 pts) [New PR] / Place: 6
High Jump / 1.62m (5-3.75) (759 pts) [New PR] / Place: 9
Shot Put / 11.58m (38-0) (633 pts) [New PR] / Place: 5
200-meter dash / 25.79 (+0.2m/s) (816 pts) / Place: 7
Players Mentioned
