Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Steeplechasers Score on Day Two of Big Tens
5/15/2021 10:27:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Demirjian Park)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 2 of 3)
U-M Result: 8th of 13 teams (15 points)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 16 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships - Day Three (Champaign, Ill.), 12:30 p.m. CDT
• Complete Results (PDF)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team got two more scoring performances in the distance events on Saturday (May 15) on the second day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Illinois' Demirjian Park.
Alice Hill finished fourth and broke 10 minutes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase despite a mishap over the final water jump, while steeplechase neophyte Kayla Windemuller added points with a seventh-place finish.
With the eight total points from Hill and Windemuller, Michigan stands at 15 points entering the final day of competition on Sunday (May 16). The Wolverines are within 11 points of third-place Nebraska, and have entries in 10 remaining events.
Hill ran hard from the start, leading the field through most of the first two kilometers of the race as part of a four-woman lead group that established itself within the first kilometer. The decisive move was made by Minnesota with less than a half-mile to go, but Hill and the rest of the group did well to respond and keep pace and were within a second of one another with a lap to go.
That pack was slightly more strung out heading into the final water barrier, when Hill slightly overshot her step over the barrier and fell to the ground into the water. Despite the fall, she still got up and ran 9:59.11 for fourth.
Windemuller ran steady throughout, starting and fourth and dropping no lower than sixth as she clocked 10:11.78 in a performance that likely will advance her to the NCAA East Preliminaries later this month.
Preliminaries
Michigan safely advanced two of its biggest contenders through Saturday's preliminary rounds into Sunday's finals, as Big Ten indoor champions and 2021 outdoor Big Ten leaders Ziyah Holman and Aurora Rynda made it through in their signature events.
Holman once again covered 40 meters in less than 53 seconds, clocking 52.91 for the fastest qualifying time of the day by more than a half-second. She will aim to become the first woman to sweep the indoor and outdoor 400 meter titles for Michigan on Sunday.
Rynda exorcised the demons of her 2019 disqualification at this meet and easily advanced to the 800-meter final along with teammate Lucy Petee. In a race that went out more slowly than the other heats, Rynda turned on the jets in the final 300 meters and put more than a second and a half on the rest of the field in 2:07.44.
Petee's path to the final was less certain and more dramatic, as she had to mount a late-race surge in her heat to overtake Iowa's Mallory King to finish second in her race in 2:06.58. She ultimately claimed the third of five at-large qualifying spots into Sunday's final.
Though she did not advance to the final, Hannah Waller did notch a 10th-place finish at 100 meters in 11.88 seconds (+0.4m/s).
Heptathlon
On the strength of two personal-best efforts on Saturday, combined with three PRs on Friday, Theresa Mayanja finished 10th overall in the heptathlon with a career-best score of 5,069 points. Though she did not finish high enough to net team points for the Wolverines, she became just the eighth woman in school history to exceed 5,000 points in the heptathlon.
Mayanja began her afternoon with a 5.00m (+0.1m/s) leap in the long jump, just 17 centimeters shy of her outdoor career best in the event. The result dropped her out of the top-eight scoring position she had held after day one, as she fell to ninth place.
A personal best by nearly a meter in the javelin at 33.74m (110 feet, 8 inches) pushed her up to eighth heading into the 800-meter finale, but she fell to 10th overall with a career-best 2:25.76 run to close things out.
Sunday's final day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships will begin at 12:30 p.m. CDT at Demirjian Park and will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+.
Full Michigan Results by Event
Q = automatic qualifier to final; q = at-large qualifier to final
100-meter dash
Prelims (Saturday)
10. Hannah Waller / 11.88 (+0.4m/s)
17. Hanna Hearn / 12.10 (+0.4m/s)
200-meter dash
Prelims (Friday)
15. Hanna Hearn / 24.81 (-0.2m/s)
400-meter dash
Prelims (Saturday)
1. Ziyah Holman / 52.91Q
800-meter run
Prelims (Saturday)
6. Lucy Petee / 2:06.58q [New PR]
9. Aurora Rynda / 2:07.44
17. Annie Taylor / 2:10.49
23. Eva Jansohn / 2:12.21
1,500-meter run
Prelims (Friday)
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 (Friday)
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
100-meter hurdles
Prelims (Saturday)
14. Michaiah Thomas / 13.82 (+1.5m/s) [New PR]
Steeplechase
Final (Saturday)
4. Alice Hill / 9:59.11 [5 team pts]
6. Kayla Windemuller / 10:11.78 [3 team pts]
15. Lauren Fulcher / 10:45.09
Long Jump
Final (Saturday)
19. Ameia Wilson / 5.59m (18-4) (+1.2m/s) [New PR]
20. Hannah Waller / 5.58m (18-3.75) (-0.2m/s)
Shot Put
Final (Saturday)
13. Amanda Schaare / 14.99m (49-2.25)
Heptathlon
Final (Friday/Saturday)
10. Theresa Mayanja / 5,069 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
Long Jump / 5.00m (16-4.75) (+0.1m/s) (559 pts) / Place: 14
Javelin / 33.74m (110-8) (548 pts) [New PR] / Place: 9
800 meter run / 2:25.76 (747 pts) [New PR] / Place: 7
Players Mentioned
