Michigan
Paddock Open
Len Paddock Open to Conclude Wolverines' Regular Season
5/6/2021 10:25:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
THIS WEEK
Saturday, May 8 -- host B1G Len Paddock Open (U-M Track and Field Stadium), 2 p.m.
Live Results
• When to Watch the Wolverines (PDF)
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team will close out its 2021 regular season with the B1G Len Paddock Open and Senior Day on Saturday (May 8) in what will be its first competition within the confines of the U-M Track and Field Stadium in 736 days.
With the Big Ten Championships just over a week away in Champaign, Ill., on May 14-16, the Wolverines will use this opportunity for many on the roster to get one last tune-up before the conference meet against contingents from Michigan State and Indiana.
Field events begin starting at 2 p.m., and action on the track gets underway an hour later at 3 p.m. The meet is projected to conclude around 6 p.m., at which point a ceremony will begin to honor 18 women and 14 men who have either graduated or exhausted their eligibility.
Among those expected to be in action are All-American and Big Ten champion Ziyah Holman (200 meters), Big Ten champion Jessica Mercier (pole vault) and All-American Lucy Petee (800 meters); as well as standouts Courtney Jacobsen (hammer throw), Mia Manson (pole vault), Amanda Schaare (shot put, discus), Samantha Tran (1,500 meters), Hannah Waller (long jump) and Kayla Windemuller (1,500 meters).
In-person attendance for spectators is limited only to those individuals on the pre-approved pass list. Spectators from visiting teams and the general public will not be permitted.
Fans can follow along with the action by way of live results from Delta Timing and updates will also be provided via the team's official social media accounts.
Notes and Outlook
• Saturday will mark just the second-ever competition at the U-M Track and Field Stadium. The only other competition was the 2019 edition of the Len Paddock Open.
• The Wolverines will be in the hunt for numerous event titles at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships next weekend at Illinois, with Michigan competitors sitting atop the descending order lists in four different events. Ziyah Holman is the Big Ten's top woman at 400 meters, Aurora Rynda is No. 1 at 800 meters, reigning Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week Alice Hill is tops in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Holman and Rynda ran legs of the top-ranked 4x400 relay.
• Rynda is having a breakthrough outdoor season after missing the indoor campaign, running a career-best and Big Ten-leading 2:03.93 over 800 meters to move to No. 13 nationally. She moved up to No. 4 on the all-time U-M outdoor list, which is arguably the deepest all-time list at Michigan. Along the way, she bypassed NCAA champions Rebecca Addison, Nicole Edwards, Jaimie Phelan and Anna Willard. She leads the 21st-deepest quartet for Michigan in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Event Squad Rankings. Michigan also ranks No. 16 at 1,500 meters.
• The program's longest-standing school record -- the outdoor 400-meter mark held by Joyce Wilson at 52.43 seconds from 1985 -- came within hundredths of a second of being overtaken as Holman clocked a Big Ten-leading 52.45 to win the Billy Hayes Invitational last weekend. She is poised to potentially add not just another school record to a young resume that already includes the indoor records at 400 and 600 meters, but also a Big Ten indoor title at 400 meters and an All-America honor in the distance medley relay.
• 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 cleared an outdoor career-best 4.14m (13 feet, 7 inches) last month. She and teammate Mia Manson became the first U-M teammates to clear 3.90m in the same outdoor competition last month, and they came within centimeters of both cracking 4.00m as they most recently both cleared 3.98m (13-0.75) at Ohio State.
• 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 11.71 (+1.5m/s wind), in the long jump at 5.96m (19-6.75) and in the triple jump at 12.35m (40-6.25). That 100 meter sprint and her long jump performance from last month moved her to No. 8 in school history in both events.
Up Next
Fri-Sun., May 14-16 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Champaign, Ill.)
Players Mentioned
