Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Rynda Makes Collegiate History; U-M Finishes Fourth at Big Tens
2/26/2022 5:27:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Geneva, Ohio (SPIRE Institute)
Event: Big Ten Indoor Championships (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Result: 4th place of 13 teams (78 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., March 11-12 -- at NCAA Indoor Championships, Birmingham, Ala.
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
GENEVA, Ohio -- A historic run from Aurora Rynda and another title from Ziyah Holman propelled the University of Michigan women's track and field team to a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday (Feb. 26).
Both doubling back from Friday's winning distance medley relay, Rynda ran one of the fastest 600-meter times in all of collegiate history to win her third career Big Ten title at that distance and Holman remained unbeaten in Big Ten 400-meter finals as the Wolverines scored 78 points in a tight team race.
Michigan also got a silver medal in the 60-meter hurdles from newcomer Aasia Laurencin.
Minnesota won the team title with 102 points, followed by Ohio State with 94 and Penn State with 85. Wisconsin was the next-closest team behind Michigan with 68 points in fifth.
Already the fastest woman in Big Ten history on an international-standard 200-meter track over 600 meters with her 1:27.05 from earlier this month, Rynda removed all caveats with a 1:26.50 performance that established a new all-time Big Ten best and put her behind only Tokyo Olympians Athing Mu and Raevyn Rogers on the all-time collegiate list.
The performance eclipsed the 1:26.65 from Purdue's Jahneya Mitchell in 2016 that had previously stood as both the fastest time ever run in Big Ten history and the Big Ten Championships record.
She took the victory by three-quarters of a second over 2021 winner Abigail Schaaffe of Minnesota, who claimed the title last year in Rynda's absence. After winning this event in both 2019 and 2020, Rynda now trails only four-time champion former Wolverine Katie Erdman as the winningest Big Ten athlete in this event.
In what was the second-fastest time of her indoor career, Holman secured her second-straight indoor title at 400 meters and her third Big Ten title overall in 52.66. The field held on with her early through about 200 meters of the race, but Holman's signature strength gave her a decisive advantage in the second half of the race as she created enough separation to win by half a second.
In claiming her second title in a row, she became just the sixth woman in conference history to win back-to-back indoor 400-meter crowns and the first since Kiah Seymour of Penn State in 2014-15.
Also counting her contribution to Friday's winning distance medley relay and last year's outdoor 400 title, she is already a four-time Big Ten champion in just her second year as a collegian.
Laurencin made an immediate impact for the Wolverines in her Big Ten Championships debut after transferring from Texas after last season, claiming the silver medal in her signature indoor 60-meter hurdles event in 8.27. She got off to one of the quickest starts of anyone in the field, and held on strong through the finish even as an Iowa woman running even with her two lanes to her right tumbled over the final hurdle in her peripheral vision. She outleaned third place by .04 of a second.
Though neither earned a medal for their efforts, Kayla Windemuller and Ericka VanderLende combined for the equivalent of second-place points as they charged hard at the end of the 5,000 meters to finish fourth and sixth, respectively, for eight total points. With two laps to go both women were outside the top eight scoring positions, but emerged at the front of a big group of eight finishers who were all separated by less than five seconds.
Windemuller finished in 16:30.60, followed by VanderLende in 16:30.96. It was the second scoring performance for WIndemuller, who was fifth at 3,000 meters Friday evening.
On the heels of anchoring the Michigan distance medley relay team to a gold medal and 10 points Friday evening, Samantha Tran joined teammates Rynda and Holman as an individual scorer Saturday with a fourth-place finish in the mile in 4:40.21 for five points. She was seventh at the bell with 300 meters left to go, but was able to move up to fifth on the home stretch and picked off a Rutgers finisher right at the line by 0,02 of a second.
In the only field performance of the day, Riley Ammenhauser posted a collegiate career best in the triple jump as she made her postseason debut with a fifth-place finish at 12.58m (41-3.25). In addition to scoring four points for the Wolverines, it also extended her U-M first-year record for the third meet in a row.
The meet finished on an unfortunate note for the Wolverines as they did not finish the 4x400 relay. As Holman was uncorking what would have been a signature relay finish and another potential school record and Big Ten relay title, the baton was knocked from her hand with the finish line in sight at the end of the straightaway. If not for that DNF, the Wolverines had a chance to move to third in the team standings.
Once the results of conference championship weekend are finalized, the Wolverines will await their NCAA Indoor Championships selection fate on Tuesday (March 1).
Michigan Results by Event
Q / q = qualified for final
60 meter dash
Final
9. BreeAna Bates / 7.49
Prelims
8. BreeAna Bates / 7.47Q
10. Ameia Wilson / 7.49
15. Hannah Waller / 7.55
22. Hanna Hearn / 7.68
200 meter dash
Prelims
11. BreeAna Bates / 24.12 [New PR]
29. Hanna Hearn / 25.36
400 meter dash
Final
1. Ziyah Holman / 52.66 [10 team pts]
Prelims
1. Ziyah Holman / 53.62Q
14. Savannah Sutherland / 55.05
19. Chika Amene / 55.95 [New PR]
600 meter run
Final
1. Aurora Rynda / 1:26.50 [10 team pts] [U-M Record]
Prelims
1. Aurora Rynda / 1:28.81q
10. Lauren Fulcher / 1:32.57 [New PR]
800 meter run
Prelims
15. Lucy Petee / 2:09.24 [New PR]
16. Amber Gall / 2:09.45
24. Eva Jansohn / 2:11.98
Mile
Final
4. Samantha Tran / 4:40.21 [5 team pts] [New PR]
Prelims
1. Samantha Tran / 4:41.49Q [New PR]
9. Gabby Swider / 4:45.51 [New PR]
11. Alice Hill / 4:46.36
19. Julia Vanitvelt / 4:52.18
25. Anne Forsyth / 4:54.70
3000 meter run
Final
5. Kayla Windemuller / 9:14.26 [4 team pts] [New PR]
10. Ericka VanderLende / 9:20.04
5000 meter run
Final
4. Kayla Windemuller / 16:30.60 [5 team pts]
6. Ericka VanderLende / 16:30.96 [3 team pts]
60 meter hurdles
Final
2. Aasia Laurencin / 8.27 [8 team pts]
Prelims
7. Aasia Laurencin / 8.39q
26. Carlita Taylor / 8.75
4x400 relay
Final
--. Savannah Sutherland, Chika Amene, Aurora Rynda, Ziyah Holman / DNF
Distance Medley Relay
Final
1. Alice Hill, Ziyah Holman, Aurora Rynda, Samantha Tran / 11:02.72
Pole Vault
Final
5. Brooke Tjerrild / 4.12m (13-6.25) [4 team pts]
10. Mia Manson / 4.02m (13-2.25)
14. Cate Visscher / 3.87m (12-8.25) [New PR]
--. Jessica Mercier / DNF
Long Jump
Final
2. Ameia Wilson / 6.31m (20-8.5) [8 team pts] [New PR]
10. Hannah Waller / 5.84m (19-2)
Triple Jump
Final
5. Riley Ammenhauser / 12.58m (41-3.25) [4 team pts] [New PR]
Shot Put
Final
11. Amanda Schaare / 15.85m (52-0)
25. Corinne Jemison / 13.86m (45-5.75)
Pentathlon
Final
5. Theresa Mayanja / 3662.00 [4 team pts] [New PR]
6. Clare McNamara / 3491.00 [3 team pts] [New PR]
Theresa Mayanja
Shot Put / 12.31m (40-4.75) (682 pts) [New PR] / Place: 2
60 meter hurdles / 8.61 (993 pts) / Place: 3
High Jump / 1.61m (5-3.5) (747 pts) / Place: 4
800 meter run / 2:33.19 (653 pts) / Place: 8
Long Jump / 5.10m (16-8.75) (587 pts) / Place: 9
Clare McNamara
Shot Put / 11.75m (38-6.5) (645 pts) [New PR] / Place: 3
800 meter run / 2:24.20 (767 pts) [New PR] / Place: 4
Long Jump / 5.21m (17-1) (617 pts) / Place: 8
High Jump / 1.58m (5-2.25) (712 pts) [New PR] / Place: 9
60 meter hurdles / 9.80 (750 pts) / Place: 10
Players Mentioned
