Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Wolverines Open Day One of Big Tens in Third Place Behind Bates, Sutherland, DMR
2/24/2023 11:38:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Geneva, Ohio (SPIRE Institute)
Event: Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships (Day 1 of 2)
U-M Result: T3rd of 13 (22 points)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 25 -- at Big Ten Indoor Championships - Day Two (Geneva, Ohio), 10:45 a.m.
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
GENEVA, Ohio -- A Big Ten title, two new school records and multiple Big Ten-leading performances vaulted the University of Michigan women's tack and field team to a third-place (22 points) tie with Iowa after the opening day of the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Friday (Feb. 24) at the SPIRE Institute. Indiana leads the team standings wth 41 points.
Michigan's distance medley relay won a Big Ten title Friday (Feb. 24), running 10:57.56 to claim first place. The tean of Anna Juul, Ziyah Holman, Aurora Rynda and Sam Tran set a facility record with their victory -- finishing with a healthy three-second lead and collected 10 points for the team total.
BreeAna Bates set a school record in the 60-meter dash, running 7.33 seconds to take sixth in preliminaries. Bates bested a mark (7.36) she set one week ago at the Silverston invitational. She will advance to the finals on Saturday (Feb. 25) in contention for the Big Ten title.
Bates' record was accompanied by a record-setting performance from Savannah Sutherland in the 200 meters, running 23.58 to overtake the 23.65 set by two-time Olympian Cindy Sember (Ofili) at the 2016 Indoor Big Ten Championships. Sutherland now holds three school records (400m, 200m, 4x400 relay), all set this season.
Sutherland sits atop of the 400-meter standings aside teammate Ziyah Holman. The Wolverine duo took first and second, respectively, in the preliminaries, with Sutherland running 52.39 and Holman 52.77. The sprinters' times rank them third and fourth in the Big Ten, respectively. Both will advance to Saturday's finals, looking to earn individual titles and points for Michigan.
Mia Manson earned points for Michigan in the pole vault, earning five points by clearing 4.19 meters (13 feet, 9 inches) to take fourth. She scored in one of the sole finals of the day and was accompanied by Cate Visscher, who cleared 3.89 meters (12 feet, 9 inches) to finish in 12th.
Aurora Rynda was the Big Ten leader in the 600 meters heading into the championships, and on Friday bettered her mark in preliminary, running 1:28.32 to win her heat. The performance punched her ticket to Saturday's finals, and the three-time Big Ten champion at the distance (2019, 2020, 2022), seeks her fourth conference title.
Also on the distance side, Juul and Tran qualified for finals in the mile, claiming first and ninth, respectively, in Friday's prelims. Juul's race was highlighted by a move from fourth to first on the final straightaway. Edging around the leading trio of runners, she accelerated strategically around her competitors to win her heat, and ultimately the entire event. Juul's 4:42.60 race and Tran's time od 4:49.86 put them both in a strong position to score points Saturday,
Additional points were gained in the 5,000 meters, with Samantha Saenz running 16:12.99 to take fourth place. This earned five points for the Wolverines. Kayla Windemuller also contributed, ending in eighth place with a time of 16:17.39 to earn an additional point for the Maize and Blue.
On Saturday, the Wolverines will wrap up competition at the Big Ten Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. The fisrt event is scheduled for 10:45 a.m., and Michigan will get started with Juul and Tran in the mile final at 1:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
