Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Windemuller Grabs Big Points, Jemison Breaks School Record on Day 2 at Big Tens
5/13/2023 9:22:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Billy Hayes Track & Field Complex)
Event: 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships (Day 2 of 3)
U-M Result: T-Second of 13 teams (33 points) after Day 2
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 14 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships - Day Three (Bloomington, Ind.), 11 a.m.
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A shot put school record, point-scoring performances and multiple athletes advancing to event finals highlighted the second day of action for the University of Michigan women's track and field team at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Saturday (May 13) at the Billy Hayes Track and Field Complex on the campus of Indiana. With 33 points through two days of competition, the Wolverines finished the day in a tie for second place with Wisconsin
Corinne Jemison had a strong day in the shot put, breaking her own school record and grabbing five points for the Wolverines. A strong series of throws -- which included five 16-meter plus throws and was highlighted by a school record 17.24-meter throw (56 feet, 6.75 inches) on her second attempt -- culminated in a fourth-place finish. Jemison now holds the first- and second-best marks in Michigan program history for the event, and the finish was an improvement on her seventh-place finish from last season. Trinity Franklin also competed in the shot put, making her collegiate outdoor championship debut. Franklin threw a career-best 15.23 meters (49 feet, 11.75 inches) to take fourteenth.
Kayla Windemuller put on an impressive race in the steeplechase and finished second, collecting eight points towards the team score. Windemuller fought neck-and-neck during the race, holding back in the first few laps to set a comfortable pace. Nearing the final laps, she was able to build momentum, holding a brief lead over Michigan State's Katelyn Stewart-Barnett. This lead was not enough to hold off the Spartan, and Windemuller and Stewart-Barnett ended up in a one-on-one race in the final stretch, which saw Windemuller finish as the the runner-up with a time of 10:02.48.
Theresa Mayanja closed out the heptathlon with a fifth-place finish, earning a career-best 5,194 points and adding four points to the Wolverines' team score. It was the fifth-year's highest-ever finish in the heptathlon at the outdoor championships. She earned another career-best in the long jump, where she leapt 5.32 meters (17 feet, 5.5 inches). Her greatest point grab came from a second-place finish in the javelin where she threw the javelin 36.75 meters (120 feet, 7 inches). She fought hard in the 800-meters, but ultimately finished eighth with a time of 2:31.81. Her overall score was the fifth best in Michigan program history.
Running the 800-meters, Aurora Rynda entered the championships having won the event in both 2021 and 2022. She proved her dominance over the distance yet again in the preliminary round, winning both her heat and the event in a time of 2:05.72 to automatically qualify for Sunday's (May 14) final. Penn State's Hayley Kitching and Rutger's Kassidy Johnson attempted to challenge Rynda's lead in the race, but the defending champion remained calm and ran fast but relaxed as she held them off. She enters Sunday aiming to become a three-time Big Ten Champion at the distance. Rynda was joined by Cassie Kearney and Alyna Lewis in the preliminary, who were both making their Wolverine debut in a championship event -- Kearney as a transfer and Lewis as a freshman. Kearney took twenty-first with a time of 2:11.79 while Lewis took twenty-fourth in 2:13.45.
Also qualifying for her event final, Ziyah Holman made her 400-meter expertise shown Saturday as she took fourth overall in the event trial. Holman ran fast, winning the fourth heat with a time of 52.56. She holds the school record in the distance and was the 400-meter Big Ten champion this indoor season, and she advances to the event final Sunday (May 14) aiming to become this year's indoor and outdoor 400-meter champion. Also in the event, Sophie Isom and Delaney Stersic finished twelfth and twentieth in the event, respectively. Isom ran a time of 54.94, while Stersic ran a career-best 55.81.
BreeAna Bates fought hard in her own preliminary for the 100-meter dash. She finished thirteenth in a time of 11.59. Mia Manson also competed in the field with the long jump, finishing twelfth overall with a best jump of 5.85 meters (19 feet, 2.5 inches).
The Wolverines will enter the final day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships tomorrow (May 14), beginning with Mia Manson and Cate Visscher in the pole vault. The day's action is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
