Michigan
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Four Wolverines Reach Saturday Finals at NCAA Outdoors
6/8/2023 11:59:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Austin, Texas (Mike A. Myers Stadium)
Event: NCAA Outdoor Championships (Day 1 of 2)
U-M Result: No team score
Next U-M Event: Saturday, June 10 -- at NCAA Outdoor Championships - Day 2 (Austin, Texas), 4 p.m. CDT
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team opened the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Thursday (June 8) at the University of Texas' Mike A. Myers Stadium with four Wolverines qualifying for Saturday's (June 10) event finals.
Aasia Laurencin started the day strong for the Wolverines, competing in the 100-meter hurdle semifinals. Laurencin qualified for Saturday's event final after running an impressive 12.80 in the semifinals to finish sixth overall and fourth in her heat. This was a career best for the junior, who will head to her first career final at the outdoor championships. This is also the third-best mark in program history.
In the 800 meters, Aurora Rynda automatically qualified for finals after running a time of 2:03.37 to take second in her heat and fourteenth overall. Rynda ran the race strategically, holding to the lead back and sitting in a third-place position for the first 400 meters. In the home stretch, Rynda closed the race by accelerating to a second-place finish, overtaking Penn State's Rachel Gearing.
Ziyah Holman proved her dominance in the 400 meters, advancing to finals with a sixth-place finish and time of 50.40. This was a school record and career best for Holman who holds the top three marks in program history. Finishing second in her heat, she showed her finishing strength, running neck-in-neck with Florida's Talitha Diggs to secure her automatic qualification for finals.
Savannah Sutherland automatically qualified for finals in the 400-meter hurdles after a 55.70 finish in the semifinals. She won the third heat with this mark and placed third overall, a strong position to be in entering Saturday's final. Sutherland's mark was the second best in program history -- as she also holds the school record.
Closing the night with the 4x400-meter relay, Nikki Stephens, Sutherland, Sophie Isom and Holman raced in the second heat of the semifinal. They finished thirteenth overall with a time of 3:30.68 -- just over a tenth-of-a-second behind the school record time set by a similar group at the Big Ten Championships. They had to overcome a difficult race, with Holman having to leap over an opposing runner who fell during the handoff entering the fourth leg. They finished sixth in their heat.
Michigan will continue action at the NCAA Championships on Saturday (June 10) with Holman, Laurencin, Rynda and Sutherland competing in their respective event finals.
Players Mentioned
