Phillips, Jones Not Enough in Close Loss to Hoosiers

Saturday, January 12

Bloomington, Ind.

Michigan

Indiana Dual

1/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team lost a tough dual meet at Indiana Saturday (Jan. 12) as the Hoosiers won the final event to capture an 81-80 victory. Entering the final event with the Wolverines ahead 77-76, the Maize and Blue 4x400-meter relay team finished 72 hundredths of a second behind the Hoosiers squad, giving Indiana the 81-80 win.

Junior April Phillips (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) and freshman Sharifa Jones (Marietta, Ga./Wheeler HS) led the Maize and Blue attack, each earning eight points. Phillips, one of five first-place finishers, broke her week-old school record in the weight throw with toss of 55-3 1/4, for a second-place finish in the event. Last week at the Jack Harvey Invitational Phillips threw 54-6 1/4 to set the mark she broke today.

Phillips followed up her school-record toss in the weight throw to team up with Melissa Bickett (Akron Ohio/Revere HS) to finished one-two in the shot put with NCAA provisional throws of 51-8 1/2 and 49-9 3/4, respectively. It was the second consecutive meet in which Phillips won the event with a provisional throw; last week she threw a personal-best 52-4 to claim the victory.

Jones had third-place finishes in the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles and long jump to earn eight points for the Wolverines.

Carly Knazze (Southfield, Mich./Southfield HS) and Mora Arnold (Gregory, Mich./Chelsea HS) took second and third in the 400-meter dash with times of 57.51 and 58.19, respectively. Ursula Taylor (Edwardsburgh, Mich./Edwardsburgh HS) won Michigan's first event of the afternoon as she crossed the line at 1:34.46 in the 600-meter run, just 0.06 seconds off her personal-best time. Vera Simms (Mililani, Hawaii/Mililani HS) finished just 0.38 seconds behind Taylor for second place in the event, giving the Wolverines a one-two finish.

In the mile run, freshman Stephanie Hirtle (Salmon Arm, B.C./Salmon Arm HS) finished second with a time of 5:01.64. Junior Rachael Sturtz (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City HS) then repeated her performance from the Jack Harvey Invitational by winning the 800 meters with a time of 2:12.63. Sturtz was followed by Theresa Feldkamp (Lorain, Ohio/Amherst Steele HS), who crossed the finish line in a time of 2:16.60.

Jeanne Spink (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea HS) and Katie Ryan (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) gave the Wolverines their third one-two finish in the 3,000 meters as the two crossed the line with times of 10:08.46 and 10:11.39, respectively. Spink's 10:08.46 was a new personal best, shaving nearly 13 seconds off her old time of 10:21.19.

TaNisha Williams (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS) finished a close second in the 60-meter hurdles with a times of 8.65 seconds. Williams was followed by Jones, who crossed the line in 8.79 for third place. Nicole DeNamur (Algoma, Wis./Algoma HS) and Rachel Igbawua finished in second and third, respectively, in the high jump with jumps of 5-8 1/2 and 5-5 1/4. Anna Fisher (Ann Arbor Mich./Gabriel Richard HS) placed second in the pole vault with a vault of 11 feet. Teyonna Simpson (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose HS) won the triple jump for the second consecutive week as she leapt 36-4 1/4 for the win.

The Wolverines return home next week as they host the Red Simmons Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 19) at the U-M Track Building. Field events start at 9:30 a.m., with running events beginning at noon.

Event Winners/U-M Finishers

60-Meter Dash 1. Rachelle Boone, Indiana 7.44# 4. Sharifa Jones, U-M 7.60 6. TaNisha Williams, U-M 7.94 200-Meter Dash 1. Rachelle Boone, Indiana 24.58 5. Sharifa Jones, U-M 26.16 6. Candice Wilkey, U-M 26.40 400-Meter Dash 1. Charlene Maddox, Indiana 57.29 2. Carly Knazze, U-M 57.51 3. Mora Arnold, U-M 58.19 4. Keri Kirk, U-M 59.84 600-Meter Dash 1. Ursula Taylor, U-M 1:34.46 2. Vera Simms, U-M 1:34.88 4. Annessa Schnur, U-M 1:38.25 5. Shalina Ranklin, U-M 1:38.99 Mile Run 1. Mindy Peterson, Indiana 5:01.34 2. Stephanie Hirtle, U-M 5:01.64 5. Katie Easton, U-M 5:20.04 800-Meter Run 1. Rachel Sturtz, U-M 2:12.63 2. Theresa Feldkamp, U-M 2:16.60 3. Anna Jones, U-M 2:17.09 5. Maya Cadwell, U-M 2:19.13 6. Erika Flannery, U-M 2:19.25 3,000-Meter Run 1. Jeanne Spink, U-M 10:08.46 2. Katie Ryan, U-M 10:11.39 3. Chelsea Homan, U-M 10:17.71 60-Meter Hurdles 1. Danielle Carruthers, Indiana 8.28# 2. TaNisha Williams, U-M 8.72 3. Sharifa Jones, U-M 8.84 4. Vera Simms, U-M 8.94 5. Candice Wilkey, U-M 9.34 4x400-Meter Relay 1. Indiana "A" 3:49.88 2. Michigan "A" 3:50.60 3. Michigan "B" 3:56.64 5. Michigan "C" 4:06.84 6. Michigan "D" 4:08.39 High Jump 1. Christine Archibald, Indiana 5-8 1/4 2. Nicole DeNamur, U-M 5-8 1/4 3. Rachel Igbawua, U-M 5-5 1/4 5. Breanne Tenclay, U-M 5-0 1/4 Pole Vault 1. Emily Tharpe, Indiana 11-11 3/4 2. Anna Fisher, U-M 11-0 4. Casey Overby, U-M 9-6 1/4 Long Jump 1. Tandra Foster, Indiana 18-11 1/4 2. TaNisha Williams, U-M 18-7 1/4 3. Sharifa Jones, U-M 18-5 4. Vera Simms, U-M 18-0 1/4 Triple Jump 1. Teyonna Simpson, U-M 38-8 1/2 3. Brianne Page, U-M 32-9 Shot Put 1. April Phillips, U-M 51-8 1/2# 2. Melissa Bickett, U-M 49-9 3/4# Weight Throw 1. Kelley McKinnely, Indiana 55-8 3/4 2. April Phillips, U-M 55-3 1/4@ 4. Melissa Bickett, U-M 51-9 3/4 # NCAA provisional mark @ U-M indoor record