Big Ten Outdoor Championships Off to Strange Start

Friday, May 17

Madison, Wis.

Michigan

Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 1)

5/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

MADISON, Wis. -- University of Michigan junior April Phillips (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) broke her own school record in the hammer throw twice Friday (May 17) at the Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, but she will have to wait a day for it to be official and the Wolverines will have to wait for Phillips' eight points for second place to be added to their team score. Results will not be official until verification tomorrow because the hammer judge left the track compound with the results in her car.

Phillips

Phillips, who holds three Michigan records, broke her hammer record for the first time with a toss of 192-1 on her second throw in the third heat of preliminaries. The mark cleared her personal-best and school-record mark by nearly three feet as her old mark stood at 189-3, set at the Jesse Owens Classic (May 5). The distance placed Phillips second entering the finals behind defending Big Ten champion Katy Craig of Ohio State.

With the eighth throw of the first round of finals competition, Phillips broke her personal best for the second time of the competition. The junior tri-captain posted another NCAA provisional mark with a distance of 193-9. The distance led the competition until the final throw of the day when Craig entered the ring and registered a Big Ten Conference Championship and Dan McClimon Track record of 196-3.

Junior Anna Fisher (Ann Arbor, Mich./Gabriel Richard HS), competing with herniated discs in her back, cleared 11-6 1/4 for a 12th-place finish in the pole vault. After clearing the opening height of 11-0 1/4 on her final jump, Fisher fouled on the first two attempts at 11-6 1/4 before making it over the bar on her final attempt.

In the heptathlon Breanne Tenclay (Grandville, Mich./Grandville HS) ended day one in fifth place with 2,822 points and Doris Simmons (Cassopolis, Mich./Cassopolis HS) is in seventh place with 2,742 points.

In the only running event of the day, Jeanne Spink (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea HS) and Chelsea Loomis (Traverse City, Mich./West HS) finished 12th and 13th with times of 36:25.55 and 36:55.99, respectively.

With Phillips' runner-up finish not official until tomorrow, the Wolverines are without a point and sit in a four-way tie for seventh in the team standings. Purdue, with wins in the only two finals contested Friday (10,000 meters and pole vault), is in first place with 25.5 points, followed by Wisconsin (21) and Michigan State (15). Action continues through Sunday.

Team Standings (After Day 1)

 1. Purdue 25.5 2. Wisconsin 21 3. Michigan State 15 4. Penn State 7 5. Iowa 5.5 6. Indiana 4 7. MICHIGAN 0 Illinois 0 Ohio State 0 Minnesota 0

Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 1)

10,000-meter Run 1. Ann Stechschulte, Purdue 34:01.58@ 12. Jeanne Spink, U-M 36:25.55 13. Chelsea Loomis U-M 36:55.99 Pole Vault 1. Ebbie Metzinger, Purdue 13-1 1/2 12. Anna Fisher, U-M 11-6 1/2 Heptathlon (Through 4 Events) 1. Camee Williams, Illinois 3,273 5. Breanne Tenclay, U-M 2,882 7. Doris Simmons, U-M 2,742 @ NCAA automatic mark # NCAA provisional mark

Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 763-4423