Michigan
Red Simmons Invitational
Erdman, Wade Star as U-M Dominates Simmons Invite
1/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team celebrated the 96th birthday of former coach Red Simmons by posting a new facility record in the 600-meter run and six NCAA provisional qualifying performances at the Red Simmons Invitational, held Friday and Saturday (Jan. 20-21) at the U-M Indoor Track Building.
The two-day event got off to a great start for the Wolverines on day one, when freshman Bettie Wade (Northville, Mich./Farmington) took the title in the pentathlon -- the day's only event -- with a total of 4,047 points. Wade's final point total was good for an NCAA provisional mark, just three points shy of an NCAA automatic bid. Taking third place was senior Jennifer Williams (Burton, Mich./Atherton), also earning an NCAA provisional mark with 3,888 points, a new personal best.
On the second day of events junior captain Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) continued to leave her mark in the Michigan record books, setting a new 600m record with a time of 1:29.99. The first-place finish broke the old record of 1:30.64 which was set in 1994 by former Michigan athlete Kristine Westerby.
In the 600m the Wolverines took the top four spots as well as sixth and seventh place. Coming in second was sophomore Nicole Edwards (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey), just 2.17 seconds short of first. Taking third was redshirt sophomore Laura Glynn (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison), and the fourth-place finisher was freshman Amber Hay (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) with a time of 1:34.94, four-hundreths of a second behind third.
In the Francie Kraker Goodridge 800-meter Invitational, freshman Geena Gall (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) edged out former Wolverine All-American Lindsay Gallo by 1.56 seconds with a time of 2:09.18. Gall was able to earn her first NCAA provisional mark by jumping off to a wonderful start, leading the entire race. Michigan's senior twin combo of Melissa Dunn (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) and Monica Dunn (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) placed fourth and eighth, respectively, crossing the finish line in 2:16.08 and 2:20.15.
The Wolverines displayed tons of talent in this year's freshman class with 10 out of 26 freshmen competing, and three of the 10 earning individual provisional marks. Along with Wade and Gall, freshman Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) earned a provisional time in the 60m hurdles with a first-place finish of 8.36. Ofili also took fourth place in the long jump with a jump of 19 feet.
Casey Taylor (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic) took an individual title of her own in the triple jump with a distance of 40-10 1/2. Taylor also competed in the long jump and 200m with a fifth-place spot in the long jump (18-0 1/4) and 10th in the 200m (26.27). Wade also competed in the long jump, coming in second with a distance of 19-5 1/2.
In the high jump Michigan was able to obtain two more provisional clearances, from fifth-year seniors Stephanie Linz (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) and Williams, who claimed the top two spots. The two Wolverines finished the event with clearances of 5-11 1/4, four inches better than third-place finisher Wade.
Junior Kristen Pearson (Escanaba, Mich./Escanaba) led the Wolverines in the pole vault with a first-place finish, clearing 12-3 1/2. Junior Kelly Catino (Traverse City, Mich./Central) took second with a clearance of 11-9 3/4, while freshman Jennifer Mehl (Novi, Mich./Novi) took seventh (10-10).
In the throwing events redshirt junior Jamie Barbour (Dearborn, Mich./Edsel Ford) took third and fourth in the weight throw and shot put, respectively. Competing unattached were freshmen Anna Wilson (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem) and Melissa Gurchinoff (Dollar Bay, Mich./Houghton), who earned ninth and 13th, respectively, in the shot put. Gurchinoff also took eighth place in the weight throw (42-6 3/4).
Michigan's 4x400-meter relay team took second, clocking in at 3:47.48, paced by Hay, Edwards, Gall and Erdman. The quartet came in 0.11 seconds short of first place behind Eastern Michigan.
The Wolverines travel across town to Ypsilanti, Mich., to participate in the Michigan Intercollegiate on Saturday (Jan. 28) at Eastern Michigan. The meet will be Michigan's first scored meet of the season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach James Henry
On the team's success ... "One of the reasons we are doing really well is because we had a good recruiting class on paper, and that recruiting class is beginning to get results. It's easy to look good on paper, but it's difficult to get the results. So with the recruiting class being good on paper and getting the results, our upperclass people are stepping up because they see how good the recruiting class is. Usually freshpeople don't perform the way these freshpeople have been performing. This class is not waiting for the next few years to be good; instead they want to succeed now."
On the freshman class performance ... "Well, I want to keep it that way with a freshman class, because it is a team theme. Usual from my experience out of a freshman, only one out of five or six will step up. Instead, five out of six of the freshmen in this class are stepping up. I think 80 or 90 percent of these kids are stepping up and they don't care who is doing the best. Instead they are having a team first attitude. They're happy that they're doing what they can do to contribute, and also happy to be on a team. It's highly ordinary for this to happen, and I'm just going to ride this to see what happens."
U-M Junior Katie Erdman
On her performance on the day ... "I'm really happy with my performances for today. The last time I ran a 1:29 (in the 800m) was at the Big Ten finals, so it feels like I'm ahead of schedule right now. It really feels good to run well after working hard the entire week."
On the team's success ... "We're really successful because of our attitude adjustment. We also have a really great freshman class. What separates them from past freshman classes is that they want to work hard. They know it takes hard work to succeed like they want to. The expectations are higher earlier, which motivates us to work harder."
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
