Weekly Release #18

6/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field

Upcoming Schedule
Wed-Sat., June 7-10 -- at NCAA Outdoor Championships (Sacramento, Calif.)

This Week:
The University of Michigan womens track and field team closes the 2006 season this week at the NCAA Outdoor Champions hosted by Sacramento State University Wednesday through Saturday (June 7-10) in Sacramento, Calif., at Hornets Stadium.

Michigan qualified seven athletes for the championships -- sophomore Nicole Edwards, senior/junior Arianne Field, freshman Geena Gall, fifth-year senior Ana Gjesdal, sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier, freshman Tiffany Ofili, freshman Bettie Wade, senior/junior captain Rebecca Walter and junior Erin Webster. Edwards, Field, Gall, Gjesdal, Kohlmeier and Walter each automatically qualified for the championships, while Ofili and Wade received at-large bids in the 100m hurdles and heptathlon, respectively.

Schedule of Events for U-M Competition (Times PDT) ...

Wednesday (June 7) 3:40 p.m. 800-Meters (Prelims) 4:30 p.m. 100 Hurdles (Prelims) 6:30 p.m. 100 Hurdles (Semis) 7:00 p.m. 3000 Steeplechase (Semis) 7:50 p.m. 5000-Meters (Semis) Thursday (June 8) 4:50 p.m. 800-Meters (Semis) 6:00 p.m. 1500-Meters (Semis) 7:20 p.m. 10,000-Meters (Final) Friday (June 9) 10:00 a.m. 100 Hurdles Heptathlon High Jump Heptathlon Shot Put Heptathlon 200-Meters Heptathlon 5:00 p.m. 100 Hurdles (Final) 6:35 p.m. 3000 Steeplechase (Final) 7:00 p.m. 5000-Meters (Final) Saturday (June 10) 10:30 a.m. Long Jump Heptathlon Javelin Heptathlon 800-Meters Heptathlon 12:05 p.m. 800-Meters (Final) 1:52 p.m. 1500-Meters (Final)

Michigan at the NCAA Outdoor Championships
Since the start of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 1983, Michigan has had an outdoor All-American 16 of 22 years, including 10 All-America honors in the last four championships. The Wolverines have never won an individual title at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but they have had four runner-up finishes, all in the 5,000-meter run.

U-M NCAA Individual Runners-Up

Sue Schroeder 5,000-meter run 1985 Sue Schroeder 5,000-meter run 1986 Molly McClimon 5,000-meter run 1993 Katie McGregor 5,000-meter run 1998

Under head coach James Henry the Maize and Blue has been to the NCAA Outdoor Championships 17 times since 1985. The Wolverines' best finish at the championships under Henry was a 15th-place showing in 1998 with 15 total points.

Records are Meant to Be Broken
Freshmen Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) and Geena Gall (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) have proven the clich that "records are meant to be broken," to be true. The freshmen duo set records in the 100m hurdles and 800m run, respectively.

Ofili set a new Michigan Outdoor 100m hurdles record as she posted a time of 13.37, shattering the 2003 time of 13.42 set by Robin Landfair.

In the 800m run, Gall set a new Big Ten record as well as a Michigan Outdoor record, after she clocked in at 2:02.73. The Michigan record was previously held by Lindsey Gallo (2004, 2:03.80), while the Big Ten record was set by Amy Wickus of Wisconsin (1994, 2:03.85).

History 101
At the Big Ten Indoor Championships (Feb. 25-26) the University of Michigan women's track and field team set a new precedent within the Big Ten by winning its eighth conference crown. The Wolverines now lead the conference with the most team titles in Big Ten history, with Wisconsin following in second with seven. In the past five indoor championships the Maize and Blue have been crowned victorious four out of five times (2002, '03, '05 and '06), and have won the team title back-to-back. Michigan has also won 11 of the last 13 Big Ten cross country and track and field titles (four straight cross country titles, three of the last four outdoor titles, and four of five indoor titles).

Michigan's distance medley relay squad has also won the Big Ten title four out of the last five championships (did not win in 2003). This year, the DMR team beat last year's time of 1:33.88, by 8.38 seconds, both squads set indoor facility records (2005: U-M Indoor Track Building and 2006: Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center). The 2006 team also set a new indoor Big Ten Championship meet record with its winning time of 11:25.50.

Titles, Titles and More Titles
With four individual titles (600- 3,000- and 5,000-meter events and the mile) from the 2006 indoor Big Ten championships the Wolverines now have 30 individual track titles in program history. Combined with U-M's 12 field titles, the Wolverines have a total of 42 individual indoor Big Ten titles. Along with the 42 individual Big Ten titles, the Maize and Blue have won six relay titles (two-mile, 3,2000-meter and four distance medley relays).

Just a Few Big Ten Records
The Wolverines won their Big Ten title in record setting fashion, as they set three new records at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The first record of the meet came from freshman Tiffany Ofili (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) when she set a Camp Randall facility record in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.48. The second record came from the DMR team as they set a new facility record as well as a new Big Ten Championships meet record with a time of 11:25.50. The record-setting team consisted of sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's), freshmen Amber Hay (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance), Geena Gall (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) and senior/junior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac).

On the second day, Kohlmeier set a new 5,000m facility record with an NCAA qualifying time of 15:58.61.

2006 Captains
Head coach James Henry selected four captains to lead the 2006 Wolverines. Seniors Shavonne Maclin (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont School) and Jennifer Williams (Burton, Mich./Atherton) join senior/junior Katie Erdman (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) and junior/sophomore Rebecca Walter (Beverly Hills, Mich./Groves) as the leaders for Michigan. Each of the captains are coming off of a strong 2005 outing, with Erdman and Walter assisting the cross country team in winning its seventh Big Ten title and fifth Great Lakes regional title. The two middle distance runners also scored in the Big Ten outdoor track championship, with Erdman taking the 800m title and Walter finishing as the runner-up in the 5,000m. Williams and Maclin were able to produce very important scores for Michigan in the indoor and outdoor Big Ten championships. In the indoor championships Williams took fourth place in the pentathlon and the high jump. For the outdoor championships Williams and Maclin each finished in sixth place in the heptathlon and 400m, respectively.