Michigan
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Webster, Kohlmeier Earn All-America Honors in 5,000m
6/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- On the third day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Friday (June 9), the University of Michigan women's track and field concluded the day with a total of nine points for 13th place, with Texas and Nebraska tied for the lead with 26 points at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
All of Michigan's points were earned in that 5,000-meter run as junior Erin Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) and sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's) took third and sixth place, respectively. Webster and Kohlmeier had to overcome the very hot California sun as they reached their first-ever outdoor All-American honors. In her first NCAA Outdoor Championships final, Webster finished with a career-best time of 16:06.38, just less than five seconds away from winner Mary Cullen of Providence (16:01.39).
With close to five laps to go in the race, Kohlmeier took an unlikely fall as she was tripped up. Fortunately for the sophomore Wolverine, she was able to get back to her feet and make her move with less than a mile to go. She finished 1.01 seconds ahead of seventh-place Maureen McCandles of Pittsburgh.
Also in Maize and Blue distance action, senior/junior Arianne Field (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett) took 11th place in the 3,000m steeplechase with her second-fastest time of 10:19.31, just two seconds from her career best. In the final lap, the Kalamazoo, Mich., native surpassed Rena Chesser of Brigham Young, beating her by 0.16 seconds.
The multi-events action began Friday with freshman Bettie Wade (Northville, Mich./Farmington) as the lone Wolverine in the heptathlon. Wade finished the first day with 3,119 points through four events and sits in 19th place.
On the final day of action Saturday (June 10), the Wolverines will have Wade open competition in the heptathlon starting at 2:12 p.m. PDT, while freshman Geena Gall (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) and sophomore Nicole Edwards (Winnipeg, Manitoba/St. Patrick's) will compete in the 800m (12:05 p.m.) and 1,500m (1:52 p.m.), respectively.
Top 15 Teams (After Day 3)
1. Texas 26 Nebraska 26 3. Auburn 22 4. Arizona State 19 5. Southern Cal 16 6 Georgia 14.25 7. Air Force 12 8. Alabama 11 9. Colorado 10 South Carolina 10 Duke 10 Providence 10 13. MICHIGAN 9 15. North Carolina 8 LSU 8 Illinois 8
Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 3)
5,000-Meter Run (Final) 1. Mary Cullen, Providence 16:01.39 2. Molly Huddle, Notre Dame 16:05.93 3. ERIN WEBSTER, U-M 16:06.38 4. Desiraye Osburn, Wichita State 16:10.76 5. Michelle Sikes, Wake Forest 16:12.14 6. ALYSON KOHLMEIER, U-M 16:13.09 7. Maureen McCandless, Pittsburgh 16:14.10 8. Katy Trotter, Stanford 16:15.51 9. Keira Carlstrom, American 16:22.20 10. Jenna Kingma, Arizona State 16:22.42 11. Cack Ferrell, Princeton 16:24.64 12. Emily McCabe, Cornell 16:27.93 13. Cassie Ficken, Charlotte 16:32.89 14. Julia Lucas, N.C. State 16:33.59 15. Kaitlyn Gwyther, Quinnipiac 16:38.73 16. Irene Kimaiyo, Texas Tech 16:48.16 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (Final) 1. Jennifer Barringer, Colorado 9:53.04 2. Cassie Hunt, Illinois 9:55.75 3. Shannon Wommack, Tenn-Chattanooga 9:56.50 4. Emily Brown, Minnesota 9:56.62 5. Nicole Bush, Michigan State 10:01.04 6. Anna Willard, Brown 10:06.83 7. Amy Fowler, Brigham Young 10:08.12 8. Ebba Stenback, Toledo 10:08.68 9. Kelly Siefker, Indiana 10:11.73 10. Lisa Stublic, Columbia 10:18.67 11. ARIANNE FIELD, U-M 10:19.31 12. Rena Chesser, Brigham Young 10:19.47 13. Cassie King, North Carolina 10:25.31 14. Molly Landre, Penn State 10:30.96 Heptathlon (through 4 Events) 1. Jacquelyn Johnson, Arizona State 3,526 Pts. 19. Bettie Wade, U-M 3,119 100H: 16.21 (689), HJ: 1.75m (916), SP: 12.06m (665), 200m: 25.42 (849)
Q U O T E S
Michigan Associate Head Coach Mike McGuire
On Erin Webster's performance ... "It was a great way to cap a great season. It definitely was her best competitive race of the year. Third in the championships is a really good performance, and it's something we're really proud of."
On Arianne Field's performance ... "The good thing with Arianne is that she had a great outdoor season. She got better ever time out in the steeple. For her to run best at the nationals and then 48 hours later run her second best is a great achievement in my mind."
On how these races help for next season ... "Well, with this being the first time at this championship for these three girls they can take more out of this than just the two trophies that the 5K kids won. It's just all a part of their maturation process. They'll come here next year with that much presence about themselves."
U-M Junior Erin Webster
On earning All-America honors ... "I'm really excited with the way I placed. The times weren't really that fast, but I don't have anything to complain about."
On the race ... "During the beginning the pace was going good, then it kind of slowed a bit. But I think the race was more tactical than what I run, but it seemed to work itself out in the end."
On thoughts going into the race ... "It's funny, the bigger the race the more relaxed I am, so I was just taking my coach's advice. He told me to just go out there and race like I've always raced. I was actually nervous because I thought I was too relaxed, but it worked out."
U-M Sophomore Alyson Kohlmeier
On earning outdoor All-America honors ... "I haven't had a chance to think about it yet. Things didn't go quite how I expected, but it's cool to earn outdoor All-America honors. The whole outdoor meet experience was great; it's such an exciting meet and there are so many good athletes here."
On the race ... "I think I fell at around two and half kilometers, and after that it was just a blur. I just know that before I fell I was feeling really good about things."
On thoughts heading into the race ... "I was going for top three. I know I felt great in the heats, and in my warmups I felt really good, so it was kind of a disappointment."
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
