Michigan
Silverston Invitational
Wolverines Nab Four Individual Wins at Silverston Invitational
2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Event: Silverston Invitational
U-M Team Finish: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., Feb. 28-March 1 -- at Big Ten Indoor Championships (Bloomington, Ind.)
Complete Results | Photo Gallery
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan women's track and field team wrapped up the regular-season portion of its indoor schedule on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21) at the Silverston Invitational in the U-M Indoor Track Building. Senior Geena Gall(Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc), freshman Meshawn Graham(Toledo, Ohio/Bowsher), senior/junior Christina Solomon(Belleville, Mich./Belleville) and senior Casey Taylor (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic) each earned an event victory for the Maize and Blue.
Gall led a top-five sweep for the Wolverines in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:29.65. Senior Amber Hay(Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) ran with Gall for the majority of the race and finished second with a time of 1:31.51. Fifth-year senior Linda Montgomery(Livonia, Mich./Stevenson), freshman Brittani Williams(Detroit, Mich./Jackson) and freshman Alexandria Williams(Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) all ran strong races as well to finish third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the 400-meter dash, Graham was first across the line in a time of 57.13, just edging second-place Shade St. Louis of Eastern Michigan by one one-hundredth of a second.
Solomon led a strong 1-2 sweep for U-M in the high jump with a career-best effort of 1.79m. Solomon cleared the height on her final attempt as she just out-jumped senior/junior teammate Olivia Both(Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington), who finished second with a personal-best height of 1.73m.
Taylor clocked in at 7.65 seconds to earn top honors in the 60-meter dash. Taylor took the victory by four one-hundredths of a second over Charelise Davis of Michigan State.
In the throws, sophomore Emily Pendleton(Lindsay, Ohio/Woodmore) had a pair of second-place finishes. Pendleton recorded a toss of 17.24m in the weight throw and registered an effort of 13.67m in the shot put. Junior/sophomore Ashley Greer(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) took fourth in the weight throw with a season-best 16.76m mark.
A pair of Wolverines turned in season-best performances to finish second and third in the 200-meter dash. Senior/junior Shana Vinson(Detroit, Mich./Mumford) ran a 25.10 to take second, less than two-tenths behind Michigan State's Davis. Sophomore Jennifer Neville(Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) was third for the Maize and Blue in a time of 25.63.
Another season-best time was achieved by fifth-year senior Lisa Montgomery(Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) in the mile. Montgomery crossed the line in a time of 5:07.53 to take second place behind Beverly Elcock of Eastern Michigan.
Michigan returns to the track next Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 28-March 1) when it competes in the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse in Bloomington, Ind.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach James Henry
On the meet... "It was the final tune down as I would call it, not tune up, just to get a few events in and we accomplished our goals. Everyone is healthy, physically, now we need to get them mentally ready for the Big Tens."
On the high jumpers... "Christina (Solomon) and (Olivia) Both have been jumping well in practices and they have been training hard. They are some of the hardest workers on the team and they finally got a chance to tamper and it showed. I'm looking forward to that and hopefully some more next week at Big Tens."
On the upcoming Big Ten Championships... "It is going to be a dogfight. The Big Ten is as balanced as it has been in years. Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State are all very capable of winning, it's going to be difficult, it won't come easy and we are going to have to pull out all the stops to come away with the victory."
U-M Senior Geena Gall
On the 600-meter run... "I was satisfied with my time. I was really happy for Amber (Hay) and Linda (Montgomery) and the freshmen girls; they all ran personal records, I think. I was happy they were able to do that before Big Tens next week. It was just a tune up for Big Tens."
On the upcoming championships... "It has come so fast; this is my last indoor season and I just want to make the best of it. I'm really excited for Big Tens next week; I think we have a good chance of winning it, after that I'll start looking forward to nationals."
Contact: Jeremy Reid (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
