Michigan
NCAA Mideast Regional
Ofili Wins, Wolverines Third at NCAA Mideast Regional
5/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Louisville, Ky. (Cardinal Park)
Event: NCAA Mideast Regional (Day 2)
U-M Team Standing: 3rd Place (48 points)
Next U-M Event: Wed-Sat., June 10-13 -- at NCAA Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.), 10:30 a.m.
Results | Quotes | Photo Gallery
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Senior co-captain Tiffany Ofili(Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) captured top honors in the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday (May 30)to lead the No. 10-ranked University of Michigan women's track and field team to a third-place finish (48 points) at the NCAA Mideast Regional at Cardinal Park. LSU claimed top honors in the Mideast Regional with 85.5 points.
In addition to Ofili, four other Wolverines -- senior co-captains Geena Gall(Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc), Casey Taylor(Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic) and Bettie Wade (Northville, Mich./Farmington) along with sophomore Danielle Tauro(Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) -- had top-five event performances to also earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships.
Ofili, who entered Saturday's final as the top seed from Friday's preliminaries, set a new Mideast Regional record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.96 seconds, breaking the old record of 13.13 seconds set by Ohio State's Molly Logan in 2003. Ofili's time also broke the Cardinal Park record of 13.25 seconds set by Alicia Cave of Houston in 2004. Celriece Law of Tennessee finished runner-up to Ofili with a time of 13.14.
In the high jump, Wade claimed second place with a top clearance of 5-10 (1.78m). Wade cleared the height on her first attempt and was one of just two jumpers to reach the mark during the competition. Heather Davis of Louisiana-Monroe also cleared 5-10 and went on to clear 5-11 1/4 (1.81m) on her second attempt to earn the high jump title.
Gall ran a season-best 2:02.29 to take second in the 800-meter run, just nine one-hundredths behind first-place Phoebe Wright of Tennessee (2:02.20). With four of the top five 800-meter runners in the nation competing in the Mideast Regional, the pace of the final was very fast, as seven of the eight runners in the final broke the Cardinal Park record.
Tauro was third across the line in the 1,500-meter run, earning a spot in the NCAA Championships with a time of 4:25.61. Run at a slower, more tactical pace, Heidi Dahl of East Tennessee State took the win in the 1,500 meters in 4:22.16.
Taylor recorded a leap of 42-6 (12.95m) on her fourth of sixth jumps during the triple jump competition to earn fourth place and advance to the NCAA Championships. Middle Tennessee State's Sarah Nambawa jumped 45-9 (13.94m) to win the Mideast Regional and set a new regional record.
The Maize and Blue will return to the track on Wednesday, June 10, for the first day of competition at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The championship begins at 10:30 a.m. at John McDonnell Field.
Top 10 Team Standings
1. LSU 85.5 2. Tennessee 69 3. MICHIGAN 48 4. Illinois 43 5. Auburn 35.5 6. Indiana 34.5 7. Arkansas 33 8. Louisville 29 9. Michigan State 26 10. Alabama 23.5
Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day Two)
High Jump 1. Heather Davis, Louisiana-Monroe 5-11 1/4 (1.81m) 2. Bettie Wade, U-M 5-10 (1.78m) 13. Christina Solomon, U-M 5-7 (1.70m) 1,500-meter Run 1. Heidi Dahl, East Tennessee State 4:22.16 3. Danielle Tauro, U-M 4:25.61 100-meter Hurdles 1. Tiffany Ofili, U-M 12.96# 2. Celriece Law, Tennessee 13.14 Triple Jump 1. Sarah Nambawa, Mid. Tenn. St. 45-9 (13.94m)# 4. Casey Taylor, U-M 42-6 (12.95m) 800-meter Run 1. Phoebe Wright, Tennessee 2:02.20# 2. Geena Gall, U-M 2:02.29 4x400-meter relay 1. LSU 3:31.53 10. MICHIGAN 3:37.45 (Shana Vinson, Jennifer Neville, Amber Hay, Geena Gall)
# NCAA Mideast Regional Record
Day 1 Results
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach James Henry
On the meet... "I think all of the kids that we expected to get through (to the NCAA Championships) got through and they performed well. I was happy with the way that they competed against some outstanding competition. Its a step above the competition at Big Tens, even though the Big Ten is very competitive. But (Big Tens) are more of a team competition and this is more of an individual event. You want to get through, and get through healthy, but you also want to perform well, and I think that we did both."
On looking forward to the NCAA Championships... "The girls are where I want them to be and that is that they are feeling fairly confident about themselves, but they also realize that there is another level of improvement that they now need to meet. That is a perfect recipe to keep them focused and to keep them working hard. They performed well (this weekend), not as well as they would like to perform, but well enough to get through and, from a coaching perspective, good enough to keep their focus on not letting up."
Contact: Jeremy Reid (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
