2016 Season Preview: Women's Track & Field
12/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Dec. 22, 2015
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2016 OUTLOOK
After a pair of top-five finishes at the Big Ten Championships last year (runner-up, indoor; fifth place, outdoor), the Wolverines are set to begin their 32nd season under head coach James Henry, including the 26th campaign with associate head coach Mike McGuire on the staff. Michigan returns nine athletes who scored in 10 events at last year's indoor conference championships.
Cindy Ofili (60-meter hurdles; 100-meter hurdles) and Erin Finn (10,000-meters) defended their conference crowns and earned All-America finishes in the 100-meter hurdles and 5K, respectively, during the outdoor season. This talented duo will lead the effort for U-M to capture its first Big Ten championship since it shared the outdoor title in 2007. Ofili owns four school records and Finn owns three, with six All-America honors between them. Both are threats to score in several event areas, like multi-events specialist Aaron Howell and sprinter/jumper Sami Michell. U-M will need contributions from each of them, and others, to reclaim a conference title in 2016.
The ever strong distance and middle-distance program is poised for another successful year on the track, fresh off the cross country team's third top-six finish in the last four years at the NCAA Championships. The DMR should be in top form as usual, returning three-quarters of an All-American group that finished third at the NCAA Championships last winter (Maya Long; 400-meters, Danielle Pfeifer; 800-meters, Shannon Osika; 1,200-meters).
Transfers and Michigan natives Haley Meier and Hannah Meier highlight a group middle-distance and distance newcomers, including freshman Lauren Van Vlierbergen and a pair of Ivy League transfers in Erika Fluehr and Kira Garry. Meanwhile, Devon Hoppe, Jamie Morrissey, Jaimie Phelan , Gina Sereno and Gina McNamara lead a group that adds experience to the roster, as all five scored at the conference meet last year. Anna Pasternak, Sophie Linn and Claire Borchers will also factor in and foster Michigan's competitive depth in that area.
Junior Kayla Deering returns to the circle one year after throws coach Sandy Fowler guided her to a scoring performance at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and NCAA Preliminary Round qualifying. Freshmen Briana Nelson and Maegan McCarthy team up with sophomore Bailey Baker to add depth, and high jumper Claire Kieffer-Wright will pair nicely with a healthy crop of pole vaulters for more field event scoring.
STUDENT-ATHLETES TO WATCH
Cindy Ofili -- After taking a silver medal at her national championships and representing Team Great Britain at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, last summer, Ofili is back in Ann Arbor for her final year in Maize and Blue. With four already under her belt, Ofili has more program records in her sight after breaking her sister's 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles records at the NCAA Championships last June on her way to a runner-up finish in the hurdles.
Ofili was undefeated in 100-meter hurdle races before that national meet and if she is at her best or better in 2016, she will continue her winning ways. Ofili shattered her previous PR of 12.81 with a run of 12.60 at the NCAA Championships, proving she is at her best when the moment is biggest. She has also found success off the track in the classroom with her work as a student teacher while she pursues her degree in elementary education, earning two USTFCCCA All-Academic honors along the way.
Erin Finn -- Finn's 2015 season was only a fraction of what it could have been as a late-season cross country season kept her from the indoor season and most of the outdoor regular season as well. She came back with a vengeance, quickly setting top-five national times at 5,000 and 10,000-meters. She parlayed that momentum into her second 10K title with a third-place finish in the 5K at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships off just six weeks of training. She capped that performance with a fifth-place All-America finish at the national meet in the 5K.
Finn will be eager to hit the ground running now that she has returned to good health and looks as fresh as ever after a tremendously successful cross country season. She won three meets, including becoming the first two-time individual conference champion in 15 years and had top-six finishes in three others on the way to a bare-footed 19th-place All-America finish at the NCAA Championships. The biochemistry major has a sparkling grade-point average and already owns a pair of USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, with more likely on the way.
Danielle Pfeifer -- A two-time first-team All-American in the Distance Medley Relay (DMR), Pfeifer has been elite at the 800-meter distance, and her becoming a fixture on that leg of the DMR has helped U-M continue its dominance in the event. She helped win the team's 11th consecutive Big Ten DMR title in 2014 and the team was runner-up last winter before a podium finish at the NCAA meet, placing third.
With Pfeifer in top form, U-M's middle-distance depth is second to none. She leads a group of more than a half dozen Wolverines with NCAA Regional experience and is a key pace-setter. With Pfeifer leading the way last winter, U-M had a 2-3-4 finish in the 800-meter event, with all three competing athletes setting new PRs, proving the value of her ability to lead in that area. Pfeifer is also a two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Honoree and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in U-M's School of Nursing.
Aaron Howell -- Howell may have been the missing piece in U-M's runner-up conference finish last winter. She sustained a leg injury during the pentathlon competition, forcing her to miss the remainder of the meet and season. Though she will not be ready to compete at the start of the indoor calendar, Howell will be back again in 2016 with a chip on her shoulder. Last year's high expectations were fueled by a second-team All-America finish in 2014, when Howell scored 5,294 points for a 16th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
PRs in the shot put, high jump, long jump, 60-meter hurdles and overall pentathlon score built positive momentum for Howell last season. When this two-time U-M Academic Athletic Achievement Award winner gets back to full form, watch out for the Wolverines, as she gives U-M six athletes (Finn, Long Ofili, Osika, Pfeifer) with All-American honors to their name.
From left: Cindy Ofili, Aaron Howell, Erin Finn
KEY COMPETITION
INDOOR
Notre Dame Meyo Invitational (Fri-Sat., Feb. 5-6), South Bend, Ind.
Each year, Michigan's trip to South Bend makes for one of the most competitive weekends of the indoor season. The meet at SPIRE two weekends later is a better jumping off point for the championship phase of the season, but going to Notre Dame always brings out the best in the Maize and Blue. Last year, Meyo produced a then-season-best time for Ofili in the 60-meter dash, while Brook Handler won the famous "Meyo Mile" to give U-M women four of the last five titles. The weekend yielded 17 PRs across eight events, and between the high level of competition and rich history of Wolverine success at the meet, Meyo weekend will once again be worth circling on the calendar.
OUTDOOR
Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge (Fri-Sat., March 25-26), Tempe, Arizona
U-M's trip to Tempe provides some of the best competition of the year, all with conference pride on the line. Last year, U-M joined forces with Indiana and Nebraska, but fell just short of the Pac-12 challengers Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA. The Wolverines will look to avenge the Big Ten conference this year, while getting an opportunity to compete against some of the nation's top athletes, many of whom will be seen again a few months later at the NCAA Championships.
2015 RECAP
The Wolverines earned the school's second runner-up finish in the last three years at the indoor conference meet and followed it up with their third consecutive top-five finish at the outdoor meet. U-M's sustained conference success has been impressive, but it's the next-level performance that provides a better understanding of success for the season. With Ofili (indoor; 60-meter hurdles, outdoor; 100-meter hurdles), Finn (outdoor; 5,000-meters) and the DMR squad earning All-America honors -- all with top-five finishes -- the Maize and Blue proved its mettle once again against national competition. The Wolverines boasted 17 entries at the NCAA Regional meet, with 14 of them returning for another year of life in Maize and Blue.
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
Players Mentioned
