Big Ten Championships Take Wolverines to East Lansing
5/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 12, 2015
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THIS WEEKEND
Fri-Sun., May 15-17 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships (East Lansing, Mich.), Noon/9:30 a.m./11 a.m.
The outdoor postseason commences for the University of Michigan women's track and field team this week, as the squad heads to East Lansing, Michigan, for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, which will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday (May 15-17) at Ralph Young Track and Field.
MEET INFORMATION
• Championship Central
• Schedule 
• Ralph Young Field (Map)
• Start Lists/Live Results
• Ticket Information
WOLVERINE BITES
• Last Weekend: U-M tallied three PRs in the 800-meter run and added one in the discus for a weekend total of five across three events (hammer throw), finishing the weekend with seven top-five performances in all.
Weekend Schedule
• Friday Events: The conference championship weekend kicks off with multi-event action on Friday (May 15), as the women's heptathlon begins at 12:15 p.m. The hammer throw and pole vault begin at 1:30 p.m., and the day concludes with the 10K race, scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday Slate: The heptathlon resumes at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday (May 16) with the 100m hurdles, and the day is scheduled to conclude with the 3,000m steeplechase, set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
• Sunday's Finale: The championship weekend concludes on Sunday (May 17), beginning the day with the triple jump at 11 a.m. and closing with the 4x400m relays at 3:33 p.m.
NCAA RANKINGS
• Seven U-M athletes currently rank among the nation's top 45 in five events, with three among the top 11, according to TFRRS.org.
| Event | Name/Rank | Time | Date |
| 5,000m | Erin Finn/5 | 15:32.88 | 5-2-15 |
| 100m hurdles | Cindy Ofili/6 | 12.96 | 4-24-15 |
| 1,500m | Shannon Osika/11 | 4:14.26 | 4-17-15 |
| Brook Handler/25 | 4:17.19 | 5-2-15 | |
| Laura Addison/42 | 4:19.95 | 5-2-15 | |
| 800m | Danielle Pfeifer/22 | 2:05.46 | 4-17-15 |
| 100m | Cindy Ofili/32 | 11.45 | 5-1-5 |
• The 10 Wolverines and one relay team below own top-eight marks or times in the NCAA East Regional, in which the Maize and Blue is ranked fifth, according to the USTFCCCA.
| Event | Name/Rank | Time | Date |
| 100m dash | Cindy Ofili/3 | 11.45* | 5-1-15 |
| 200m dash | Cindy Ofili/4 | 23.56% | 5-1-15 |
| 400m | Maya Long/5 | 53.59 | 5-1-15 |
| 800m | Danielle Pfeifer/1 | 2:05.46 | 4-17-15 |
| Devon Hoppe/6 | 2:07.16 | 5-2-15 | |
| 1,500 | Shannon Osika/2 | 4:14.26 | 4-17-15 |
| Brook Handler/5 | 4:17.91 | 5-2-15 | |
| Laura Addison/7 | 4:19.95 | 5-2-15 | |
| 5,000m | Erin Finn/2 | 15:32.88 | 5-2-15 |
| Brook Handler/8 | 16:13.28 | 4-17-15 | |
| 100m hurdles | Cindy Ofili/2 | 12.96^ | 4-24-15 |
| Sami Michell/t6 | 13.50$ | 4-17-15 | |
| 400mh | Sami Michell/5 | 59.47 | 4-23-15 |
| Dana Carey/7 | 1:00.36 | 4-24-15 | |
| 4x400m relay | Ofili, Carey, Onio, Long/5 | 3:37.16 | 3-27-15 |
| High Jump | Kieffer-Wright/t6 | 5-8.75 ft. (1.75m) | 4-4-15 |
* = +0.7 (wind-aided)
% = +.5
^ = + 1.1
$ = +1.7
• Junior sprinter/hurdler Cindy Ofili, who owns the indoor program records in the 60m (7.37) and 200m dashes (23.69), is undefeated in 100m hurdles races this season. She is a perfect 5-0 across as many meets (6-0 including prelims), and her season-best time of 12.96 ranks second in the region and sixth in the nation.
• Ofili comes into the Big Ten Championships on a tear. Aside from her winning streak in the hurdles, she set a 100m dash PR (11.45) and a season-best 200m time (23.56) during her final regular-season competition of the year, at the UCI's adidas/Steve Scott Invitational (May 2).
• The Wolverines are poised for another big championship performance from their bread and butter group -- distance and middle-distance. U-M owns seven NCAA East Region top-eight times in the 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m races, combined, and also figures to contend in the 3,000m steeplechase and 10K races.
• Since returning from injury, all sophomore Erin Finn has done is set top-five NCAA times in the 5,000m and 10,000m races, earning a pair of runner-up finishes in just three meets. Already a two-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion (In/Out 5,000m run; Outdoor 10,000m run, 2014), Finn owns the program records for the indoor 5,000-meter run (15:52.11), outdoor 5,000-meter run (15:26.08) and outdoor 10,000-meter run (32:41.65).
• Moving Past the 30-Year Milestone: Head coach James Henry is in the midst of his 31st season at the helm of the program. During his time at U-M, Henry has led the Wolverines to 14 Big Ten titles, including seven indoor and seven outdoor. U-M's track and cross country programs also teamed up to win a pair of triple crowns in 1993-94 and 2002-03 (Big Ten cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field titles in the same academic year). Individually, he has helped produce 168 NCAA All-Americans, 190 All-Big Ten honorees, 190 individual Big Ten champions, nine national champions and four national championship relay teams.
• Team Captains: Fifth-year seniors Alexandra Leptich, Elly Mioduszewski and Amber Smith are joined by senior Brook Handler in their duties as team captains for the 2015 season.
• All-Americans Back for More: This season, the Wolverines returned eight athletes with All-America honors under their belts: Shannon Osika (2x in mile run, 2x in DMR), Maya Long (3x in DMR), Erin Finn (10,000-meter run; 5,000-meter run), Cindy Ofili (60-meter hurdles; 100-meter hurdles), Aaron Howell (Heptathlon), Brook Handler (2x DMR; 1,500-meter run), Danielle Pfeifer (2x) and Jaimie Phelan (DMR).
A LOOK AHEAD
Fri-Sun., May 28-30 -- at NCAA East Preliminary Regional (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
