Michigan
Can-Am International
Wolverine Women to Make Short Road Trip to Compete at Eastern Michigan
1/24/2019 2:33:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
THIS WEEK
Saturday, Jan. 26 -- Eastern Michigan Can-Am International (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 9 a.m.
Live Results
• Social Media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Select student-athletes from the University of Michigan women's track and field team will compete Saturday (Jan. 26) in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at the Eastern Michigan Can-Am International in what will be the Wolverines' first competition on the road during this 2019 indoor season.
Several sprinters and throwers will face competition from around the region -- including host Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Detroit Mercy, Oakland and Grand Valley State, as well as other schools from the Mid-American Conference and Canada -- as they gear up for the rest of the regular season.
Action in Ypsilanti gets underway first for Michigan at 9 a.m. as the trio of Briana Nelson, Erin Connor and Maegan McCarthy compete in the shot put. At the conclusion of the shot put, Nelson will also compete in the weight throw.
Sydney McGinley and Lauren Rodriguez begin the Wolverines' day on the track at 1 p.m. in the 60-meter hurdles.
Start times for all events at EMU after the 60-meter hurdles are estimates, as the meet will utilize a rolling time schedule. Rather than having fixed start times for each event on the track, each event will simply begin as soon as the previous one has finished.
Courtney Bostic, Akili Echols and Miranda Goodson will compete in the open 60 meters likely at just past 2 p.m., with Echols and Goodson slated to double back for the 400 meters likely an hour or so later.
Wolverine Bites
• In the weight throw event alone, the first two meets of the year at home have already produced three school records. After Bailey Baker broke the 16-year-old record in the sixth-and-final round at the season-opening Wolverine Invitational, teammate Kayla Deering came back on the very next throw with a mark of 19.53m (64 feet, 1 inch) to break Baker's record. At last weekend's Simmons-Harvey Big Ten Invitational, Baker responded by tying Deering's mark to earn a share of the school record. The two are tied for No. 35 nationally.
• True freshman Aurora Rynda became the first Wolverine woman to earn Big Ten Indoor Track Athlete of the Week honors this week following a scintillating performance at the Simmons-Harvey Big Ten Invitational. She clocked a Michigan-freshman-record 1:29.55 for 600 meters to earn the win and the Big Ten-leading mark in 2019, and came back to run a leg of the Big Ten-leading 4x400 relay.
• Rynda, the fastest freshman in the country for 600 meters, is just one of the first-year Wolverines excelling in their first year of NCAA competition. Anne Forsyth is likewise a national freshman leader in the mile, while she and teammate Camille Davre are No. 7 and No. 4, respectively, among freshmen nationally at 3,000 meters. Lauren Biggs is the fourth-fastest freshman in the country so far at 800 meters.
• Though it is still early in the 2019 season and many Wolverines have not yet run in all of their intended events, Michigan is already upholding its reputation as one of the best mid-distance schools in the nation. Led by third-ranked Hannah Meier, Michigan has six women ranked top-100 nationally at 3,000 meters -- tied for the most in the country with rival Michigan State. Michigan also has a nation-leading six women ranked top-100 at 800 meters, led by No. 25 Alice Hill and No. 26 Biggs. In the mile, seventh-ranked Meier leads four women ranked top-100, more than all but three other schools nationally.
• While it is not an event contested at the NCAA Championships, the 600 meters is run at the Big Ten Indoor Championships -- and Michigan is well-represented at the distance. In addition to the conference-leading Rynda, Chloe Foster is ranked No. 6 in the conference and No. 16 nationally.
Team Outlook & Notes
• The Wolverines, led by head coaches James Henry and Jerry Clayton, entered the season ranked No. 34 nationally in the first regular-season edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Track and Field Rating Index (TFRI).
• The Wolverines finished eighth with 60 points at the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships, missing seventh-place Wisconsin by just one point and finishing just 15 points shy of third place in a tightly fought team battle. Though the Wolverines will not have the services of 2018 champions Claire Kieffer-Wright (high jump, only has outdoor eligibility remaining) and Haley Meier (mile), they do hold the distance medley relay title and will welcome 10-time Big Ten champion Erin Finn back into the fold for one final season.
• Returning as scorers from the 2018 Big Ten Championships are Micaela DeGenero (sixth, 800 meters), Meier (seventh, mile), two of four members from the winning DMR team and three of four from the fifth-place 4x400 relay.
• Michigan does not return any NCAA Indoor Championships qualifiers from the 2018 season, but will be boosted by the return of three-time NCAA Indoor Championships runner-up Finn. She was runner-up both at 3,000 and 5,000 meters in 2016 and at 5,000 meters in 2017. She is the only woman in college history to have run 15:30 or faster in multiple NCAA 5,000-meter indoor finals.
• Returning All-Americans: Finn (indoor 3,000 and 5,000, outdoor 5,000 and 10,000, and cross country); Jade Harrison (distance medley relay)
• Returning 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships scorers: DeGenero (800 meters); Meier (mile)
• Current school record-holders: Finn (indoor 3,000 and 5,000, outdoor 5,000 and 10,000); Chloe Foster (indoor 4x400 relay); Julia Hall (indoor 4x400 relay); Harrison (indoor 400 meters, indoor 4x400 relay)
When to Watch the Wolverines
| Wolverines Competing on Saturday | |||
| Eastern Michigan Can-Am International | |||
| Name | Event | Round | Time (ET)* |
| Erin Connor | Shot Put | Final | 9:00 AM |
| Maegan McCarthy | Shot Put | Final | 9:00 AM |
| Briana Nelson | Shot Put | Final | 9:00 AM |
| Briana Nelson | Weight Throw | Final | 11:30 AM |
| Sydney McGinley | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 1:00 PM |
| Lauren Rodriguez | 60 meter hurdles | Final | 1:00 PM |
| Courtney Bostic | 60 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Akili Echols | 60 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Miranda Goodson | 60 meter dash | Final | 2:10 PM |
| Akili Echols | 400 meter dash | Final | 3:10 PM |
| Miranda Goodson | 400 meter dash | Final | 3:10 PM |
* = All times are estimated
Players Mentioned
