Michigan
Stanford Invitational
Foster, Darmofal Lead Wolverine Women on Day One at Stanford
3/30/2019 8:34:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Palo Alto, Calif. (Cobb Track & Angell Field)
Event: Stanford Invitational (Day 1 of 2)
U-M Result: No team scoring
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 30 -- at Stanford Invitational - Day 2 (Palo Alto, Calif.) 10 a.m. PDT
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team kicked off the two-day Stanford Invitational on Friday (March 29) with an overall event win and double-digit outdoor career-best performances.
Hurdler Chloe Foster led the way for the Wolverines on the leaderboard with her victory in the 400-meter hurdles, while Meg Darmofal led a contingent of 10 Wolverines who posted collegiate outdoor career-best performances with her performance at 1,500 meters.
Foster dipped below 60 seconds in her signature outdoor event for the second time in as many meets this spring, clocking 59.65 for the wire-to-wire win in her fourth-and-final section of the event. She edged out another runner from an earlier race for the overall victory in the event by .12 of a second.
While Foster has now competed twice since running a leg of the First-Team All-America distance medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships this month, Friday served as the 2019 outdoor debuts for relay teammates Meg Darmofal, Alice Hill and Aurora Rynda, as well as mile qualifier Hannah Meier.
Darmofal carried over the momentum from her career-best turn as the anchor of that DMR into a career-best day in the 1,500 meters on Friday. Running in the third-fastest section of the event, Darmofal clocked a personal-record 4:20.49 that eclipsed her previous PR by nearly six full seconds.
She made a strong move off the turn with 500 meters to go and took the lead with 450 left, and held on to it for much of the final lap before ultimately coming up short in a sprint to the finish by a third of a second.
In the following section, Meier also took the lead with a lap to go before ultimately settling for third in the section at 4:21.14, followed by fifth-place Hill in 4:25.91. In the afternoon sessions, Micaela DeGenero once more scored a career-best performance in a win as she took section five in 4:25.45, followed by third-place Camille Davre in 4:27.68.
Rynda also dipped below 4:30 with a 4:29.91 clocking in what was her first-ever track race farther than 800 meters.
Like Foster did a week ago with her career-best performance, Darmofal and Meier both put themselves in strong position to finish top-48 in the NCAA East Region and qualify for the East Preliminaries -- the first official step toward the NCAA Championships -- in May.
Two more Wolverine women made strong cases for NCAA East Prelims berths on the track as Anna West and Jessi Larson -- both top-100 national finishers for Michigan's fourth-place team at the NCAA Cross Country Championships this fall -- ran to strong performances in section three of the 5,000 meters. The pair ran in the lead group throughout and were able to hold strong behind the leaders when the pack disintegrated as the pace ratcheted down. No one in the field ran faster on the final lap than did West, who covered the last 400 meters in just under 71 seconds to clock 16:16.33 for runner-up, with the fourth-place Larson not far behind at 16:23.75.
West's performance moved her to No. 15 on the all-time Michigan list in the event.
That Prelims goal was likely also achieved in the field by high jumper Claire Kieffer-Wright, who was competing for the first time since earning Second-Team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March of 2018. The two-time Big Ten champion cleared 1.76m (5-9.25) on her first attempt for a height that has qualified to the NCAA East Preliminaries in each of the past nine seasons.
Beyond Kieffer-Wright, other Wolverines also availed themselves well invitational sections of the field events. Briana Nelson threw a career-best 14.85m (48-8.75) for fourth in the invitational shot put and No. 8 on the all-time Michigan list; Bailey Baker took fifth in the invitational hammer throw with a mark of 56.99m (187-0); and Jessica Mercier was seventh in the pole vault with a bar of 3.78m (12-4.75).
From the non-invitational field events, Erin Connor was the runner-up in the shot put with a significant career-best throw of 14.50m (47-7) that moved her to a share of No. 10 in school history. She surpassed her previous PR by nearly a full meter, and all four of her legal throws were farther than 14 meters.
Full Michigan results can be found below.
The second-and-final day at Stanford begins Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT in the field and at 1:37 p.m. on the track. With a majority of the Wolverines' entries competing on Friday, the squad will compete in only seven different events throughout the afternoon.
COLLEGIATE CAREER-BEST PERFORMANCES
Career debuts in events not included; indoor career bests are considered separate, even for the same event; wind-aided performances (greater than +2.0m/s) are not included.
Erin Connor -- 14.50m (47-7) / Shot Put (O)
Meg Darmofal -- 4:20.49 / 1500m (O)
Camille Davre -- 4:27.68 / 1500m (O)
Micaela DeGenero -- 4:25.45 / 1500m (O)
Kathryn House -- 16:34.94 / 5000m (O)
Tiana Luton -- 5.43m (17-9.75) (+0.6m/s) / Long Jump (O)
Theresa Mayanja -- 14.79 (-0.1m/s) / 100m Hurdles (O)
Jena Metwalli -- 16:48.82 / 5000m (O)
Briana Nelson -- 14.85m (48-8.75) / Shot Put (O)
Maddy Trevisan -- 16:38.39 / 5000m (O)
FULL MICHIGAN RESULTS BY EVENT
Q = Automatic qualifier into final; q = non-automatic qualifier into final; w = wind-aided performance (Wind readings greater than +2.0m/s are considered "wind-aided" and are not eligible for record purposes. Wind readings up to and including +4.0m/s are allowable for NCAA East Preliminaries qualifying purposes.)
100 Meters
PRELIMS
25. Jeryne Fish / 12.55 (-0.4m/s)
26. Jade Harrison / 12.57 (-0.1m/s)
31. Sydney McGinley / 12.78 (-0.6m/s)
200 Meters
To be contested Saturday
400 Meters
17. Julia Hall / 56.26
32. Emma Lane / 59.26
800 Meters
To be contested Saturday
1,500 Meters
Event contested in multiple sections with no overall standings. Results below are sorted by finishing time.
2. Meg Darmofal / 4:20.49 (Section 3)
3. Hannah Meier / 4:21.14 (Section 2)
1. Micaela DeGenero / 4:25.45 (Section 5)
5. Alice Hill / 4:25.91 (Section 2)
3. Camille Davre / 4:27.68 (Section 5)
3. Aurora Rynda / 4:29.91 (Section 7)
5. Audrey Belf / 4:33.83 (Section 7)
7. Lexi Munley / 4:34.18 (Section 7)
8. Megan Worrel / 4:34.40 (Section 7)
5,000 Meters
Event contested in multiple sections with no overall standings. Results below are sorted by finishing time.
2. Anna West / 16:16.33 (Section 3)
4. Jessi Larson / 16:23.75 (Section 3)
12. Kathryn House / 16:34.94 (Section 3)
18. Maddy Trevisan / 16:38.39 (Section 2)
15. Rachel Coleman / 16:40.08 (Section 3)
22. Jena Metwalli / 16:48.82 (Section 3)
26. Faith Reynolds / 16:59.87 (Section 3)
29. Raquel Powers / 17:40.13 (Section 3)
110-Meter Hurdles
PRELIMS
24. Theresa Mayanja / 14.79 (-0.1m/s)
31. Sydney McGinley / 15.35 (+0.2m/s)
32. Tiana Luton / 15.42 (+0.1m/s)
400-Meter Hurdles
1. Chloe Foster / 59.65
17. Jenna Reid / 63.99
4x100-Meter Relay
To be contested Saturday
4x400-Meter Relay
To be contested Saturday
High Jump
5. Claire Kieffer-Wright / 1.76m (5-9.25) (Invite Section)
8. Katt Miner / 1.66m (5-5.25) (Invite Section)
Pole Vault
7. Jessica Mercier / 3.78m (12-4.75) (Invite Section)
Long Jump
4. Jeryne Fish / 5.63m (18-5.75) (+1.2m/s)
8. Tiana Luton / 5.43m (17-9.75) (+0.6m/s)
Shot Put
Event contested in multiple sections with no overall combined standings. Results below are sorted by distance.
4. Briana Nelson / 14.85m (48-8.75) (Invite Section)
2. Erin Connor / 14.50m (47-7)
Discus Throw
To be contested Saturday
Hammer Throw
Non-invitational section to be contested on Saturday
5. Bailey Baker / 56.99m (187-0) (Invite Section)
Javelin Throw
To be contested Saturday
Players Mentioned
