Michigan
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Medals for Mercier, Hill on Day Two at Big Tens
5/11/2019 9:46:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track)
Event: Big Ten Outdoor Championships (Day 2 of 3)
U-M in the standings: 9th of 13 teams (14 points)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 12 -- at Big Ten Outdoor Championships - Day 3 (Iowa City, Iowa), 11 a.m. CDT
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The future has arrived for the University of Michigan women's track and field team as underclassmen Jessica Mercier and Alice Hill both medaled Saturday (May 11) at the second day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
The true freshman Mercier had the best pole vault performance of her life to take the silver medal in her signature event, while sophomore Hill claimed the bronze medal in her first Big Ten 3,000-meter steeplechase final.
Mercier earned eight points for the Wolverines -- the top point output for the team so far this weekend -- in a wild vault competition, while Hill battled to the end for her six points in the steeplechase. Combined with six points from Friday, the Michigan women enter the final day of competition with 14 total points.
Indiana (48 points) and Minnesota (42 points) are the teams to beat heading into Sunday, but the Wolverines have three more teams within eight points of them as things stand after Saturday evening.
To call Mercier's performance a "career-best day" would be an understatement. Competing in Iowa's indoor facility due to inclement weather, Mercier equaled or exceeded her personal-record clearance four times in a row en route to a 4.17m (13 feet, 8.25 inches) final mark.
Both she and Indiana's Anna Watson -- also a freshman -- cleared 4.17m, but Watson needed only one attempt to Mercier's three.
One-attempt clearances were the theme for Mercier early as she made 3.87m (12-8.25), 4.02m (13-2.25) and 4.07m (13-4.25) on her first try at each.
As the bars got higher, Mercier responded with poise beyond her years. She cleared 4.12m (13-6.25) on her third and final attempt to remain alive with three other women, and got her 4.17m make on a third try to earn the right to battle Watson one-on-one at 4.22m (13-10). Neither were able to clear that height.
Since the event was contested indoors, she moved up to No. 2 on the all-time Michigan indoor list for the event, behind only school record-holder (and current volunteer assistant coach) Kiley Tobel at 4.25m (13-11.25).
In the steeplechase, Hill clocked 10:15.73 for third in a race that came down to the final lap. With two laps to go after pushing the pace for much of the race, Hill established herself at the point of the three-woman breakaway with Wisconsin's Alissa Niggemann and Michigan State's Karrigan Smith.
With one to go, Niggemann pulled away from Hill and Smith to run away with the win, while Smith was able to push past Hill in the final half-lap for second.
The performance for Hill was still strong as it was just her second steeplechase race of the year and the fifth of her career. Also running strong was ninth-place Megan Worrel, who clocked a career-best 10:27.90 to just miss scoring points for the Wolverine women.
Full Michigan results for the first two days, as well as notes on when to expect the remainder of the events to be contested, can be found below.
The final day of the conference meet gets underway Sunday morning at 11 a.m. CDT with hammer throw scorer Bailey Baker returning in the discus, kicking off a field-events slate that also includes the high jump -- featuring two-time Big Ten champion Claire Kieffer-Wright -- at 12:30 p.m. CDT.
The Sunday session of track finals begins at 12:55 p.m. CDT with the 4x100 relay, and concludes at 3:45 p.m. CDT with the 4x400 relay. In addition to the relays, Michigan will have entries in the 1,500 meters, the 400-meter hurdles and the 5,000 meters. The full schedule of finals competitors can be found at the bottom of the article.
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.
Theresa Mayanja -- 2:34.98 / 800m (O)
Jessica Mercier -- 4.17m (13-8.25) / Pole Vault (I)
Briana Nelson -- 14.98m (49-1.75) / Shot Put (O)
Megan Worrel -- 10:27.90 / Steeplechase (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.)
400 Meters
PRELIMS
16. Julia Hall / 56.05
26. Emma Lane / 57.99
800 Meters
PRELIMS
19. Aurora Rynda / 2:12.57
1,500 Meters
Final to be contested Sunday
PRELIMS (Friday)
2. Micaela DeGenero / 4:20.30Q
12. Meg Darmofal / 4:23.92Q
14. Camille Davre / 4:25.35
16. Jena Metwalli / 4:28.27
5,000 Meters
Final to be contested Sunday
10,000 Meters (Friday)
FINAL
7. Erin Finn / 33:23.17
16. Raquel Powers / 34:39.34
19. Maddy Trevisan / 35:05.66
100-Meter Hurdles
PRELIMS
16. Tiana Luton / 14.69 (-0.3m/s)
18. Sydney McGinley / 15.18 (+0.6m/s)
19. Lauren Rodriguez / 36.93 (+2.2m/s) [Fall]
400-Meter Hurdles
Final to be contested Sunday
PRELIMS (Friday)
5. Chloe Foster / 58.76Q
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
Final to be contested Saturday
3. Alice Hill / 10:15.73
9. Megan Worrel / 10:27.90
4x100-Meter Relay
Final to be contested Sunday
4x400-Meter Relay
Final to be contested Sunday
High Jump
Final to be contested Sunday
Pole Vault
FINAL
2. Jessica Mercier / 4.17m (13-8.25)
Long Jump
FINAL
20. Jeryne Fish / 5.64m (18-6) (+0.8m/s)
Triple Jump
Final to be contested Sunday
Shot Put
FINAL
13. Briana Nelson / 14.98m (49-1.75)
19. Erin Connor / 13.26m (43-6)
Discus Throw
Final to be contested Sunday
Hammer Throw (Friday)
FINAL
5. Bailey Baker / 61.80m (202-9)
11. Kayla Deering / 58.88m (193-2)
Heptathlon
FINAL
9. Theresa Mayanja / 4,338 points
100-meter hurdles / 14.22 (+1.0m/s) (947 points) [Friday]
High Jump / 1.45m (4-9) (566 points) [Friday]
Shot Put / 9.90m (32-5.75) (523 points) [Friday]
200-meter dash / 26.33 (+1.1m/s) (769 points) [Friday]
Long Jump / 4.64m (15-2.75) (-0.3m/s) (464 points)
Javelin / 27.91m (91-7) (437 points)
800-meter run / 2:34.98 (632 points)
Updated Timetable of Michigan Competitors (Sunday)
| Sunday (May 12) | Event | Round | Time (CDT) |
| Bailey Baker | Discus | Final | 11:00 AM |
| Claire Kieffer-Wright | High Jump | Final | 12:30 PM |
| Katt Miner | High Jump | Final | 12:30 PM |
| 4x100 Relay | 4x100 relay | Final | 12:55 PM |
| Meg Darmofal | 1,500-meter run | Final | 1:15 PM |
| Micaela DeGenero | 1,500-meter run | Final | 1:15 PM |
| Chloe Foster | 400-meter hurdles | Final | 2:28 PM |
| Anne Forsyth | 5,000-meter run | Final | 3:11 PM |
| Kathryn House | 5,000-meter run | Final | 3:11 PM |
| Jessi Larson | 5,000-meter run | Final | 3:11 PM |
| Jena Metwalli | 5,000-meter run | Final | 3:11 PM |
| 4x400 Relay | 4x400 relay | Final | 3:45 PM |
Players Mentioned
