Wolverine Women Qualify 16 Entries to NCAA East Prelims
5/16/2019 1:00:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A contingent of 15 women from the University of Michigan women's track and field team have earned the right to keep competing this outdoor season, having officially been named qualifiers Thursday (May 16) for next week's NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Jacksonville, Florida, which will take place Thursday through Saturday, May 23-25.
All-Americans Erin Finn, Claire Kieffer-Wright, Alice Hill, Meg Darmofal, Aurora Rynda and Chloe Foster are chief among the 15 women who combine for 16 entries across 10 different events at the Prelims, to be held Thursday through Saturday (May 23-25) at the University of North Florida.
The three-day competition serves as the qualifying meet for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, which will take place June 5-8 at the University of Texas in Austin. The top-12 finishers in each individual event from the East Region -- in which Michigan competes -- and the top 12 from the West Region will comprise the 24-person fields in Austin.
In addition to Finn, Hill, Darmofal and Rynda, the distance crew will also be represented by Camille Davre, Micaela DeGenero, Anne Forsyth, Kathryn House, Jessi Larson, Raquel Powers and Megan Worrel. Big Ten silver medalist pole vaulter Jessica Mercier joins Kieffer-Wright in the jump. Thrower Bailey Baker is the Wolverines' only multi-time entrant, competing in her school-record hammer throw event and the discus.
These Wolverines qualified to the NCAA East Prelims by ranking among the top-48 athletes in the East Region who declared for the meet in their respective events.
First-round and quarterfinal races will be contested in track events ranging from 100 meters through 1,500 meters, with semifinals and finals scheduled for June in Austin. A single quarterfinal round will be contested in the steeplechase and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, and a single semifinal round will be run for the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races.
In the throws and horizontal jumps, competitors will get only three attempts to record their best marks, and the high jump and pole vault will continue until only 12 competitors remain.
Michigan's qualifiers are listed below by event, along with their seed mark, rank and scheduled day of competition.
800 Meters | First round -- Thursday, May 23, at 8:10 p.m. / Quarterfinal -- Friday, May 24, at 6:30 p.m.
Aurora Rynda -- 2:06.35, No. 25 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
1,500 Meters | First round -- Thursday, May 23, at 5:30 p.m. / Quarterfinal -- Saturday, May 25, at 6:30 p.m.
Micaela DeGenero -- 4:20.30, No. 25 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Meg Darmofal -- 4:20.49, No. 26 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
5,000 Meters | Semifinal -- Saturday, May 25, at 8:05 p.m.
Kathryn House -- 16:17.51, No. 30 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Anne Forsyth -- 16:17.81, No. 31 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Camille Davre -- 16:21.81, No. 36 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Jessi Larson -- 16:23.75, No. 39 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
10,000 Meters | Semifinal -- Thursday, May 23, at 9 p.m.
Erin Finn -- 33:23.17, No. 8 seed [3rd NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Raquel Powers -- 34:39.34, No. 47 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
400-Meter Hurdles | First round -- Thursday, May 23, at 4:30 p.m. / Quarterfinal -- Friday, May 24, at 7 p.m.
Chloe Foster -- 58.60, No. 18 seed [2nd NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
3,000-Meter Steeplechase | Quarterfinal -- Friday, May 24, at 8:20 p.m.
Alice Hill -- 10:04.58, No. 7 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Megan Worrel -- 10:27.90, No. 45 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
High Jump | First round -- Thursday, May 23, at 3:30 p.m.
Claire Kieffer-Wright -- 1.76m, No. T-28 seed [3rd NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Pole Vault | First round -- Friday, May 24, at 5 p.m.
Jessica Mercier -- 4.17m, No. T-14 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Discus | First round -- Thursday, May 23, at 4:00 p.m.
Bailey Baker -- 51.09m, No. 31 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Hammer Throw | First round -- Friday, May 24, at 12 p.m.
Bailey Baker -- 61.90m, No. 27 seed [1st NCAA East Prelims appearance in event]
Finn is the only one among the group who has previously qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, with a sixth-place first team All-America finish to her name in the 10,000 meters from 2014.
Kieffer-Wright, a two-time Big Ten champion, never has competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, though she was a second team All-American in the indoor high jump in 2018.
Hill, Foster, Darmofal and Rynda were all first team All-Americans this past indoor season as members of Michigan's fifth-place distance medley relay. Successful navigation of the NCAA East Prelims would give each of them their first individual NCAA berths.
Davre was an All-American during the 2018 cross country season, and Forsyth was a near-All-American and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Players Mentioned
