Michigan
NCAA East Preliminaries
Finn Advances to NCAA Championships in 10,000 Meters
5/23/2019 10:34:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Jacksonville, Fla. (Hodges Stadium)
Event: NCAA East Preliminaries (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Result: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Friday, May 24 -- at NCAA East Preliminaries - Day Two (Jacksonville, Fla.), noon
• Complete Results | Photo Gallery
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Decorated distance runner Erin Finn has earned one more chance at national glory as the sixth-year senior qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships to highlight the first day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds at the University of Florida on Thursday (May 23).
Finn finished third overall in the 10,000-meter semifinal on a warm Jacksonville twilight to clinch her second career NCAA Championships appearance at 10,000 meters. Three other women advanced from their first-round contests to quarterfinals and two more just missed out on NCAA berths in the field events.
The NCAA Championships will be held June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
Finn outperformed her pre-meet seed by five spots, part of a Thursday effort that saw seven of the eight Wolverine women exceed their seeding expectations. Between all eight of them, they combined to outperform their pre-meet ranks by a combined 64 spots, with a pair of career-best performances thrown in for good measure.
Still rounding into the level of fitness that has earned her nine All-America honors on an abbreviated training block, Finn clocked a season-best 33:21.56 as she showed flashes of her front-running self.
After starting the race conservatively in the middle of the pack, Finn worked her way up to the lead pack by about 4,000 meters in and shortly after that into third.
With 10 laps remaining, the leading pair of Notre Dame runners injected some more pace into the race, as they made a move that only Finn matched. As the laps clicked by, Finn held strong and the rest of the field fell farther behind the lead trio.
Finn would eventually fall off the pair of Fighting Irish with about 1,000 meters to go but finished strong to hold on to third place.
She now has a chance to close out her career with double-digit All-America honors in her career at the NCAA Championships in Austin. Her last appearance in this event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships came in 2014, when she finished sixth for first team All-America honors. Because of injuries and redshirts, she has competed at outdoor nationals only in 2014 and 2015 (5,000 meters).
Michigan also capitalized on three of four opportunities to advance track competitors from the first round onto the quarterfinals, as Aurora Rynda, Chloe Foster and Meg Darmofal -- all members of the indoor first team All-American distance medley relay team this winter -- all made it through to their next rounds.
Rynda and Foster will compete in their respective 800-meter and 400-meter hurdles quarterfinals on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, while Darmofal will race for her NCAA berth on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Rynda bounced back from disappointment at the Big Ten Championships, where she did not make the 800-meter final, to not only qualify for the quarterfinals but do so in career-best fashion. She took the win in her heat in a college personal-record 2:05.49, good for 10th overall in the first round.
The true freshman worked her way through the middle of the pack as the race wore on, and eventually established herself as part of a five-woman race to the finish with about 200 meters to go. Waiting patiently and running on the inside of the lane, a path opened up in front of her as the pack swung wide onto the final straightaway. Rynda seized on the opportunity and made a move on the inside to victory.
Her 10th-place performance in the first round was a significant improvement on her pre-meet seeding of No. 25.
Foster made the next step toward the NCAA Championships as she ran a personal-record 58.48 to finish runner-up in the first of six qualifying heats in the 400-meter hurdles. Lowering her PR for the third time this season, she advanced to Friday's quarterfinal automatically as a top-three finisher in her race.
Her time placed her 10th in the composite standings between all six heats, well ahead of her pre-meet No. 18 seed and in the conversation for one of the 12 berths to the NCAA Championships at stake on Friday.
Also advancing through to the quarterfinals, albeit not without her fair share of drama, was Darmofal at 1,500 meters. The junior, in the midst of her own breakthrough season, placed 15th overall in 4:20.97.
With 700 meters to go in the race and running in about sixth place, former indoor national mile champion Karisa Nelson of Samford went down hard to the track directly in front of Darmofal, which forced her to employ some fancy footwork to stay upright. She stayed on her feet and stayed in the lead pack, which came down to a seven-woman sprint to the finish over the final 200 meters.
Darmofal closed hard and ultimately edged into the fifth and final automatic qualifying berth into the quarterfinals by less than half a second. Entering Saturday's quarterfinals, she outperformed her pre-meet seed by 11 spots.
A pair of redshirt seniors made valiant runs at qualifying for nationals in their respective field events, but ultimately came up just short.
Captain Claire Kieffer-Wright finished tied for 14th in the high jump, clearing 1.75m (5 feet, 8.75 inches) on her second attempt. She nearly made the following bar, 1.80m (5-10.75), on her first attempt, but just barely knocked it off.
Still, the four-time NCAA East Prelims competitor and two-time Big Ten champion closed out her career with her best-ever Prelims finish.
In the hammer throw, school record-holder Bailey Baker took 16th overall, just missing nationals by two places. Her final-round 60.39m (196-11) ultimately secured her an 11-spot improvement from her pre-meet seeding.
Baker still has at least one more competition to go, as she competes in the discus Friday at noon.
Full Michigan results can be found below, and a full schedule of events for the remaining two days can be found at the bottom of the story.
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.
Chloe Foster -- 58.48 / 400m Hurdles (O)
Aurora Rynda -- 2:05.49 / 800m (O)
Full Michigan Results by Event
Q = Automatic qualifier into quarterfinal; q = non-automatic qualifier into quarterfinal; w = wind-aided performance (Wind readings greater than +2.0m/s are considered "wind-aided" and are not eligible for record purposes.)
800 Meters
PRELIMS (Quarterfinals to be contested Friday)
10. Aurora Rynda / 2:05.49Q
1,500 Meters
PRELIMS (Quarterfinals to be contested Saturday)
15. Meg Darmofal / 4:20.97Q
29. Micaela DeGenero / 4:25.69
5,000 Meters
Semifinals to be contested Saturday
10,000 Meters
SEMIFINAL
3. Erin Finn / 33:21.56 [Advanced to NCAA Championships]
43. Raquel Powers / 36:49.86
400-Meter Hurdles
PRELIMS (Quarterfinals to be contested Friday)
10. Chloe Foster / 58.48Q
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
Quarterfinals to be contested Friday
High Jump
14. Claire Kieffer-Wright / 1.75m (5-8.75)
Pole Vault
To be contested Friday
Discus Throw
To be contested Friday
Hammer Throw
16. Bailey Baker / 60.58m (196-11)
Updated Timetable of Michigan Competitors (Friday and Saturday)
| Friday (May 24) | Event | Round | Time (EDT) |
| Bailey Baker | Discus | First Round* | 12:00 PM |
| Jessica Mercier | Pole Vault | First Round* | 5:00 PM |
| Aurora Rynda | 800-meter run | Quarterfinal* | 6:30 PM |
| Chloe Foster | 400-meter hurdles | Quarterfinal* | 7:00 PM |
| Alice Hill | Steeplechase | Quarterfinal* | 8:20 PM |
| Megan Worrel | Steeplechase | Quarterfinal* | 8:20 PM |
| Saturday (May 25) | Event | Round | Time (EDT) |
| Meg Darmofal | 1,500-meter run | Quarterfinal* | 6:30 PM |
| Camille Davre | 5,000-meter run | Semifinal* | 8:05 PM |
| Anne Forsyth | 5,000-meter run | Semifinal* | 8:05 PM |
| Kathryn House | 5,000-meter run | Semifinal* | 8:05 PM |
| Jessi Larson | 5,000-meter run | Semifinal* | 8:05 PM |
Players Mentioned
