Michigan
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Rynda Wins Second Title as Wolverines Finish Fifth at Big Tens
2/29/2020 6:41:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Geneva, Ohio (SPIRE Institute)
Event: Big Ten Indoor Championships (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Result: 5th of 13 teams (70 points)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., March 13-14 -- at NCAA Indoor Championships (Albuquerque, N.M.)
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
GENEVA, Ohio -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team garnered five medal-winning performances -- including a second conference title -- on the second and final day of the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday (Feb. 29) as the Wolverines raced to a fifth-place overall finish.
Powered by a gold medal-winning Aurora Rynda, a sliver medal for Meg Darmofal and bronze medals for Katt Miner, Ericka VanderLende and the 4x400 relay quartet of Emma Lane, Jade Harrison, Julia Hall and Chloe Foster, the U-M women significantly improved on their 10th-place showing from 2019.
Michigan scored 70 points on the weekend, just four shy of fourth-place Indiana and 13 points clear of sixth-place Michigan State. Ohio State finished first in the team standings (104 points).
Rynda collected her second title of the weekend as she added a 600-meter title -- her second in a row -- to Friday's distance medley relay title.
Her relay teammate Darmofal earned herself runner-up honors in the mile with a battle all the way to the finish. A third relay teammate, Foster, earned her second medal of the weekend as the 4x400 squad finished third.
Miner and VanderLende won their first Big Ten medals as they took third place in the high jump and 5,000 meters, respectively.
Those medal-winning performances were among 10 different top-eight scoring performances on the day. Michigan recorded multiple scoring efforts in the 400 meters, 800 meters and mile.
Rynda defended her 600-meter title in 1:28.38, which would have tied the previous school record before she lowered it in Friday's preliminaries. Just as in Friday's race, she bided her time on the first of the two laps around SPIRE's 300-meter track and opened things up in the second. Once she took the lead, there was no looking back as she claimed the win by more than half a second.
Paired with her school-record 1:28.16 from the prelims, she became the first Michigan woman to crack 1:29.00 twice in the same meet.
As comfortable as Rynda's victory was, Darmofal's silver-medal run was much closer. The senior clocked 4:44.05 and dove over the line to edge out third place by just .05 seconds. Darmofal stormed into the lead on the final lap and fought valiantly all the way to the line with eventual champion Danae Rivers of Penn State.
Darmofal was joined on the scoring rostrum by teammate Alice Hill in sixth. It marked the second consecutive year both Darmofal and Hill scored in the mile at the conference meet.
Miner was first on the board for the Wolverines on Saturday, earning her first Big Ten Championships medal with a clutch third-attempt make at 1.76m (5 feet, 9.25 inches).
After breezing through her first two heights on first-attempt clearances, she needed just two tries to clear the bar at 1.73m (5-8). Those early makes gave Miner an edge in tiebreakers once the field had narrowed to just five jumpers at 1.79m (5-10.5). Only two women cleared that bar, with Miner earning the tiebreak over the other two women, who went out based on previous bar performances.
VanderLende was the top long-distance runner on the weekend for the Wolverines as she posted a career-best 16:10.38 for third in her collegiate postseason track debut. She ran aggressively with the leaders from the start and was one of the last women standing as the relatively quick pace gradually withered the field.
The Wolverines closed out the weekend with a third-place finish in the 4x400 meters in the squad's first outing since breaking the school record two weekends ago. Michigan's baton gradually worked its way forward in the pack until Hall handed off to Foster in fourth for the anchor leg.
Foster brought the Wolverines back into the fight, passing by two squads on the final lap to grab second place in the section and third place overall in 3:38.30.
Foster and Harrison were both individual scorers at 400 meters, as well, as they finished sixth and eighth in 54.38 and 54.71, respectively.
Michigan also got multiple scoring performances at 800 meters, where Annie Taylor ran a gutsy race in the lead until midway through the final lap as she finished fifth overall in a career-best 2:07.07. First-year Amber Gall also recorded a personal best in 2:07.47 to take seventh in her postseason debut.
Select Wolverines may qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14, pending the results of this weekend's conference championship meets across the nation. Stay tuned to MGoBlue.com for further news on qualifiers.
Collegiate Career-Best Performances
Career debuts not included
Amber Gall -- 2:07.47 / 800m (I)
Raquel Powers -- 17:05.58 / 5,000m (I)
Ericka VanderLende -- 16:10.38 / 5,000m (I)
Annie Taylor -- 2:07.07 / 800m (I)
Michigan Results by Event
Q = Automatic qualifier into final based on place; q = non-automatic qualifier into final based on time
60 Meters
Prelims [FRIDAY]
17. Ameia Wilson / 7.58
200 Meters
Prelims [FRIDAY]
16. Jade Harrison / 24.38
400 Meters
Final
6. Chloe Foster / 54.37
8. Jade Harrison / 54.71
Prelims [FRIDAY]
1. Chloe Foster / 54.04q
8. Jade Harrison / 54.71q
15. Emma Lane / 55.51
600 Meters
Final
1. Aurora Rynda / 1:28.38
Prelims [FRIDAY]
1. Aurora Rynda / 1:28.16Q [SCHOOL RECORD]
10. Julia Hall / 1:31.12
800 Meters
Final
5. Annie Taylor / 2:07.07
7. Amber Gall / 2:07.47
Prelims [FRIDAY]
6. Annie Taylor / 2:08.37Q
8. Amber Gall / 2:08.73q
11. Eva Jansohn / 2:10.69
20. Julia Sullivan / 2:14.35
Mile
Final
2. Meg Darmofal / 4:44.05
6. Alice Hill / 4:46.34
9. Jena Metwalli / 4:49.02
Prelims [FRIDAY]
3. Meg Darmofal / 4:44.74Q
4. Alice Hill / 4:49.48Q
8. Jena Metwalli / 4:49.86Q
3,000 Meters [FRIDAY]
7. Kathryn House / 9:34.59
10. Julia Vanitvelt / 9:43.57
12. Emma Sloan / 9:46.43
13. Samantha Saenz / 9:47.53
5,000 Meters
3. Ericka VanderLende / 16:10.38
16. Maddy Trevisan / 16:57.69
18. Raquel Powers / 17:05.58
60-Meter Hurdles
Final
9. Michaiah Thomas / 8.86
Prelims [FRIDAY]
8. Michaiah Thomas / 8.46q
19. Paige Chapman / 8.83
4x400 Relay
3. Lane, Harrison, Hall, Foster / 3:38.30
Distance Medley Relay [FRIDAY]
1. Hill, Foster, Rynda, Darmofal / 11:02.00
High Jump
3. Katt Miner / 1.76m (5-9.25)
11. Jada Wimberly / 1.70m (5-7)
Long Jump [FRIDAY]
9. Ameia Wilson / 5.75m (18-10.5)
10. Jeryne Fish / 5.73m (18-9.5)
Triple Jump
14. Sydney McGinley / 11.36m (37-3.25)
--. Chika Amene / NM
Shot Put
12. Briana Nelson / 14.01m (45-11.5)
21. Amanda Schaare / 15.32m (50-3.25)
Weight Throw [FRIDAY]
4. Courtney Jacobsen / 20.16m (66-1.75) [SCHOOL RECORD]
5. Briana Nelson / 20.21m (66-3.75)
Players Mentioned
