Michigan
NCAA Championships East First Round
Three Wolverines Punch Tickets to NCAA Championships, Two Advance to Quarterfinals
5/28/2026 10:51:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Site: Lexington, Ky. (UK Outdoor Track & Field Complex)
Event: NCAA East First Round (Day 1 of 2)
U-M Team Finish: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Saturday, May 30 -- at NCAA East First Round – Day Two (Lexington, Ky.), 1 p.m.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The University of Michigan women's track and field team opened the NCAA East First Round on Thursday (May 28) at the UK Outdoor Track and Field Complex, with three Wolverines qualifying for the NCAA Championships and two advancing to Saturday's quarterfinals.
Amare Harlan finished sixth in the long jump, tying her personal best mark of 6.37 meters (20 feet, 10.75 inches) to punch her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in her career.
A pair of shot putters punched their tickets to NCAAs for the second straight year, with Abigail Russell finishing seventh (17.34m/56-10.75) and Elizabeth Tapper finishing 12th (16.82m/55-2.25). Russell's mark is a personal best and ranks No. 2 on the program performers list.
Payton Smith advanced to Saturday's quarterfinals in the 400-meter dash, running 52.02 seconds in the first round to qualify on time.
Sidney Green finished second in her heat and 10th overall in the 400-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 57.06 to automatically qualify for the quarterfinals. Sydney Kuhn finished 33rd overall with a time of 59.04.
In the 1,500-meter run, Penelopea Gordon (4:23.32) finished 43rd and Samantha Hastie (4:23.40) finished 44th. In her NCAA East First Round debut, Emmry Ross finished 29th overall in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.39 to come just 0.82 seconds from advancing to the quarterfinals.
Keyanna O'Tey was just 0.08 seconds shy of advancing to the 200-meter dash quarterfinals, finishing 26th overall with a time of 23.28. Myla Wilkes placed 44th with a time of 23.96.
Kourtney Rathke cleared 4.07m (13-4.25) in the pole vault to finish 23rd.
Michigan will close out the NCAA East First Round on Saturday (May 30) at the UK Outdoor Track and Field Complex, with the discus throw at 1 p.m. kicking off the action.
