2016 Michigan Women's Track & Field
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MICHIGAN ATHELTIC COMMUNICATIONS Chad Shepard | Men’s and Women’s 2016 MICHIGAN WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD Cross Country and Track and Field 734-386-0372 | phone [email protected] | MGoBlue.com QUICK HITS NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The Wolverines enter the weekend ranked No. 8 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA (BIRMINGHAM CROSSPLEX) -- Cindy Ofili (60 meter hurdles) owns the top seed TV: SUNDAY, MARCH 13 (7 PM/ESPN2) at 7.97 seconds, while Erin Finn (3K/5K) is seeded STREAM: ESPN3 fourth, Shannon Osika (Mile) is seeded fifth and the LIVE RESULTS: NCAA.COM DMR is seeded third overall -- Michigan’s five total entries match Purdue for the NOTES most among Big Ten schools, and rank tied for 11th most in the nation The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women’s track and field team is focused and fired up for the 2016 Indoor NCAA Championships, poised to return to the top-10 -- Head Coach James Henry and Associate Head conversation for the first time in years. Coach Mike McGuire earned NCAA Great Lakes Region Head Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year TV and Streaming information for the NCAA Championships is as follows: ESPN3 honors last week will stream the meet live on March 11 starting at 6:25 p.m. ET and March 12 starting at 4:55 p.m. ET. A re-air of the championships will take place on Sunday, March 13 PROGRAM HISTORY starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and also Wednesday, March 23 starting at 10 p.m. ET First Year ............................................................................ 1978 on ESPNU. Big Ten Member .................................................................. 1978 Big Ten Team Titles ................................................................ 16 SCHEDULE FOR MICHIGAN ATHLETES Big Ten Indiv. Titles �������������������������������������������������������������� 183 Senior Shannon Osika (Mile; No. 5) kicks off the weekend with the Mile Race Big Ten Relay. Titles ............................................................... 16 semifinal, scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. on Friday evening. Senior co-captain CIndy NCAA Top 10 Finishes ............................................................... 7 Oflli (60m hurdles; No. 1 seed) begins her weekend with the semifinals at 6:20 p.m. NCAA Indiv. Titles ................................................................... 19 on Friday, and junior/sophomore Erin Finn (3K/5K; No. 4) will also run the 5,000- NCAA All-American Honors 71 meter race on Friday at 8:25 p.m, and the Distance Medley Relay (DMR; No. 3) will run at 9 p.m. LAST 5 YEARS SCORING AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS YEAR............................. PLACE .............................. PTS. On Saturday, the Mile final is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. and the hurdles final is slated 2015............................... t-32 .................................... 6 for 4:35 p.m. Finn’s 3,000-meter race begins at 6:25 p.m. 2014............................... t-33 .................................... 7 2013............................... t-15 .................................... 13 Under Head Coach James Henry and Associate Head Coach Mike McGuire, 2012............................... 61st ................................... 1.5 the Wolverines have been the model of sustained success The duo earned NCAA 2011 ............................... 18th ................................... 12 Regional honors last week, with middle-distance and distance athletes accounting for 86 of U-M’s 109 points at the conference meet. U-M has been top-five in the Big Ten COACHING STAFF conference in 15 of the last 17 years, with five Big Ten Indoor Titles in that time frame. ............................. James Henry (Sprints, Jumps) Head Coach The Wolverines have also recorded several historic performances in 2016 so far. Assoc. Head Coach ..................Mike McGuire (Mid-D/Distance) Asst. Coach .......................................... Sandy Fowler (Throws) Vol. Asst. Coach ............................ Shean Conlon (Pole Vault) INDOOR RECORDS BROKEN IN 2016 The performances below are University of Michigan set during the 2016 indoor season Vol. Asst. Coach ......................... Rebecca Addison (Distance) Vol. Asst. Coach ............................ Kristal McGregor (Throws) EVENT TIME/MARK ATHLETE(S) DATE (MEET) FOLLOW U-M TRACK & FIELD 200m Dash 23.65 Ofili Feb. 26 (B1G) Web: www.MGoBlue.com 400m Dash 53.64 Long Feb. 27 (B1G) Twitter: @umichtrack 3,000m 9:01.25 Finn Feb. 6 (Meyo) Facebook: www.facebook.com/MichiganWomensTrack 5,000m 15:37.31 Finn Feb. 27 (B1G) MOMETUM AND CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE AS RECORDS FALL, FINN STANDS TALL U-M enters this weekend with a full head of steam, fresh off the program’s Finn returns to the NCAA Championships with more momentum first indoor Big Ten Championship in a decade (2006) in a satisfying finish than ever before. She broke two school records in six days earlier that followed back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015 preceded in February, smashing the 30-year old 3K record (9:38.25) at Meyo by a third-place showing in 2013. The senior-laden lineup felt that 2016 was (Feb. 6) before eclipsing her own 5K mark (15:39.98) during the their year, and came through using scoring contributions from 13 athletes SPIRE NCAA D1 Invitational (Feb. 12), which she broke again across 10 events plus relays, fending off Purdue (102 pts) and overcoming at the Big Ten meet.Finn now owns the program standard in the a 30-point Friday deficit to Penn State to earn the title. indoor 3K and 5K and the outdoor 5K and 10K. U-M won five events (800, Mile, 3K, 5K, DMR) and medaled in two others OFILI CONTINUES TO SHINE FOR WOLVERINES (60 hurdles, 600) to total 109 points, the program’s highest total since 2009. Ofili enjoyed a tremendous 2015 season culminating with an In addition, three program records were broken during the conference NCAA runner-up finish in the outdoor 100m hurdles and she championship weekend (200, 400, 5K). is back at it for her senior campaign in 2016. Ofili competed at the British Championships last summer, finishing runner-up to Nearly all of the competing Wolverines this weekend were individual her sister, Wolverine great Tiffany (Porter) Ofili, and went on to conference champions two weekends ago at the SPIRE Facility in Geneva, compete at the IAAF World Chamionships in August. Her PB 7.97 Ohio (Finn, 3K/5K; Osika, Mile; Hoppe, 800; DMR). Those who did not earlier this season is one of two sub-eight times in the nation this claim individual titles still contributed to Michigan’s point total, as each year and ranks top-15 in the world in 2016, just .03 seconds shy of Wolverine who made the trip to Birmingham this weekend scored in some her sister’s record. If broken, Ofili would be the owner of the indoor form for U-M, accumulating 77 of Michigan’s points. 60m dash, 200m dash and outdoor 100m dash and 100m hurdle records at U-M. COACHING STAFF James Henry Mike McGuire Head Coach (32nd Season) Associate Head Coach (27th Season) Jumps, Sprints, Hurdles Mid-Distance, Distance Head Coach, Cross Country (24 years) As one of the most decorated coaches in conference history, a 14x Big Ten Widely recognized as one of the nation’s top Coach of the Year, Henry’s teams distance coaches, McGuire has had a hand in have garnered 171 NCAA All-America 15 of the program’s Big Ten team champion- honors and 211 All-Big Ten honors, ships, including aboth Triple Crowns in 1994 taking 202 Big Ten titles, nine individ- and 2003. He has led U-M’s cross country team ual national championships and four to nine Big Ten and regional titles, including five national championship relay titles. straight from 2002-06, and was also named the In the classroom, his athletes have USTFCCCA Track and Field Assistant Coach of earned 424 Academic All-Big Ten accolades, eight Big Ten Medals the Year for the women’s distance events in 2005 and 2007. of Honor three NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships and 14 Capital One Academic All-America honors. In addition to four NCAA champions and four NCAA DMR crowns, he has manufactured 70 individual conference champions (39 indoor, 31 outdoor) Henry has been a part of every Michigan team that has won a Big for 119 titles and 135 All-America honorees, including 112 in track and Ten title since the Wolverines captured their first crown in 1982 but field. He has made U-M’s DMR a national standard of excellence, coach- the seed for Michigan’s success in women’s track and field was ing the relay to 13 Big Ten Titles, including 11 straight from 2004-14 and planted when Henry added Mike McGuire and Arnett Chisholm to 12 of the last 13 overall. his coaching staff in 1990. McGuire has coached 11 Academic All-Americans, three collegiate record Henry’s notable alumni include five-time NCAA Champion Tiffany holders and one American record holder. Notable alumni include two (Ofili) Porter, among others. Under his watch, four U-M athletes Olympians (Anna Willard, 2008, USA; Nicole (Edwards) Sifuentes, 2012, competed at the 2012 Olympic Trials, and 12 Wolverines competed Canada), two IAAF World Championship participants (Geena (Lara) Gall, at the 2008 trials for their respective countries. 2009, USA; Sifuentes, 2013, Canada) and other professionals, including Amanda Eccleston (Brooks) and Lindsey Gallo (Reebok), among others. Henry earned his bachelor’s degree in education from U-M in 1980 as a member of the track and field team (1977-80). He specialized The Matawan, N.J. native is a former Wolverine (1976-79) himself, an in the long jump, the first Wolverine to break 25 feet in that event All-American under Ron Warhurst who set the Big Ten three-mile record and was a four-time NCAA qualifier. Today, he is active in several (now retired) in 1976. He won the 1981 Detroit Free Press Marathon, and Washtenaw County community programs with his wife, Michelle. earned his U-M degree in history and social studies in 1979. An experienced leader with international coaching and competition experience, Fowler was a Sandy Fowler nine-time All-American and national champion at Northeastern, where she won a 1982 AIAW Assistant Coach National Outdoor shot put title, and she brings that level of fire to an improving group of olW - Throws verine throwers.