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Thursday, June 18, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
Ofili headlines strong NCAA
Championship performances
By SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Editor
When junior hurdler Cindy Ofili
sprinted past the finish line, she
knew she had done well.
Michigan coach James Henry
knew she had it in her. But before
the race, neither knew just how
impressive the finishing time would
be. Ofili recorded a 12.60-second
result — a full .21 seconds faster
than her previous personal record,
set just two days before.
“When I was running, my goal
was purely to win,” Ofili said. “I
knew crossing that line that I had
given it my all, so to be honest, I
wasn’t too surprised that I had
broken my personal record. I knew
this was in me, I just didn’t know
that was in me.”
Added Henry: “She works very
hard, and as a coach you learn to
know the kids and their numbers.
I was surprised it was this signifi-
cant of an improvement, even if she
is at this level where I knew she
would improve.”
Her
record-breaking
time
earned her a second-place finish
at the NCAA Outdoor Champion-
ships in Eugene, Oregon
this past weekend — the best
Wolverine finish at the event since
2009. But much more than that,
Ofili’s time shattered Michigan’s
previous record — set by Ofili’s
older sister, Tiffany Ofili-Porter —
by .13 seconds.
Despite this, Tiffany — a sister
before a competitor — congratulat-
ed Ofili and showed excitement for
Ofili’s future running career.
“I am literally in tears right now!
I’m over the moon for my sis @
cindyofili!!! I’m soooooooo proud
of her!! #Beast,” she tweeted after
the race.
Ofili’s performance in the 100-
meter hurdles would secure her
place in history among the program’s
elite, but she one-upped herself with
a second school record in the 100-
meter dash — crossing the finish line
in 11.39 seconds. Though the time
wasn’t fast enough to advance to the
finals, it did warrant an All-Ameri-
can honorable mention.
Consider-
ing
that
the
qualifying 100-
meter dash was
just under 15
minutes
after
her 100-meter
qualifying hur-
dles race, it was
an
impressive
result for Ofili.
In total, Ofili
completed the
season with four school records
in the indoor 60-meter and 200-
meter events, and the outdoor 100-
meter dash and 100-meter hurdles.
And she still has one more year
to leave her mark on the program.
“I definitely want to be a nation-
al champion (before I graduate),”
Ofili said. “I want to break more
personal records. I want to just
improve. Even though I executed
a really great couple of races, it
wasn’t perfect. I definitely have
more to give and I want to do that
in my final year.”
Michigan finished in 19th place
with 14 points, the highest they’ve
placed since 2009 when they
earned seventh place.
Three other Wolverines quali-
fied: sophomore Erin Finn quali-
fied in the 5,000-meter run,
and both redshirt junior Shan-
non Osika and senior co-captain
Brooke Handler received bids in
the 1,500-meter race.
However, due to a lower-left leg
injury, Osika was unable to compete.
“(Osika) wanted to run and she
wanted to compete and she would
have done well,” Henry said. “But
this is a perfect
example
of
an
athlete doing out-
standing in cross
country and fan-
tastic in winter
but wearing out
towards the end
of
the
outdoor
season.
She’s
human and she’s
not a robot, she
needs rest and her
body just gave way.”
In her last meet donning the
maize and blue, Handler represent-
ed Michigan in the 1,500-meter
race and crossed the finish line at
4:16.19 to place seventh and receive
her second-consecutive first team
All-American honor.
“Handler has always been moti-
vated,” said Michigan associate
head coach Mike McGuire. “She’s
stayed healthy and she’s just
grown through training physical-
ly and mentally. This is a byprod-
uct of what’s she’s put in. It’s a
maturity process.”
Added Henry: “We bring them
in, we mature them, we develop
them, and even-
tually we have to
graduate them.”
McGuire—
who has worked
with
Henry
since they were
teammates
in
college—
has
had at least one
All-American in the 1,500-meter
since 2012.
Finn rounded out the middle-
distance runners and became
the first Wolverine to receive
All-American honors in both the
5,000-meter
and
10,000-meter
events. She finished in fifth place
with a time of 15:43.97.
Finn had sustained an injury
earlier this year, leaving her unable
to compete for the majority of the
season. But according to her team-
mates and coaches, it was her com-
petitive
streak
that allowed her
to still find suc-
cess.
This weekend
concluded Mich-
igan’s 2014-2015
campaign,
and
Henry was satis-
fied with the way
his Wolverines wrapped up the
season. But that satisfaction won’t
turn into complacency.
“We ended on such a high note,
which is what we wanted,” Henry
said. “I always say ‘last meet best
meet,’ which was a reality this
weekend. We understand that
what happens today ends today
and tomorrow we start prepping
for next year. But only after the
kids get a significant rest.”
CONNOR BADE/Daily
Junior sprinter Cindy Ofili set two school records and took second place in the 100-meter hurdles, beating her sister’s record.
“I definitely
want to be
a national
champion.”
“We ended on
such a high
note.”